Anyone using Smart LightRaise 60wi Interactive Projectors?

[fiza]

As the title suggests I am looking for anyone currently using Smart LightRaise 60Wi Interactive Projectors who can give me their opinion, especially if they have been used for some time.

We are in the process of looking at a tech refresh of our current IWBs and want to know if the LightRaise are any good.

 

I don't want recommendations for other Projectors - only what your experience is of the LightRaise 60Wi.

 

Thanks

[fiza]

Does no one use these things? Or does no one want to admit to it?

[Achandler]

I have used the older ones (2 years ago) that were pen only, not used the ones that also recognise fingers.

[ozydave]

Hello

I'll put my hand up we got 60 of them.

Will post more in a bit......

Edited April 28, 2014 by ozydave

[ozydave]

As I say we had 60 of them installed in September.

They have been very good we now have staff that Have never used interactive whiteboards before now using them.

[jamesfed]

Had 50 of them over the summer as well here - stock was very very low and they were delayed but have been ticking over nicely since installation.

 

One really nice thing of course is you can use normal board pens on the supported whiteboards (something our teachers took a long time to adjust to)

 

No dimness in the bulb or loss of colour saturation but I'd have to get back to you in a few years time for a real verdict on that!

 

We did have one develop a fault in its speaker system but that was replaced within a week so again no real drama.

[fiza]

@jamesfed @ozydave - Do you have these projectors networked? What kind of software comes with them for central management (if any) and what can you do with it?

 

Also how are you finding the pens - Are they robust?

[jamesfed]

Haven't tried the networking yet but do have the cables in so will take a look.

 

Having to recharge the pens is a faff but otherwise none have been broken and you get 2 per board (you can even use 2 pens on the same board at the same time).

[arcis]

We just had one installed by a contractor a couple weeks ago in a conference room. The touch sensors on these are very particular when it comes to the size whiteboard/screen/wall you project on because it has to be to a certain degree level and board bezels can be only so thick. If you are installing it yourself, do your homework. After you get the hardware installed, the software calibration takes about 20-30 minutes and involves multiple adjustments to the sensor and mount. The projector is a short throw not an ultra short so there will still be some shadow while you are writing and the image quality is visibly less sharp toward the bottom of the image. An annoying aspect for us was the department wanted flexibility to bring in visitor laptops to connect and use with it. They didn't share this with the contractor when they were specifying parts. So now I am having to go back and get the parts to make a VGA and USB drop and get them to buy a GoWire so they don't have to install Smart software/drivers every time they bring in a new laptop. If this sounds familiar, then I recommend you make sure they purchase the LightRaise 60wi2 because it comes with the GoWire which will save you about $500 if you had to purchase it separately.

[Cablers_JonPaul]

The Smart lightraise 60wi is a great projector which fills the gap between a IWB and a projector.

We have installed lots of these and i have not yet had to deal with any warranty claims yet. In my opinion they are robust units that suit a classroom environment perfectly.

 

I would not recommend a DIY installation, although you can buy these projectors from some box shifters to fit yourself Smart recommend installation by trained installers and that way you will not have any trouble should you want to make a warranty claim.

 

I wouldnt project straight onto a wall or uneven surface, treat yourselves to a matt white backing board with the thinnest bezzle you can find. If you are projecting onto a whiteboard, the bezel must be 3mm or less and there should be no map rails at the top or above to obstruct the light curtain of the projector.

 

The image quality is pretty sharp if your projection surface is good quality, the multi user interactivity has been impressive and its clever enough to detect the difference between a pen and a finger. The fact that they run Notebook software makes them very attractive to many of the schools where teachers have been trained to use Notebook and many of their lessons were designed and saved within it. No retraining required!

 

They seem to be a lot more popular among the high schools we work with, the primary's tend to replace IWBs with like for like or make the jump to a large format touch screens.

 

If you have a number of these its no problem to network them and by doing so you will no doubt extend the life of the units. We all know how good teachers are at turning them off once they finish with them.

 

DM me if you want to know more.

[RTFM]

We have 30+ of them and since September i've had to have 6 swapped out. I wouldn't personally recommend them, another 2 being swapped today

[fiza]

We have 30+ of them and since September i've had to have 6 swapped out. I wouldn't personally recommend them, another 2 being swapped today

 

Well the deed is done. First installs start in 2 weeks. Will have to see how it goes.

[Cablers_JonPaul]

Although i think they are a great little unit and we have fortunately not had any issues with failures unlike RTFM, i personally still prefer a board with projector over an interactive projector and a large format touch screen over both. I realise that it all comes down to budgets. An interactive projector is a cost effective option that can fill any gaps you have with multimedia provisioning in the classroom. Reduced hardware and installation costs provide great savings which add up quickly. Edited May 13, 2014 by Cablers_JonPaul

[exim]

I've come to learn that you just don't get the longevity you'd expect with smart projectors.

[Cablers_JonPaul]

I've come to learn that you just don't get the longevity you'd expect with smart projectors.

If you want longevity then your best option is a touchscreen these days. Although not touch models we have screens in schools and retail outlets that are more than ten years old and haven't missed a beat. Whatever you choose you can still be unlucky, its the nature of complicated tech. Making sure your working with a company who helps you resolve the issues quickly with minimal disruption to teaching is key.

