Review: Samsung 21.5" Notebook LCD Display

As promised, here's my feedback on this display.  We took two of them to a client's office by train.  The carry case we used was a GearGrip LCD Harness which worked really well (it was like adding a laptop bag).  The display itself was very easy to setup; I would not worry about the least knowledgeable user taking this to a client's office.  As soon as we hooked up the VGA cord, it worked.  On one of them we had to use the auto setup feature as the viewable area was slightly askew.  All in all, I think this model is well worth the $170 we paid for it.  Based on user feedback and projected demand, we'll probably be purchasing more of these (we have more than 40 in our audit group).

Happy travels to all the auditors out there, especially over busy season.

Multiple Displays in the Field

It's been a while since I posted so I thought I'd mention a thing or two before busy season hits. We've always had some pain points when it comes to working in the field. All of our uses have at least two monitors in the office (some have three). One of the consistent comments from the users is that they would like a very portable second monitor for them to take to a client's office. We've tried the Porter Case route for the full size desktop monitors but no one really used it (too bulky and hard to transport for our standard one week or less trips). We've also tried having our clients provide additional monitors but the small clients don't always have extras to share.

Our next option is the Samsung 21.5" Notebook LCD Display. I'm going to a client with a team on Monday and we'll be taking two with us for testing. It will especially interesting to see how the monitors hold up on the train (3-4 hrs). I'll post about our experience.

One thing to note about this monitor is that we tried to use the USB connection but the drivers didn't work on Windows 7  Professional x64 so we're using an analog monitor cable.

How do you deal with multiple displays in the field? Please post responses in the comments.

NEWS: Office 2010 has been released to manufacturing

Microsoft has released Office 2010 to manufacturing and has been available through volumn licensing from Microsoft Partners since May 1.  The gereral release to all consumers (on retail shelves) is scheduled for June.

NEWS: Engagement 6.1.2 Issues

This e-fxNews was released on 4/7/2010 and discusses specific issues identified when using version 6.1.2. Don't forget to take a look at the "NOTE REGARDING UPCOMING RELEASES" section. It specifically mentions that the next release (version 6.5, which is scheduled for a July release date) will not support 64-bit version of Office 2010 or IPv6. I find it a bit strange that CCH hasn't released more detailed information about their plans to move Engagement to a true 64-bit application. Interestingly enough, Engagement gained compatibility with 64-bit SQL 2005 with version 6.0.

Nevertheless, the newsletter is included below.

************************************************

Dear ProSystem fx Engagement Customer:

Based on your current e-fxNews profile, below is an item you may find of interest.

For more information about e-fxNews, or to update your profile, visit our web site at http://support.cch.com/notes/efxnews.aspx.

Online self-service help is now available. Find answers to your CCH questions in our knowledge base at http://support.cch.com.

*************************
Some customers who have moved to Engagement v. 6.1.2 are experiencing longer than normal refresh times for Microsoft Word workpapers containing large numbers of TBLinks. Most often these delays are occurring when the number of TBLinks in a document exceeds 1000, but smaller delays may exist with fewer links as well. We have identified the cause of this issue and have implemented changes to dramatically improve refresh times in Engagement v. 6.5 scheduled for July. However, because of the extensiveness of the change and the small number of customers likely impacted by this issue, we have decided to not issue an interim patch for Engagement. Users that routinely have large number of TBLinks in Microsoft Word documents may wish to consider delaying upgrade until v. 6.5.

Additionally, a small percentage of customers that have upgraded to Engagement v. 6.1.2 have reported the program becoming unresponsive when synchronizing a binder immediately after the upgrade. This situation happens when the Engagement synch service (PFXSYNPFTService) stops. The service will fail to start when manually starting it via the Services console. We are currently investigating this issue to determine the cause. In most instances, the resolution for this issue is to repair Engagement.

As a reminder, known issues like these, as well as FAQs and other information, are available 24/7 on our updated Engagement support website at http://support.cch.com/productsupport/productSupport.aspx?path=%2fTopics%2fproduct_support%2fpfx_office%2fpfx_engagement.

NOTE REGARDING UPCOMING RELEASES: Starting with our version 6.5 release of Engagement this summer, we will no longer be supporting direct upgrade from Engagement versions prior to v. 5.5. If you are using version 5.0 or earlier, we strongly recommend you upgrade to the latest version by July 2010 in order to support direct upgrade in the future. Also, please note that Engagement v. 6.5 will not support the 64-bit version of Office 2010 or IP v. 6.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact Technical Support at 1-800-739-9998, option 4.

Sincerely,CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Find answers to your CCH questions in our knowledge base at http://support.cch.com/answers/

****** UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION ******
To stop receiving e-fx News announcements, reply to this email, type UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line, and include the following information in the body of the message:

- Account number
- Email address to unsubscribe

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Attention: Customer Service
9111 E Douglas Avenue, Suite 200
Wichita, KS 67207

NEWS: Engagement 6.1.2 Released

This is a bit late but better than never. I've included the text of an e-fxNews news letter discussing the release of version 6.1.2 which is supposed to be compatible with Windows 7. Since Busy Season is now over, my IT group and I will be testing it out over the next few weeks. I'd love to hear if anyone is already using this version and if you are experiencing any major problems.

*******************************************************

Dear ProSystem fx Engagement Customer:

Based on your current e-fxNews profile, below is an item you may find of interest.

