iPad or Tablet...for IPSC scoring.

jakfrost

jakfrost

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Thinking it might be time to lose the pen and paper for scoring training events and even matches. Been to at least 3 this summer that were using the electronic method and it seems like perhaps its time has come.

Anyone been down this road and made a decision they could share? What works and what doesn't? Pros and Cons?

Thanks,
Jim
Club IPSC rep
 
You might want to talk to Raymond at GRGC pretty much all IPSC matches he organize in Guelph uses tablets (instead of the competitor signing, they have to hit "save" instead for their score)
 
We initially bought inexpensive acer 7" tablets ($95 at Costco). Pros: They worked fine, inexpensive. Cons: in less than a year they seemed to be unable to hold a charge for an entire day so we had to plug them in between squads or purchase a portable charger.

Now we use iPads with Survivor brand cases and they are awesome. Pros: reliable, big screens that make it easier to read and input scores especially when in full sun, cases are very durable and weather resistant. Cons:expensive

Practiscore worked well on both platforms, no advantage to either platform in that regard.
 
elnady said:
You might want to talk to Raymond at GRGC pretty much all IPSC matches he organize in Guelph uses tablets (instead of the competitor signing, they have to hit "save" instead for their score)
Click to expand...

Except, Ray is borrowing those Galaxy Tab 3 tablets from Burlington... Those been used for over a year at Burlington weekly practice. Same tablet model as Alex uses at OPSL matches. Wentworth club is using Galaxy Tab 2 for over a year too. We ran both of those at 2x2x2 match in both clubs at the beginning of 2016.

PS: I might have something to do with PractiScore for Android
 
We've been using the Nexus 7 2013 locally. They are quite good, but if it is bright out and guys and leaving screen on between competitors then it won't quite last a day outside.

Another thing I've seen in the States is e-readers. There is a bit of info on the practiscore website about them, sounds like you have to hack / root them and install another OS? But I think they last a lot longer on a charge.
 
adamg said:
Another thing I've seen in the States is e-readers. There is a bit of info on the practiscore website about them, sounds like you have to hack / root them and install another OS? But I think they last a lot longer on a charge.
Click to expand...

It is worth to mention that because of the e-ink display, screen refresh/update is rather slow, which is generally perceived as if device is slow, yet it is just the screen... and also the most widely used tablet is discontinued by manufacturer.
 
I usually use practiscore with my phone...
I bet you could scrounge up a few older iPhones or androids if you wanted to run a match
 
euxx said:
It is worth to mention that because of the e-ink display, screen refresh/update is rather slow, which is generally perceived as if device is slow, yet it is just the screen... and also the most widely used tablet is discontinued by manufacturer.
Click to expand...

For sure, they feel super slow to the person trying to type in the scores.
 
adamg said:
For sure, they feel super slow to the person trying to type in the scores.
Click to expand...

Well, like I said, it updates screen slow, but you can keep tapping while it updates that slow screen... Just a perception. I measure slowness by how fast given tablet can generate match results and Nook can generate reports for WS-size match (30 stages x 1300 shooters) in under a minute. That is a lot of data to process...
 
We got Acer tablets here and have used them for four or so matches. Nothing wrong with the Practiscore sides but out of the 11 we bought, 2 require powering down and restarting at times. You should always have more tablets than you need because you will be running them back to the main stats for syncing results, charging or if one goes down for a reason.

We also have employed portable chargers. If every stage has one there are no power issues.

One quirk is the iOS and Android versions of Practiscore have slightly different UI, so your scorers may need to understand that.

Our dream initially was to have a decent wifi network and not have to swap tablets out for scoring. As it is, you can do it with a phone with the tablet going off the phone's hotspot. Slightly annoying.

When you finally invest in them you are highly advised to play around with your systems and do dry runs.
 
Samsung Galaxy's for us. We've got Tab 2s, 3s and 4s as we've grown; 14 in total now.
All picked up at Costco.

We use them for USPSA qualifiers, IPSC and Multigun. It's been 3 years since we bailed on WinMSS. No regrets at all!

We had an Acer from Best Buy, but it died in about 6 months. All of the Samsung units work really well.
I can't imagine what it would be like to go back to WinMSS and manual data entry back at a Stats shack. :puke:

TMSA loaned us some Ipads for the nationals (Yes, this year's IPSC Canada nationals was run on practiscore) and they worked quite well; only difference I found was that they seemed sync to up a little easier. I don't think it was enough to justify the extra expense of an Ipad over a Samsung Tab. (and I, personally am an Apple Ipad, Iphone, Iwatch guy!)

This Portable Wifi is really handy -

ht tps://www.amazon.ca/TL-MR3040-Wireless-Portable-Compatible-Selected/dp/B0088PPFP4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1475167310&sr=8-2&keywords=tp-link+tl-mr3020

Compact, Battery powered, charge lasts all day and more. The Galaxy's find it pretty quick too.
(Credit to the guys in BC, they tipped me off to it!)
 
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Our club uses Nook e-readers and practiscore for the ranges (we have 5) and usually my iPad Mini for master as I like the extra competitor management you can do over the Android version. We have an android Tablet as backup master.
It might be just me and not knowing Android (Euxx?) The iOS version allows checking in people, staff, reports on Squad Lista nd checked in list .
Other than that, either version works well. I do like how you can select which devices you want to pull from in Android though. Assume you can pull from several at same time. (Euxx?)
 
dinsdale said:
Our club uses Nook e-readers and practiscore for the ranges (we have 5) and usually my iPad Mini for master as I like the extra competitor management you can do over the Android version. We have an android Tablet as backup master.
It might be just me and not knowing Android (Euxx?) The iOS version allows checking in people, staff, reports on Squad Lista nd checked in list .
Click to expand...

That is in todo list for android app. It is somewhat help up to support custom "checks" instead of ones hardcoded in ios app...

dinsdale said:
Other than that, either version works well. I do like how you can select which devices you want to pull from in Android though. Assume you can pull from several at same time. (Euxx?)
Click to expand...

Yes, you can select multiple and pull them at once. Same goes for PS Competitor app - i.e. if you select multiple scoring devices on your wifi, then "referesh" button on the main screen will try to pull updates from them (one tap update for current results).
 
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Freedom Ventures said:
This Portable Wifi is really handy -

ht tps://www.amazon.ca/TL-MR3040-Wireless-Portable-Compatible-Selected/dp/B0088PPFP4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1475167310&sr=8-2&keywords=tp-link+tl-mr3020

Compact, Battery powered, charge lasts all day and more. The Galaxy's find it pretty quick too.
(Credit to the guys in BC, they tipped me off to it!)
Click to expand...

Thanks! And thanks guys in BC ;)
 
Just a heads up that all new Practiscore features are implemented on Android far before they are set up for Apple. Keep that is mind when making your decision.

On the up side for apple, I think they have better screens, better power management and they are able to connect to the network and other devices much easier.
 
I would have said the opposite. We are waiting for PS to add PRS scoring to the android version and had to run our iPhones for our last match. I also find iOS easier to use than android but ymmv.
 
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