 

Projectors are not perfect but you can extend the life of them considerably with regular preventive maintenance and by making sure they are not left on when not in use. Ive lost count of the times i have attended sites to replace broken units only to discover that you could grow potatoes in the dust and filth that's accumulated in filters.

 

In defense of Smart and Steljes we have always found them to be better than many manufactures when it comes to replacing broken units or instigating repairs when required.

[hyb80]

Do these projectors support existing smartboard notebook documents? and I presume all the functionality that comes with the smartboard software?

 

Was about to purchase some M685 boards with Ultra Short throw projectors but these and the TK Team boards are coming back alot cheaper.

 

Anyone had any complaints from teachers moving across from traditional smartboard IWB?

Edited May 14, 2014 by hyb80

[fiza]

Do these projectors support existing smartboard notebook documents? and I presume all the functionality that comes with the smartboard software?

 

Was about to purchase some M685 boards with Ultra Short throw projectors but these and the TK Team boards are coming back alot cheaper.

 

Anyone had any complaints from teachers moving across from traditional smartboard IWB?

 

We recently had a demo unit in for a couple of months and a number of teachers used it. There were no complaints.

[Cablers_JonPaul]

Do these projectors support existing smartboard notebook documents? and I presume all the functionality that comes with the smartboard software?

 

Was about to purchase some M685 boards with Ultra Short throw projectors but these and the TK Team boards are coming back alot cheaper.

 

Anyone had any complaints from teachers moving across from traditional smartboard IWB?

 

You get full Notebook functionality. If your not just buying on price I would be inclined to go for the Smartboards and projectors. What projector have you been quoted in your bundle with the 685's? I can get you a price if you want another comparison.

 

The high schools we work with like the interactive projectors the primary's tend to prefer a board. Not really sure why that is for sure but in the secondary's they tend to use a lot more PowerPoint in lessons and primary's use Notebook far more.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using EduGeek

[c4m3la]

Hi I know this thread is old just adding my current status with these.

We have 10 of these we installed ourselves. Not an easy task there can be nothing in the way of the light curtain (screws, metal strips, etc) Initial alignment can take up to 45 minutes. With Smartnotebook 15.1 and 15.2 they have removed the floating tools bar and replaced with the dynamic pen. I have sent emails back and forth with SmartTech about the issue of dynamic pen not selecting anything other than pen with the 15.1 and above software. So basically you can write but nothing else; erase forget about it etc. If you have Smartnotebook open and selected on a tool say eraser - minimize notebook, and you try to annotate on a web page or anything, it will stay on the last tool selected in smartnotebook in this case eraser. SmartTech has said that in order for dynamic toolbar to work with the 60wi's notebook has to be closed and then you can use the dynamic pen(which doesn't work either like I said earlier) Their support keeps telling me to reinstall and there's where they stop. I have sent videos of the issue. They can't fix it. We are stuck on Smartnotebook 15 with floating toolbar still and we pay for an enterprise license...BTW they have just discontinued the smart interactive projectors(stated by my Smarttech rep Dec2015). I know Epson makes an interactive projector that is compatible with smartnotebook but similar issues and harder to install yourself. Interactive Displays are the way to go now. And I have found that Infocus Jtouch display might work with smartnotebook but need to demo it to be sure.

[drsox]

I have sent emails back and forth with SmartTech about the issue of dynamic pen not selecting anything other than pen with the 15.1 and above software.

 

Snap! Same issue in one of my schools:

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/educational-software/165598-smart-notebook-11-toolbar-issue.html

 

Did you get anywhere?

 

Also I've found that almost all of our bulbs in the 60wi projectors die after ~1,000 hours. Luckily warranty replacement has been easy to request but I feel very worried about the cost once the projectors and bulbs are out of warranty.

[Mike01]

We have 35x Light Raise 60s I wouldn't recommend them. Lots of problems and poor bulb life. Lots of flickering and shaking in newly built air conditioned school.

[fiza]

We have 35x Light Raise 60s I wouldn't recommend them. Lots of problems and poor bulb life. Lots of flickering and shaking in newly built air conditioned school.

 

Snap! We have 45 and I wouldn't recommend them either. Also now that warranty repairs go directly through Smart raising faults has got a lot harder. They want you to jump through alot of hoops before they believe there is a problem with the bulb or the projector.

[drsox]

now that warranty repairs go directly through Smart raising faults has got a lot harder. They want you to jump through alot of hoops before they believe there is a problem with the bulb or the projector.

I've found the reverse. I've had two bulbs sent out under warranty with minimal fuss and the Canadian I've spoken to on each occasion has been very helpful and personable.

 

Our lamp woes with the 60wi continue. Shame. Great projectors otherwise.

[drsox]

For those that might be having the same problem.. it goes away if you use Driver 12.2

SMART Product Drivers 12.2 and Ink 2.3 for Windows - SMART Technologies

However the screenshot tool then goes wrong - this can be fixed by copying snapshot.exe from the "Education Software" folder into the "SMART Product Drivers" folder and then opening SMART notebook again.