Visualisers - Thoughts?

[gob]

Hi All,

 

In the process of gathering visualiser quotes for a primary school I work at, we're looking to purchase about 8 for the school.

 

I'm looking at 2 visualisers in particular and wondered if anyone had any feedback on them

 

1. AVerMedia AVerVision F30 - Interactive Portable AVerVision F30 Visualiser / Document Camera

 

This one seems to be quite popular in primary schools and I have seen it mentioned on this forum before

 

2. Elmo MO-1 Elmo MO-1 Visualiser / Document Camera

 

I love the way this one looks, its very compact and wouldn't take up much desk space, but im wondering if its suitable for schools, anyone here used one of these before?

 

Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated, Ive also seen the Avermedia F-50 and CP135 mentioned on here, any feedback would great.

 

G

[robyholmes]

After seeing how these things are used in school...well how little they are used. I would only say one thing. Buy cheap. What your really looking for a webcam on a stick. I've found the TTS ones to do the job just fine for how much they are used.

Easi-View Visualiser for Schools

[dhicks]

Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated

 

For the same money, you could get an iPod touch instead - it has a 5 megapixel camera that you can mirror to the desktop PC, just like a visualiser. It doesn't come with a stand, but a retort stand would do quite nicely.

[arwen]

After seeing how these things are used in school...well how little they are used. I would only say one thing. Buy cheap. What your really looking for a webcam on a stick. I've found the TTS ones to do the job just fine for how much they are used.

Easi-View Visualiser for Schools

 

Another vote for these....

I have dozens of schools with these in every classroom. They used them for about 3 weeks solid and loved them. Now I'm lucky if I see one or two on a month.

They work great. Nice quality and are not too expensive, so not much of a waste of money.

 

They academy I work in built their own using really nice HD web cams and Ikea desk lamps, for about 20% of the price of a comparative visualiser.

Edited July 4, 2013 by arwen

[supawat1]

We just bought 15 units of Aver CP135 and they are good.

[LeMarchand]

One of my schools bought a similar model to this for each classroom: PL50 Platform Document Camera | AVer USA

 

The teachers love them! That flat platform is great for dumping their rubbish on!

 

To be fair, I think the idea is good, but the novelty soon wears off. I reckon you only need a few for those lessons when it would be particularly useful (maybe showing an artefact in history or similar).

[hardtailstar]

We have avermedia cp130's, seem to be easy for teachers to use and easy to set up.

[AJWhite1970]

We've got a Genee GV6100 Visualiser in the Art department and although not HD quality it's pretty cheap and good enough for what its used for (and yes, it is used a lot...)

[witch]

After seeing how these things are used in school...well how little they are used. I would only say one thing. Buy cheap. What your really looking for a webcam on a stick. I've found the TTS ones to do the job just fine for how much they are used.

Easi-View Visualiser for Schools

 

We have these - they are cheap and they work well

[dave.81]

I think they are a waste of money, well the TTS ones aren't expensive but not used still.

 

Just been told to buy one of these for our Biology room that comes with a microscope attachment. Not sure myself but will look expensive on the desk, i'll hold judgement until it's in and being used.

[Haptic]

We supply Genee and AverVision, they both are well regarded by their end users and to date we've facilitated no returns on either

 

James

[kaphc]

We just went through this decision at a primary school and went for the AverMedia CP135's. They are about twice the cost of the Easi Views but the software that they come with is great and means you can capture images / record video etc. The school wanted to use the visualisers to project pupils' work and then critique and improve it "live" with a whole class so that's what we found to work best.

[beany1]

We have some of the Easi-Views as well as a Genee Vision 6100 - Easi-Views are great, easy to setup, can keep your laptop plugged in as normal, can take pictures / videos, has a mic built in. Only complaint from staff is that its "harder" to setup on the document - meaning you have to move the camera more than you do on the genee.

[AngryTechnician]

They academy I work in built their own using really nice HD web cams and Ikea desk lamps, for about 20% of the price of a comparative visualiser.

 

I did the same with Logitech B910 webcams and some LED desk lamps (tired normal lamps but filament and fluorescent flicker too much). The autofocus on the B910s is fantastic so they work really well even for closeup work, plus we get full HD for less than the cost of the TTS one.

Edited July 5, 2013 by AngryTechnician

[pete]

We have some cheap Genee ones (white, look like a desklamp) that work well - can plug into a laptop or just connect to a VGA / Composite input on the wall plate. They're robust and easy to use.

 

We also have some fancier flat-bed ones I can't remember the name of in Geology to show off fossils / rock samples. Picture quality is much better and there's built-in capture to SD / USB stick.

[Stone_Liz]

Hi @gob,

 

We've found that while the AVer F30 is a really great little unit with a crisp resolution, the newly launched AVer F15 is a much better model AND cheaper! It comes with its own free downloadable software which allows the user to freeze, record and capture images. These simple functions allow teachers to interact with their pupils.

 

The CP135 has gone EOL. Replaced by the F15 (above).

 

To enable the teacher to walk around the class with the visualiser – they might have a fishbowl/hamster at the back of class or wall chart, sunflowers on the window sill – the Lumens DC120 + wireless adapter is perfect AND is the cheapest wireless option on the market

[gob]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for all the feedback, extremely useful. I think the school is likely to go with the Avermedia F30's as we've recieved some good quotes and they seem to popular in schools, not many complaints either!

 

The DC120 projectors seem like a great option but the Head here has her heart on something a bit fanicer looking. I suspect that once they have them, if they are not used as much as people suggest they will go for the DC120's for future purchases.

 

Thanks all