Replacing Smart with Display Screens

[talksr]

Hi there,

I have six Smart SBX885ix interactive boards I would like to replace with some display screens - the ones which do not use projectors and lamps.

 

I have a couple of requirements...

1. I need the replacement to be compatible with Smart and Smart Notebook (as staff have so much of their work in this format)
   
2. These current boards are 78" wide. Ideally, I would be looking at the replacement being of a similar size.
   
3. Ideally, I want something which has a relatively good warranty on it. Ideally five years or at least the assurance it is not going to blow within a couple and cost a lot to get it repaired or replaced.
   

 

Does anyone have any ideas on what I should be looking at?

[atcoates]

https://education.smarttech.com/en/products/smart-board-interactive-flat-panels

[talksr]

https://education.smarttech.com/en/products/smart-board-interactive-flat-panels

 

Do you have any experience of using these? Can't say we had the best of experiences with our current Smart boards. Getting an engineer to come and look at them became impossible when Steljes went bust. Not sure I am all that confident with their products anymore after encountering so many issues.

[sted]

i wouldnt touch the 4000 series with a bargepole awful things

[GuyJD]

I've got 20 Smart E70 panels and they are coming up for 3 years old at this point, I've had to call out Smart to replace 2 of them (3 technically because the replacement also had to be replaced)

 

They are built really well, I can't fault that when I compare them to other brands but I'm having issues with some of them now where they stop responding to touch and need to be power cycled.

 

As far as I'm aware you can use the Smart notebook software on any panel as it is sold separately these days.

[atcoates]

We have had the last three series of boards and have very few issues compared to how much tlc we needed when we had projectors. It's important to keep the firmware up to date but if you have a smart advantage subscription that not a problem. You need to clean the sensors and they need to be run at 1080p ideally within 5 metres of the machine.

 

We have found that not using faceplates and just running a direct usb and hdmi cable greatly improves the experience. We have the older 4000 series and have had no issues and we have about 30 of this model. Smart support are also excellent and much better than Steljes ever were.

[atcoates]

They are built really well, I can't fault that when I compare them to other brands but I'm having issues with some of them now where they stop responding to touch and need to be power cycled.

.

How are the boards connected to the device, direct usb or faceplate?

[GuyJD]

How are the boards connected to the device, direct usb or faceplate?

direct usb

[atcoates]

Only other thing is to make sure the firmware is up to date on board. Also we found that classes where they had lots of other usb devices plugged in that seemed to cause issues. And also newer usb drivers for device if they exist.

[GuyJD]

Only other thing is to make sure the firmware is up to date on board. Also we found that classes where they had lots of other usb devices plugged in that seemed to cause issues. And also newer usb drivers for device if they exist.

Thanks, I'm going to really look into the issue soon as I've got one that is doing it every day and the teacher keeps calling me just to push the power button

[atcoates]

Thanks, I'm going to really look into the issue soon as I've got one that is doing it every day and the teacher keeps calling me just to push the power button

Don't under estimate the power of pressing the power button!

[DSapseid]

I've got 25 of the SMART 6065 interactive TV's they are great and the staff love them.

 

The only slight winge from staff is that you cant 'freeze' the screen like you can with a projector. I show them how to use the 'Windows Key + P' to change screen settings from duplicate to extend and to drag the PowerPoint onto the screen then they can do SIMS/Email on the monitor and most seem happy with it.

[atcoates]

I've got 25 of the SMART 6065 interactive TV's they are great and the staff love them.

 

The only slight winge from staff is that you cant 'freeze' the screen like you can with a projector. I show them how to use the 'Windows Key + P' to change screen settings from duplicate to extend and to drag the PowerPoint onto the screen then they can do SIMS/Email on the monitor and most seem happy with it.

I think the newer screens have brought the freeze function back.

[talksr]

I've got 25 of the SMART 6065 interactive TV's they are great and the staff love them.

 

The only slight winge from staff is that you cant 'freeze' the screen like you can with a projector. I show them how to use the 'Windows Key + P' to change screen settings from duplicate to extend and to drag the PowerPoint onto the screen then they can do SIMS/Email on the monitor and most seem happy with it.

