Does anyone have any input on the Leica CS20? I'm considering upgrading our CS15s. We've been using the 15's for awhile, and are fairly pleased. The main complaint is screen brightness. Is it worth upgrading?
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Much faster processor and a significantly bigger and brighter screen than the CS15. of course there is a trade off with battery consumption.
backspur, post: 428844, member: 11896 wrote: Does anyone have any input on the Leica CS20? I'm considering upgrading our CS15s. We've been using the 15's for awhile, and are fairly pleased. The main complaint is screen brightness. Is it worth upgrading?
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Screen brightness is better on the CS20. Software not better if you like smartcodes. They disappeared from captivate and nobody from our company wants to take the new instrument out if they are feature and level surveying. They might figure out how to make the new style of coding work in time though. Pegging and traversing is better with the CS20 as the automated foresight arcs turning function and the automated backsight checking during long setups make it worthwhile. Battery life is poor compared to the CS15. CS15 will usually make it the whole day on one good battery, CS20 will not make 1 whole day on its mega battery.
All good info. I'm disappointed to hear about Smartcodes. I thought battery life might be a problem. Not to mention, having to buy new batteries and chargers. How is the new coding system? Our Leica salesman really pushed it. We currently use Carlson style coding with three digit numeric codes. How stable is the system overall? Our CS15's crash a couple times a week.
I have been running CS20 for about 4-5 months after replacing CS15 and have to say it is way better.
As everyone mentioned already the screen is visible from any angle point even on extreme sun.
User interface is much better than on CS15.
I personally didn't find anything I would miss what I had on on CS15 and don't have on CS20.
I would no doubts recommend every one this upgrade.
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Is smartcodes the grid of buttons on screen that you can program for different codes?
I switched over from the CS15 to CS20 earlier this year. First, the screen is way better. With the CS15, and RX1250 for that matter, I used the x-sec application over smart codes. In Captivate you are able to set up cross section in the tools menu under the measure mode. It is almost as good as the x-section app. The only thing it seems to miss is the distance down the alignment you are from your last section. As for general coding, Captivate is greatly improved over Viva. The way strings are set up does wreak havoc on my format file for LisCAD but I'm coming up with a workaround. In general, Captivate is much better but it does need some little tweaks to smooth out field operations.
As for the batteries, as said previously, one will not get you through the day and the damn things don't work with any other equipment.
John Putnam, post: 428969, member: 1188 wrote: As for the batteries, as said previously, one will not get you through the day and the damn things don't work with any other equipment.
The Swiss work an average 35 hour work week...the batteries are fine, you're just asking them to work too d@mn hard 😉
James Fleming, post: 428971, member: 136 wrote: The Swiss work an average 35 hour work week...the batteries are fine, you're just asking them to work too d@mn hard 😉
The 2017 report features the happiness score averaged over the years 2014-2016. For that timespan, Norway is the overall happiest country in the world, even though oil prices have dropped. Close behind are Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland in a tight pack.
John Putnam, post: 428969, member: 1188 wrote: the damn things don't work with any other equipment
They work in the new LS digi levels for what it's worth...
We went from the 15 to the 20 almost a year ago. Definitely nicer. Better screens. Similar workflows. You'll pick it up quickly. Better keyboards. Some of the keystrokes are less intuitive ("OKAY" button at F1 instead of F6 in some spots). This thing eats batteries (Think Cookie Monster with a fresh box of cookies... It's gonna be messy). Less connection loss. If you use the new "Leica Line Work" coding then you won't miss Smartcodes. Unfortunately it's not compatible with InRoads SS2.
It's a worthwhile upgrade.
I'm thinking of buying another data collector. We use Leica and the CS20 has served us well. But it's 9? year old technology now. A solid state drive, more memory, and a far better camera would be cool and easy upgrades, I should think. Are the CS20s being sold today any different from the ones I bought 5 years ago? Have you heard of a new model coming soon?
FYI, I've seen the CS30 and I don't think that I want to go there - even with the strap on keyboard.
I think they might have a slightly faster processor and the modem is LTE. Other than that, not much has changed. I have an LTE version of the CS20 but mainly use my CS30 with the keyboard. Not much bigger than a CS20 with much improved performance. Without the keyboard the CS30 is almost useless in our climate, the rain can play havoc with the capacitive screen. I'm guessing the CS30 is on its way out given the fact that it runs Windows 10. I would love to take a look at the CC180 but have not gotten that serious.
The CS20/Captivate was a disappointing successor to the CS15/Smartworx Viva. So much heavier and Captivate does not have proper pinch to zoom or usable screen swipe like any $50+ smartphone can do. It's like Captivate was designed to run best on a tablet which is heavier again and unnecessary for boundary/limited topo; not everyone is on a construction site trying to setout off DWG's all day.
Until they die the TS15/GS14 is always more popular than the TS16/GS18 mainly due to weight but also Smartworx Viva is more productive to use once you learn the shortcuts which comes pretty quick with use.
.... Smartworx Viva is more productive to use once you learn the shortcuts ...
This was always true with every early version of Leicas software. Once you learned to think in Swiss you never wanted to use anything else. Until then the learning curve was a long struggle. I had some time with VIVA and the CS15. The software was OK, IMO, but what I remember most about it was that the little tiny pointy keys were uncomfortable to use. And that the keypad had some reliability/durability issues.