What Software? Which PDA?

Thunk

Thunk

Well-known member
Ironman
When I walk up to the boss I get out a scorepad and a pencil and write my scores the old-fashioned way. Nothing wrong with that, but I would like to be able to use the analytical power of some of the software that is around today. The question is - what software? What are the best - and worst - features of the different programs available? Which one do you use?

And since I don't have a PDA I'll have to buy one. I think the choice of PDA will be dictated by the software selected, so your comments on the PDA you use with your chosen software would also be most welcome.
 
pHz

pHz

The American
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
American Shoot
another bowbuddy user here - apart from the odd personal concern with vista on my laptop (and having to switch from linux to windows to sync bowbuddy) i cant find fault with it so far

use it on a little HP iPAQ i got for xmas just to run bowbuddy on - i have bowbuddy installed to a 1Gb SD card that holds the program and all its data (but thats really only so i can still easily back up in to linux)

what i personally like about bowbuddy is the ease of score entry (tap the virtual target face) and the different modes on the scoresheet tab where you can see colour coded arrow spreads for each distance shot / bar chart distribution of each scoring zone / etc

slainte :cheerful: rob
 
Andy

Andy

Member
Obviously I would have to suggest eScorePad ;). It runs on window mobile / pocket PC the same as bowbuddy. Plus you know who to contact if you want help or have ant suggestions. It does run in demo mode so you can try before you buy.

Andy
 
paulhuk

paulhuk

New member
I'm another Bowbuddy user on an Acer PDA, which I bought specifically to run bb on. I like that the software shows whre the group of arrows is centred.

At comps I use the BB just to be able to check the scorers adding up :)
 
addo

addo

New member
Guy at my club has bowbuddy.Its so easy to plot your scores.Has plenty of options and handy stats as well.It also dosen't need that good a pda to run it.They are dirt cheap on ebay.

I just been to bowbuddy website and theyv'e put the price up since i last visited.Still seems good value to me though.
 
Anna K

Anna K

New member
Ironman
I have an O2 XDA Orbit mobile phone (I didn't want yet another gadget to lose/break) and I have bowbuddy. I looked at escorepad but I wanted the touch screen capabilities that bowbuddy has. I'm very pleased with both the phone and bowbuddy.
 
Nightimer

Nightimer

New member
I bought a PDA for ?85 from Amazon (It came with memory card,case and car charger.
I paid about ?20 for Bow Buddy so I set myself up for just over ?100.
The only downside to scoring by PDA is they are not easy to see in bright sunshine (not that we get much).

Nightimer
 
archerybrian

archerybrian

Member
Hi

The wife uses EScorePad on a Dell PDA bought on Ebay for about ?50, and I use Bowbuddy on a Hp PDA (again from ebay for ?55), which I also use as a sat nav. So I can use it to find the shoot and then use it to score.

You don't need to spend a fortune on a new whistle and bells PDA for either of the software as an older one will do.

The wife loves Escorepad and likes the simple touchpad buttons (colours and numbers) for the scores. Her only bug bear is that she can't transfer her scores from the PDA into her Excel spreadsheet (She has to do this manually)

I like the touchpad target on bowbuddy, but it can be a bit difficult with line cutters, you have to be sure that you have the right score. But I like the fact it gives you the centre of your group and you can make ajustments (Except when your groups are bigger than the boss!!!!!)

I tried bowbuddy for a member of our club who is disabled and cannot always walk up to the target. With the other archers using his PDA (Guess what ?50 from Ebay. Noticing a pattern here) with Bowbuddy they can get his score and he can see where his groups are.

As usual with everthing in life it horses for courses. Both can be used in demo mode before you buy, so you can try both and see which suits you. All the PDAs we have run on Windows mobile 2003, I'm not sure whether these can be used on a Palm.

Hope this helps.

Brian
 
Fugue

Fugue

Member
Bowbuddy and HTC Diamond, (probably the best phone available anywhere!)

I took it down the the GNAM, but decided that the additional analysis of the impact of 20 - 30 mph winds on my groups was unneccessary!
 
Magpie56

Magpie56

New member
Symbion OS and UIQ on Sony

Anyone know of anysoftware for these phones or do get my HP4700 repaired/replaced ?
 
Saphire

Saphire

Member
I use archery suite on a cheap palm, I have been using it for the last 4 years. There is different methods of scoring, a target face which can be blown up and large square boxes in the correct colors so you don't need to worry about reflections when it sunny.
 
chemistry

chemistry

Member
Fugue said:
Bowbuddy and HTC Diamond, (probably the best phone available anywhere!)

I took it down the the GNAM, but decided that the additional analysis of the impact of 20 - 30 mph winds on my groups was unneccessary!
Click to expand...
I've just got one of these phones (HTC Touch Diamond) and have to say I don't rate it. It's slow and the battery life sucks! I get a day, day and a half's use at most. Until I get the longer life battery, I couldn't recommend it to anyone. :pessimist

Still, I'd never thought of running archery software on it....maybe that will be the killer app that will make all the difference!
 
B

Black Arrow

New member
I've been using Andy's Escorepad for a couple of years now (just upgraded to V4) running on a Compaq Ipaq.

It runs fine and the new version includes a good timeline handicap analysis and the ability to host up to six archers at a time which is handy at those shoots where they take away the score slips.
 
grimsby archer

grimsby archer

New member
Imagine a brave new world where we all had wireless enabled palmtops linked across a wireless network to a server running leader boards.
We could all get end by end feedback on how we are doing compared to our neighbours on a full leaderboard.
Having spent all last weekend running the leaderboard for the EMAS DFS, it was exciting watching the little comps as people fought their way up (and down) the ladder. Far more exciting than standing and shooting in an anonymous insular field. No wonder archery is boring.

Imagine a F1 race or tennis match where you can only see one competitor and dont get to know whats happening till after the event. (ok, in F1 terms, thats rallying when you just see car after car go by and dont get to know what happened)
 
D

dfunct

New member
Funny you should say that - when I finish the piece of software I'm working on for BUTC it should be possible to do just that...
 
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