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As a customer whch would you prefer?

Which would you prefer?

  • Ipad/Tablet

    Votes: 4 23.5%
  • Laptop

    Votes: 8 47.1%
  • Desktop computer

    Votes: 5 29.4%

  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .
It's hot. Like real hot and instead of death by heat exhaustion I chose to stay in the office today and accomplish something I've been meaning to do for quite some time.

We own a storage business. I hate the NCR leases. They are expensive, I have a hard time reading people's hand writing, and they can get misplaced on a busy day. Plus e-mailing them to people is a real pain. I scanned the lease, and created a fillable PDF. Having never done anything like this I'm pretty happy with myself. Now I have to think about the next step and I would like your opinions

Which would you prefer filling out a form on?
Ipad/tablet with attached keyboard
Laptop with signature pad thing
Desktop with signature pad thing

Thanks
 

simon1

Self Ignored by Vista
I went laptop because it's what I use most of the time, but it's sitting on a table like a desktop. Tablet seems a bit small, but with an attached keyboard it may be okay. I closed my business a few months ago but when I'd fill out reports I'd use a desktop.
 
If I’m at a business and filling out a form, I would say iPad with an Apple Pencil (or android equivalent).

I actually use the same setup at my work when I created a fillable pdf for access requests.
 
I had my own business for quite awhile. I preferred a desktop and big screen when there and had a WD cloud drive everything was automatically saved to. When at home or away I could access the WD Cloud drive on my Laptop. Worked great!
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
Who is your primary customer? Old people? Young people? That should be the deciding factor.

I have no issues with either of the 3 choices. But I can tell you with a fact You will be filling out the forms for them if you give an old person a tablet.
 
Filling out a form where? That's a big issue. In the field? Tablet. In a kiosk or office environment? Desktop. I skip laptops because they can be heavy for field use, and the keyboards even on the largest are cramped, meaning an external keyboard and mouse solution. When you see laptop users, notice how many at least use an external mouse instead of a touch-pad.

The problem with a tablet is handwriting recognition. If you need to type something, you lose nearly half the screen for a virtual keyboard. It can be done, but I've noticed configuring some software on the things that it's slower than an actual keyboard. For some people, it's a lot slower.

Also be aware of potential legal snags. In some places, an electronic copy is not considered valid. In those instances, it has to be on paper, and the paper maintained in storage.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Filling out a form where? That's a big issue. In the field? Tablet. In a kiosk or office environment? Desktop. I skip laptops because they can be heavy for field use, and the keyboards even on the largest are cramped, meaning an external keyboard and mouse solution. When you see laptop users, notice how many at least use an external mouse instead of a touch-pad.

The problem with a tablet is handwriting recognition. If you need to type something, you lose nearly half the screen for a virtual keyboard. It can be done, but I've noticed configuring some software on the things that it's slower than an actual keyboard. For some people, it's a lot slower.

Also be aware of potential legal snags. In some places, an electronic copy is not considered valid. In those instances, it has to be on paper, and the paper maintained in storage.
Great point especially wh signatures
And potential litigation or sale of contents.
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
Who is your primary customer? Old people? Young people? That should be the deciding factor.

I have no issues with either of the 3 choices. But I can tell you with a fact You will be filling out the forms for them if you give an old person a tablet.


Er . . . In this day and age you would have to be talking really really old . . . Junior.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
Filling out a form where? That's a big issue. In the field? Tablet. In a kiosk or office environment? Desktop. I skip laptops because they can be heavy for field use, and the keyboards even on the largest are cramped, meaning an external keyboard and mouse solution. When you see laptop users, notice how many at least use an external mouse instead of a touch-pad.
That is exactly my opinion. Desktops and tablets each have their place. For general email and internet use, 95% of the time it is either on my iPad or iPhone. When it comes to documents, photo editing, etc, the iMac wins.
 

shavefan

I’m not a fan
Filling out a form where? That's a big issue. In the field? Tablet. In a kiosk or office environment? Desktop. I skip laptops because they can be heavy for field use, and the keyboards even on the largest are cramped, meaning an external keyboard and mouse solution. When you see laptop users, notice how many at least use an external mouse instead of a touch-pad.

The problem with a tablet is handwriting recognition. If you need to type something, you lose nearly half the screen for a virtual keyboard. It can be done, but I've noticed configuring some software on the things that it's slower than an actual keyboard. For some people, it's a lot slower.

Also be aware of potential legal snags. In some places, an electronic copy is not considered valid. In those instances, it has to be on paper, and the paper maintained in storage.

+1
 
I prefer a super light and thin laptop like a Yoga book. I like having a physical keyboard and being able to run any software I wish on the machine.
 
Agree that as a customer I would expect to use a tablet when mobile and a prefer a desktop/kiosk setup if in a fixed location.

I understand that PDF is an established format, but as a user I never liked using the acrobat app or dealing with the fixed paper layout being mapped to a computer screen. It mostly works on a large display (especially if one can rotate the monitor vertically) but does not map well to a tablet or mobile phone. Too much scrolling around and zoom +/- to figure out where one is at. There are also certain formatting restrictions which may or may not apply to your business situation that could cause snags....for example I recently needed to fill out a PDF form as part of authorizing a financial transaction, where there was 4 digit ID number to enter in one field. In my case it started with a zero, like "0123" but acroread would convert that input and only display "123", so I printed the form after most everything else had been typed and wrote that field by hand. It was not a big deal for me since I had to print the form so that I could sign it.

I expect this goes way beyond what you need or are considering but ideally you might have some simple presentation app ask for the relevant information in a logical order and then push it to your database and print out the receipt with everything formatted as desired.
 
good points. The customers fill out the stuff in the office.

Agree that as a customer I would expect to use a tablet when mobile and a prefer a desktop/kiosk setup if in a fixed location.

I understand that PDF is an established format, but as a user I never liked using the acrobat app or dealing with the fixed paper layout being mapped to a computer screen. It mostly works on a large display (especially if one can rotate the monitor vertically) but does not map well to a tablet or mobile phone. Too much scrolling around and zoom +/- to figure out where one is at. There are also certain formatting restrictions which may or may not apply to your business situation that could cause snags....for example I recently needed to fill out a PDF form as part of authorizing a financial transaction, where there was 4 digit ID number to enter in one field. In my case it started with a zero, like "0123" but acroread would convert that input and only display "123", so I printed the form after most everything else had been typed and wrote that field by hand. It was not a big deal for me since I had to print the form so that I could sign it.

I expect this goes way beyond what you need or are considering but ideally you might have some simple presentation app ask for the relevant information in a logical order and then push it to your database and print out the receipt with everything formatted as desired.

I was thinking about this very thing. There are no special numbers and in my trials there was no issue with people filling out what they needed. Ultimately I would like it all attached to an app on our website. A desktop in the office or a link sent to folks., but I run into the the need for the lease to be able to be read before entering information. Most people don't read them anyway but they have to have the option. There is always that one guy who goes through it line by line trying to cross out what he does not agree with and I have to send him packing.
 
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