Leica DISTO S910 Professional Package

Site interior kitchen/wall survey. Spot on, easy to use and very convenient and portable. Can be run from mobile phones with very easy to use mobile App. Have used laser products and prodim but found this very good value for money.

We are an architectural consultancy. We have been pleased with the Disto devices over the years, upgrading to newer models regularly. We have been confident that these devices would suit our way of work, straight out of the box.Purchased November 2018 (six months ago), the S910 has departed from this narative and has disappointed so far. It mainly gets left behind in the office and our faithfull old Disto D5 goes out on survey in preference and gets the job done every time.To start with we were unable to register the device online for the offered extra warranty time. Then we emailed for help to resolve, but there was no response.The 3D capabilities of the new device were the attraction, but we have thus far found the old D5 quicker, easier and more reliable. There is a learning curve for the S910 which we have have not yet surmounted in 6 months. We have read the manual. We have watched uTube videos. We have practiced with the device out of hours. Sometimes we have doubled up, using both devices on a site survey, with the consequent time penalty. Occasionally we get back and the device has recorded nothing. Sometimes the recorded dxf data is difficult to make useful sense of.The 'free' apps are of little use to us. We found the advertising regarding these misleading. In 6 months the S910 has cost us money and time. No doubt it will be a capable device in the right trained hands in the right use case. On spec, the laser is stronger than the one in our old D5 which should be helpful on a sunny day, but in practice we have noticed no difference. The S910 looks and feels flimsy next to the rubberised D5 which feels better in the hand. The little sliding cover over the data/USB port is loose and flips up and down by gravity alone which raises doubt over claims of watertightness. The screw thread on the brass alloy base of the FTA360s (tilting base) is not easy to align and and is showing signs of premature wear, with little flakes of brass around the hole. The tilting base has some slack in its threaded movement. The case that holds all the Disto kit is poorly conceived. All the kit comes out of the case but the lid will only close if all the pieces are put back into the case in a particular way, which can be frustrating at the end of a survey. The tripod in the kit is a little insubstantial in practice, but especially for the money. Our old Leica Tri100 tripod is better. The rechargeable (only) device loses its charge and the user must remember to top up prior to each use. To run out of charge on site would be frustrating, spare batteries from the D5 being of no use. The touch screen on the device takes a particular kind of touch, which this user has not mastered. The user guide on pdf is poor/unintuitive.We hope to have a breakthrough with the S910, and find its true potential. We hope the S910 can continue in the relationship we have enjoyed with the Disto line. Right now, LeicaDisto has lost some goodwill with us. If and when the device becomes useful to us we will revisit and revise this review.