fiza Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 Ive just downloaded the latest RM Easiteach and I am liking it but then again im not a teacher. The couple of .notebook files I have converted seem to be ok. I need to get some teachers to test it. If we move away from Smartboards then we will need to consider alternatives to smart notebook.
ass17 Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) I've just had pricing through for notebook advantage which works out at: 1 year subscription £34 per board per year 3 year subscription £25 per board per year 5 year subscription £20 per board per year The subscription includes not just access to notebook but other tools like maths and response. Check out the http://www.hughsymonsav.com for more details http://www.hughsymonsav.com/documents/InformationonchangestoSMARTNotebooksoftware.doc Edited April 25, 2014 by ass17 2
edutech4schools Posted June 9, 2014 Posted June 9, 2014 At one of my primary schools we are having issues with the last free notebook software on Windows 8.1. Just installed the 2014 evaluation version on one laptop and the issue is fixed. All my primary schools have gone with smartboards over the years as the software cost was part of the hardware cost, splitting these will probably make all my primary schools look at alternative products.
SYNACK Posted June 9, 2014 Posted June 9, 2014 At one of my primary schools we are having issues with the last free notebook software on Windows 8.1. Just installed the 2014 evaluation version on one laptop and the issue is fixed. All my primary schools have gone with smartboards over the years as the software cost was part of the hardware cost, splitting these will probably make all my primary schools look at alternative products. Mimio still works like this with the software registered by any hardware, hopefully they keep this up now smart has jumped on the greed wagon.
rbjames Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 (edited) It's only a seed of an idea but has anyone considered onenote instead of Notebook? My main gripe is how long Notebook takes to load - I've tried the fastest computer I could find and notebook took longer to load than the windows 7 did. We're also in the process of moving people over to office 365 for file sharing and resources so onenote would fit well into this environment for file searching and just general file opening within the browser. Richard From further reading I spotted this: http://emrefirat.edublogs.org/2012/10/20/onenote/ ...but I don't know whether anyone else on this board is also working with this and could add to what he said. Edited October 14, 2014 by rbjames
snagrat Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 OneNote is a good choice. Check this out for a better experience with your students http://blogs.office.com/2014/10/07/introducing-onenote-class-notebooks-flexible-digital-framework-teaching-learning/#.VDQgCzcOXeI.twitter
localzuk Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 Well, there we have it. We've ordered Notebook licenses now. The initial capital cost is pretty high, but the ongoing Advantage subscription isn't too bad.
StevieM Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 @localzuk - How does the new version compare with Notebook 11? It is any faster and does it work behind a proxy? I thought I'd be better asking you seeing as how Steljes never bothered replying!
localzuk Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 I've not received the licenses yet. Still waiting.
StevieM Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 I've not received the licenses yet. Still waiting. Oh, the irony...
localzuk Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Well, I've got the licenses now, and spent yesterday packaging and testing. First impressions? Looks the same as it did before. Second impressions, its huge. Full installer + gallery comes to 1.9GB before installation. Took 10 minutes to install on machine, which has an SSD and a 4770k CPU. The activation bit is still annoying. Regardless of the fact you put the license code into the SMART Install Manager customisation, you still have to activate each machine. You can do it using a script or you can do it manually on first open of Notebook. Another oddity. We bought 34 licenses, and we get 137 activations from that. Activations are hardware linked - so, you can re-image a machine as many times as you want, but if you change the hardware you lose another activation. I don't know what happens when over 3-5 years you replace all the machines its installed on, can you get the activations freed up? 4
StevieM Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Thanks @localzuk. Methinks we'll just be sticking to the old free version then. At least that means I won't have to worry about updates for a while. 10 minutes to install on that setup? No thankee!
sparkeh Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Thanks @localzuk. Methinks we'll just be sticking to the old free version then. At least that means I won't have to worry about updates for a while. 10 minutes to install on that setup? No thankee! My thinking too, however I expect at some point if we want to replace old boards, the new ones will 'not support' the old version. Perhaps it will be time to relook at touch screens again.
