Technology For Agents

I was excited the other day, because a well known blog over at jkontherun.com noticed me over here at TechForAgents.com and decided to write about me using the V5740 wireless card from Verizon Wireless.

They gave me some great insight about my experiences using the V5740. The informed me that they have had better experiences using the V620, which is another card (albiet more expensive) available to purchase from Verizon. Yesterday, I took a drop be the same brick and mortar store and spoke to my sales rep, Carolina, about the cards. I actually went in to replace the card with the newer version but she actually corrected me.

She informed me that the V5740 was actually the newer card, and that the V620 is the card that they started using when they first started advertising the wireless internet service. They disagreed that I would get better reception with the V620, but I thought I’d give it a shot anyway. Unfortunately, she informed me that she would have to order the card and that it would take about 2 business days to get it in. I had an important meeting to go to that afternoon, so I couldn’t trade in my card just yet. Caroline told me that I had to trade my card in right then in order to order the new one, which I was suprised they couldn’t bend the rules just a bit. None the less, I will try to revisit the store soon before my trial is up and see how things work out with the V620.

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What an exciting week it’s been! As you may have noticed, I hinted to a purchase in my last post about a new Tablet PC. I bought my first laptop computer this week, and decided that my first should be one built to last a while. After reading review after review at sites such as CNet, and Newegg, I finally pulled the trigger and clicked, “confirm order”. Mind you I sat there looking at it for about 15 minutes, but I did press it!

I decided to purchase Toshiba’s newer Tablet PCs, the Portege M400. There are quite a few reasons that influenced my purchase. First of all, I needed a laptop that would allow me to be mobile. I had a laptop in the office that I had received as a gift, but the battery simply did not hold a charge, and every replacement battery I purchased died after 2 weeks. That kind of brings the whole mobile thing out of the picture if you need to have the laptop plugged in to work, doesn’t it?

I also wanted a Tablet PC because I felt it would be great to have my clients sign real estate contracts digitally. We’ve been doing it for years at grocery stores, malls, and various other locations. Why not in real estate as well? After Bill Clinton signed the Digital Signature law in 2000, it all became legal.

Lastly, I needed a Tablet PC that was going to be Windows Vista ready. I also wanted it to be able to take advantage of all the unique eye candy that Vista will be able to offer, plus the performance enhancements of having a dual core computer. The Toshiba Portege M400 allows for all of these features to take place. I’m really surprised that it came with a dual core cpu; that just makes the purchase all the more easier.

After making the purchase from Newegg with a final cost of $1610 with shipping, which by the way is my only source for buying computer components, I eagerly awaited its arrival. It came 2 days later as promised, without a scratch. I quickly began to boot up the pc, and marveled at its “new laptop smell”.

Unusual Design and Software Preloading

I began to notice something that quickly bugged me. In my history of building computers, I really enjoyed running a clean system with an efficient system tray (the less icons on the bottom right of your pc was always a good sign for me; computers run more efficiently that way). The Toshiba Portege M400 comes preloaded with tons of software, albeit some not really necessary, but the system tray looked horrendous. I lucked off, being that I know how to be rid of these pesky processes running in the background. However, for the agent that is looking to just boot up a computer and get going? Those processes could slow down the performance of the laptop itself, and it may cost money to have their local techie to remove them. It took quite a bit of cleaning but finally, I’ve gotten them down to the bare minimum.

That Pesky DVD Player

The only other thing that really bugs me about the Toshiba Portege M400 is the DVD. The DVD is located on the right side of the laptop, and it sits flush. The only piece of it that is not flush is that actual button to open the DVD player. If you’ve ever owned a laptop, you know how these DVD/CD trays feel very fragile (I wouldn’t ever put too much pressure on it). Simply having the button protruding from the rest of the laptop is ridiculous. When I have the laptop in Tablet mode, the DVD player sits at the bottom of the orientation of the laptop. This means that if you sit the Tablet in vertical mode resting against your arm while taking notes this button can be EASILY pressed. I can imagine someone unlucky (let’s hope not me), that will accidentally open the DVD, only to swing the Tablet some direction and accidentally damage the DVD/CD tray. I feel that the button to open the DVD should be flush with the entire laptop, so that any accidental mishaps can be avoided.

My Conclusion So Far

As you can see, these are my first initial impressions of the Toshiba Tablet PC Portege M400. I will continue to use it daily, and learn its pros and cons so that I can deliver a great review very soon, after using it daily in the life of a real estate agent. Overall, the Portege M400 is a great laptop with fantastic features. There are just some design flaws, and software preloading that keeps this laptop from being perfect for the real estate agent.

Search for the latest prices for the Toshiba Portege M400 over at Pricegrabber.

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I had a chance to get setup yesterday with Verizon Wireless Wireless Broadband access. It’s quite a neat feature to have a Tablet PC and be able to access the internet from each of my client’s homes. At the brick and mortar store, I met with a sales representative and we quickly identified the PC card for my Toshiba Portege M400 Tablet PC, the PC 5740, and was able to get a $50 discount with free activation. One major issue that concerned me was, “What if I don’t like the network, it’s speeds, or the accessibility?”. Verizon had an answer for me.

Verizon wireless offered me a 15 day trial (which I am still in) to try out their wireless network with no obligations. I did have to pay for the hardware up front, but this will be reimbursed should I return all purchased products due to dissatisfaction. So far, I’ve experienced some frustrations with the Verizon Wireless network which I will go into detail below.

Pros

I am able to pull up contracts from the internet at any location. I am also able to quickly investigate properties that are seen during a tour that my clients find an interest in. Overall, having the accessibility to the internet provides that I can be efficient with both my client’s and my time. Why make a trip back to the office to look up that house around the corner? I simply just need to open up the laptop, and it’s specific details are a click away. I am able to be truly mobile, which I feel will be the way technology will eventually leave it’s mark on the real estate business.

Cons

Connectivity. Speeds. I find that when entering buildings or attempting to access the internet while riding passenger in a vehicle beings a seemingly difficult task. Please bare in mind that all my conclusions are based on the Houston coverage area. Your speeds and connectivity may be better, or worse, than mine. When entering homes I notice that my reception go down to one or no bars, which results in a very sluggish internet speed. I also find that some email sites, such as Gmail, are very hard to get working without any hitches. I must constantly reload the site to maintain a connection; the moment I leave it alone for more than 10 minutes the site will lock up. I have no connectivity issues with a land based internet access such as my office T1, so I must diagnose this to be due to Verizon Wireless’s network.

I find that the issues are causing unwanted frustration, and I may look to see if I get better connectivity issues with a different PC card. There are other types of cards that I could of chose from (also more expensive), but I will follow up on my endeavors to find a truly wireless, reliable internet broadband network.

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I’ve just received word that release candidate 2 of the Windows Vista platform is now currently out for testing for a select group of beta testers. This stage is usually right before full production, so this is great news for those of you eagerly anticipating it’s release. I’ve been using Vista for some time now and I feel it’s quite an advancement in security and aesthetics. Windows Vista will is said by Microsoft to have major advancements in security, so Vista will help in keeping those confidential files located on your computer safe. You can download the beta at FileForum now! (In beta testing; do not recommend to install on current main computers for normal working environments.)

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