For more information about e-fxNews, or to update your profile, visit our web site at http://support.cch.com/notes/efxnews.aspx.

Online self-service help is now available. Find answers to your CCH questions in our knowledge base at http://support.cch.com.

*************************
Engagement v. 6.1.2 is now available. Your DVD should be arriving at your office next week. This release provides critical updates to the Engagement and Knowledge Coach application.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR 6.X CUSTOMERS: We recommend that all customers using Engagement or Knowledge Coach v. 6.0 or v. 6.1 upgrade to v. 6.1.2 to take advantage of updates implemented since those releases. This also applies to customers who have installed a patch to address lock-up or other issues.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR KNOWLEDGE COACH CUSTOMERS: ProSystem fx Engagement v. 6.1.2 MUST be installed prior to you installing the 2010 Knowledge-Based Audits of Employee Benefit Plans for Knowledge Coach or any future Knowledge Coach titles. You will receive a separate e-fx News regarding the Employee Benefit Plans title.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR 5.X CUSTOMERS: Customers currently using any 5.x version may upgrade at their discretion. Version 6.1.2 includes Windows 7 compatibility as well as integration with ProSystem fx Portal and ProSystem fx Tax (SaaS) products which may be needed by some customers. However, as there is always a risk associated with a software change, customers on 5.x should carefully consider these risks before upgrading during the busy season.

This Engagement v. 6.1.2 release resolves the following issues reported by 6.0 and 6.1 users:

• Issues related to the Engagement application locking-up upon open or close of binders are fixed where attributable to the Engagement software.
• Prior period balances will now update when workpaper reference columns are selected for the subsidiary trial balance column of a consolidated trial balance.
• Performance is improved when consolidating several trial balances that include a large number of accounts.
• Data conversion errors will no longer occur when consolidating trial balances.
• Time out failures no longer occur when using the Import from Engagement TB function.
• Trial balance links now display the correct balances when the same workpaper is open in more than one binder and the dual monitors option is not selected.
• Trial balance links to accounts over 32 characters and all variance column links now display correct values.
• Trial balance report workpaper references now display with the correct account if you re-imported and regrouped the accounts.
• Rounding account balances in consolidated trial balances are now accurate.
• Performance is improved when saving journal entries with a large number of lines.
• Doubling or quadrupling of trial balance link values in trial balances converted from Engagement v. 5.x no longer occurs.
• Edits made to “significant change description” fields in Knowledge Coach workpapers now flow to other staff members via synchronization, regardless of which user initiates the synchronization process.
• Problems with Excel will no longer occur when a non-Engagement Excel workbook is open and you close a Knowledge Coach Excel workbook.

NOTE REGARDING UPCOMING RELEASES: Starting with our version 6.5 release of Engagement this summer, we will no longer be supporting direct upgrade from Engagement versions prior to v. 5.5. If you are using version 5.0 or earlier, we strongly recommend you upgrade to the latest version by July 2010 in order to support direct upgrade in the future.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact Technical Support at 1-800-739-9998, option 4.

Sincerely,

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Find answers to your CCH questions in our knowledge base at http://support.cch.com/answers/

****** UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION ******
To stop receiving e-fx News announcements, reply to this email, type UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line, and include the following information in the body of the message:

- Account number
- Email address to unsubscribe

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Attention: Customer Service
9111 E Douglas Avenue, Suite 200
Wichita, KS 67207

NEWS: Windows 7 Compatibility Center

Just checked the Windows 7 Compatibility Center and it indicated that Engagement 6.1 (listed as a Wolters Kluwer product) is compatible with Windows 7. However, after reading a bit more on the compatibility levels (see "What do the different compatibility icons mean?" on this page), it appears that CCH just told Microsoft that it's compatible. It has not undergone testing by Microsoft (no Windows 7 compatibility logo).

NEWS: Engagement 6.1 and Other Updates

I spoke with Engagement Support last week about the release of version 6.1. Basically, they've seen some sporatic issues with the synchronization of binders (sync process hangs). 6.1 has been released on a limited basis (I assume to get some real life data on the sync issue) and a wide release date hasn't been set.

While I was on the phone I also asked about Engagement's planned compatibility with Office 2010 and was told that nothing has been released internally to the Support team about Office 2010 compatibility. The support person did say he tried installing Office 2010 with Engagement 6.1 on a virtual machine and got all kinds of errors. Because I'm running Windows 7 Pro x64 the conversation naturally gravitated to Engagement's architeture, specifically 32 vs. 64-bit. The support person said that for the forseeable future (meaning he hasn't heard anything to the contrary) Engagement will be a 32-bit application. I guess those of us hoping for a true 64-bit application (and not just one that works on a 64-bit OS) are out of luck.

NEWS: Office 2010 Compatibility

I tried Office 2010 64-Bit with Engagement 5.7 running on Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit and....it didn't work. I tried faking Engagement out by manually moving the add-in files to what I thought were the appropriate locations but still not luck. I then tried to manually add them to the Office 2010 apps using the add-ins dialogs but I kept getting an error that seemed to say the code used in the Engagement 5.7 add-ins were not compatible with Office 2010 64-Bit (I don't know if they're compatible with Office 2010 32-Bit because I haven't tried it yet).

Anyone else testing Office 2010 using different combinations than I did? I'd love to hear you're experiences.