Electronic Sketchpad

[wawrwick56]

Hi,

a question for the techies amongst us really.

I occasionally measure houses for professional reasons, and use a pad and pen to basically sketch the elevations and floorplans, then put measurements in them, then take it back and produce scaled drawings on autocad from them.

I'm looking for an electronic version of that really, something simple that I can use whilst measuring on site.

It must be light so I can hold with one hand whilst writing and measuring and possibly put in a jacket pocket. My notepad is A5 size and that would be ideal.

Also being able to store the image and use another page as it were, is essential if I have to do a few in a day/week.

I know I would need an electronic pen too, so a neat piece of equipment which combines the two would be good.

Any ideas/recommendations anyone?

I did google it and it came up with a myriad options ranging from £30-600 without any real explanation of the difference.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks

[Romeo Sensini]

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You're welcome 

[PunterNumber69]

IPad Pro with the Apple Pencil or a similar much cheaper device that doesn't have an Apple on it.

I think it's more about the software.

[lostandfound]

Latest iPad Pro and iPhone Pro models have a LIDAR scanne and can take measurements for you using Apple's Measure app or 3rd party apps.

Lots of vids on Youtube such as ...

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[PunterNumber69]

Or just stick with the pen and paper approach as it'll save you about £1000. You won't look as flash on site but it'll do the job.

A Windows tablet PC with a stylus with the right software will also do the job.

[lillythesavage]

Etch-a-sketch 

[mr.bluesky]

Etch-a-sketch 

Brilliant if everything you wanted to draw had straight lines 

[lamboman]

I wouldn't bank on anything by Apple being in any way accurate.

[timsussex]

with a windows 2in1 laptop/tablet and an electronic  pencil you can use just about any Windows software

useful if you already use a windows program

[PepeMAGA]

Another option is use an e-pen. All use a pad but it will save an electronic copy.

[scutty brown]

Years ago I saw a sparky measure up rooms in a house with a pocket sized tablet with a built in laser rangefinder. The found distances and angles went straight into an on-screen plan.
No idea what it was called, but they do exist

[Camargue]

Might do the trick?
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[Gordon Bennett]

Sorry if this is a bit vague but it might give a hint at what's out there....

Was getting sized up for my free combi boiler under some green scheme or other. Chap was basically measuring my rooms for volume and factoring in windows and doors.
He scooted around the house with what looked like a fancy digital laser tape measure but it was doing a lot of calculations on the fly so he was saving the data for each room and in minutes he had my house's total dimensions and heat efficiency. I'm pretty sure the data was stored in the gizmo if he wanted to access it later to draw up some plans (or have some fancy programme that extracted the data and drew the plans automatically).

Maybe fancy laser measures have this sort of functionality but most users don't ever get that far into the operating manual?

[Marmalade]

Apple pen 2 is fairly advanced though a bit chunky to hold. Magnetically attaches to the newish iPad and auto-charges. Draws basic shapes on auto if you want. Good luck.

[rathbone]

Might do the trick?
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Agreed, I've used a Disto from time to time to do surveys, yet to try the Disto Plan App but it could potentially save lots of time if you can import the drawing directly into CAD.