StevieM Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 I'm hoping that our current SmartBoards will be our last and that we can move over to touch-screens in the next couple of years. The main barrier is going to be convincing the teaching staff to use something other than Smart Notebook. (We've always used it and we've got SOOOOO many resources made.) It's probably worth me doing a little research for alternatives now and touting a few ideas with a select few who can then give me backup when the time comes.
localzuk Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Thanks @localzuk. Methinks we'll just be sticking to the old free version then. At least that means I won't have to worry about updates for a while. 10 minutes to install on that setup? No thankee! My thinking too, however I expect at some point if we want to replace old boards, the new ones will 'not support' the old version. Perhaps it will be time to relook at touch screens again. Problem we had was: a) The old version has a bug with internet explorer 11 and the Smart Ink bit and b) anything newer required a "collaborative" license if you use it on non-SMART equipment. So, that's why we updated from 11 SP1. I'm hoping that our current SmartBoards will be our last and that we can move over to touch-screens in the next couple of years. The main barrier is going to be convincing the teaching staff to use something other than Smart Notebook. (We've always used it and we've got SOOOOO many resources made.) It's probably worth me doing a little research for alternatives now and touting a few ideas with a select few who can then give me backup when the time comes. We looked into various options, and my test users were not happy with any of the alternatives. Edited October 17, 2014 by localzuk
StevieM Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Problem we had was: a) The old version has a bug with internet explorer 11 and the Smart Ink bit and b) anything newer required a "collaborative" license if you use it on non-SMART equipment. So, that's why we updated from 11 SP1. I stand corrected. We should never have upgraded from Smart Notebook 9! The problem we'd have reverting to that would be the newer files wouldn't work on legacy software. We looked into various options, and my test users were not happy with any of the alternatives. '...because it's not what we're used to.' Betcha! :(
localzuk Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 '...because it's not what we're used to.' Betcha! :( Apparently not, it was partly a "legacy work" argument - conversions from Notebook to $other software was never very good (we have around 100GB of Notebook files on our server at the moment), on any tested package, and partly a functionality issue - other programs simply didn't do everything they wanted to do.
sparkeh Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Problem we had was: a) The old version has a bug with internet explorer 11 and the Smart Ink bit and b) anything newer required a "collaborative" license if you use it on non-SMART equipment. So, that's why we updated from 11 SP1. Oh was that not fixed in any of the later free versions?
StevieM Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Apparently not, it was partly a "legacy work" argument - conversions from Notebook to $other software was never very good That's still me boned, then.
localzuk Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Oh was that not fixed in any of the later free versions? Free for SMART equipment, yeah, not free for non-SMART equipment. 1
fiza Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Problem we had was: a) The old version has a bug with internet explorer 11 and the Smart Ink bit and b) anything newer required a "collaborative" license if you use it on non-SMART equipment. So, that's why we updated from 11 SP1. We looked into various options, and my test users were not happy with any of the alternatives. Did smart 11.4 not sort this issue with ie11? I thought version 2 of smart ink included in 11.4 fixed the problem.
localzuk Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 11.4 is not free. It doesn't work on NON-SMART devices without a license and screams "You need a license" all over your screen if you try.
StevieM Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) As far as I knew, Smart Notebook has never been licensed for free on non-Smart products. We had to use Lynx when we bought a touchscreen about 5 years ago because we weren't allowed to use Smart Notebook on it. I thought that was one of the 'advantages' of... er Advantage. Question - Why am I sat in a pub on a Friday night replying to posts about Smart Notebook? Edited October 17, 2014 by StevieM
j224 Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Sorry to dig up an old(ish) thread. Has anyone started using Smart Notebook 14 yet? How are you finding it compared to 10/11? We're currently using version 10 here but I'm aware we'll need to upgrade at some point in the near future. We did try out 11 but it was horrendously slow.
localzuk Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 We've been running it for quite some time. Not had any issues. Its a slow piece of software as its just so big now.
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