Recommend a visualiser for a primary school?

[kaphc]

Hi, I've been asked to research a possible visualiser for use in a junior school. The idea is that the school buys one for one class and then tries it out and if it works well as a teaching aid, they buy more for all the classes. In the mix is the fact that the school is running a mixture of Windows XP and Windows 7 (plans to upgrade to Windows 7 entirely are in negotiation).

 

Now I thought a visualiser was there just to magnify something up onto an interactive whiteboard, but looking at some online, there seems to be more functionality - e.g. a video camera or OHP as well.

 

There's such a wide variety of prices too, it is a case of you gets what you pays for or is cheap and cheerful just as good as something high-end?

 

Can anyone recommend me any makes/models to look at as a starting point?

 

Thank you

[laserblazer]

We have a very expensive one £800 - hardly ever used. Some £400 ones - seldom used and then we half a dozen of these Easi-View Visualiser for Schools and they are used regularly. Basically a webcam on a bendy stand but the Easi-View software is quite good.

[SimpleSi]

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/hardware/89144-classroom-visualiser.html

I use Aver Visuliasers - whatever is availble in the £250-£300 category - mind you haven't bought on in a while since all my classrooms have one - they are a must-have technology in my opinion

 

The cheap ones (sub £100) are a lot better than they used to be but they are toys compared to the ones that go in-line with the VGA signal

 

Simon

[TechSupp]

Yes we have quite a few Avermedia ones, but saying that they were quite happy to use out MS web ams that we had really bought for animation work! Aver ones do have some nice software though and in built lighting for poorlyblit objects etc and zoom featurez which magnify really quite well, never seen so much detail on a coin before having said all that depends on what money you have to spend.

[XiJ]

Our schools generally use Avemedia CP135 / CP150's.

 

Some have tried cheaper models against our advice - and came back for Avermedia

 

Entry level cost is around £230ish

[witch]

I wanted the Avermedia ones but we went with EasyView - they are cheap and cheerful webcam-on-a-stick but the teachers love them and use them a lot

[kaphc]

Thanks for the replies so far .... as far as the budget goes, I think the idea is that we go towards the bottom end of the range, but then again not so far down that we miss out on useful features! Is there are big difference in quality between USB visualisers and ones with the VGA signal?

[VeryPC_Colin_F]

Hi Kaphc

 

The USB visualiser are pretty good, We put lot of them into junior schools.

We Partner with the leading visualiser manufactures so in some cases we can provide free demonstrations for you . I have a Lumens dc125 on my desk which seams perfect for most visualiser needs.

 

I will PM You further information if you would like?

 

 

Col

[3s-gtech]

Quite a few Aver ones here. Some are a little annoying as they don't pass-through the VGA signal unless they're turned on, but that's a minor point. Good picture quality, the teachers like the ability to record from them, and not too expensive.