 

They look nice, but the only issue with these is that they appear to be just 55" in size, which is not all that big. I think my TV at home is that size. The staff currently have the luxury of a 70inch smart board. I think they would really moan if they were replaced with 55inch ones.

[atcoates]

They look nice, but the only issue with these is that they appear to be just 55" in size, which is not all that big. I think my TV at home is that size. The staff currently have the luxury of a 70inch smart board. I think they would really moan if they were replaced with 55inch ones.

Smart6065 are 65". 65" inch screen in 4k or 1080p crystal clear image is always going to be better than 70" from projector etc. Edited September 27, 2017 by atcoates

[DSapseid]

They look nice, but the only issue with these is that they appear to be just 55" in size, which is not all that big. I think my TV at home is that size. The staff currently have the luxury of a 70inch smart board. I think they would really moan if they were replaced with 55inch ones.

 

Mine are 65", smart only do the 6000 range in 65" & 75"

 

https://education.smarttech.com/products/compare

[talksr]

Smart6065 are 65". 65" inch screen in 4k or 1080p crystal clear image is always going to be better than 70" from projector etc.

 

65" is not too bad, we could work with that. What sort of warranty period would you get on them?

[atcoates]

New ones have 5 years.

[talksr]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]45509[/ATTACH]

New ones have 5 years.

 

Ok 5 years is not bad. Dell have just come back to me with a quote for their 70" C7017T display. It would be around £1983.28 before vat.

 

I wonder if any schools have used this. It comes with 3 year warranty for that price.

[sidewinder]

i wouldnt touch the 4000 series with a bargepole awful things

 

Ditto. Same with the 6000 series. Awful

 

Our Clevertouches and BenQ's have the odd issue but they at least allow teachers to reliably write on them, a basic function Smart displays can't manage

[atcoates]

Ditto. Same with the 6000 series. Awful

Do these problems still exist after the board has been updated to latest firmware, sensors cleaned and Calibration being run from smart software?

[sted]

Do these problems still exist after the board has been updated to latest firmware, sensors cleaned and Calibration being run from smart software?

 

as far as i can see on the 4000 series there is no way to update the firmware or calibrate it smart said go to diag tools last time i tried to warranty one and there were no options there to do so. ive got another 4 (at least and 2 im unsure if its cabling related as they are really fussy about cables/lengths)that are currently going to have to be looked at under warranty always the same issues you try and draw a grid and theres huge gaps where you diddnt take the pen/finder off the board. Whatever sensor tech they use seems to be prone to failure. If it wasnt for the software nobody in their right mind would buy these they just seem so badly made/designed the old 500/600 series boards with projectors give me so much less grief and they are all ancient at this point

 

ive got one class thats on its 3rd same fault just gets worse over time and ive swapped every other bit of kit/cable/run cables direct to board in the room and it still does the same the screen flicks on and off when video is played the laptop/pc screen that its mirroring is fine audio continues but the screen goes blank for a second or 2

[sidewinder]

Do these problems still exist after the board has been updated to latest firmware, sensors cleaned and Calibration being run from smart software?

 

Granted I have given up on them for a while now but as of a year ago, yes. We tried absolutely everything, had 2 replaced under warranty, still awful. And it sounds like I'm far from the only one. Don't get me wrong, out of 7 there are a couple which have given no trouble, but that's really not good enough.

[atcoates]

as far as i can see on the 4000 series there is no way to update the firmware or calibrate it smart said go to diag tools last time i tried to warranty one and there were no options there to do so. ive got another 4 (at least and 2 im unsure if its cabling related as they are really fussy about cables/lengths)that are currently going to have to be looked at under warranty always the same issues you try and draw a grid and theres huge gaps where you diddnt take the pen/finder off the board. Whatever sensor tech they use seems to be prone to failure. If it wasnt for the software nobody in their right mind would buy these they just seem so badly made/designed the old 500/600 series boards with projectors give me so much less grief and they are all ancient at this point

 

ive got one class thats on its 3rd same fault just gets worse over time and ive swapped every other bit of kit/cable/run cables direct to board in the room and it still does the same the screen flicks on and off when video is played the laptop/pc screen that its mirroring is fine audio continues but the screen goes blank for a second or 2

 

Yes the 4000 series can't be calibrated they are factory set. Issues we had initially with these were solved with direct usb cables not longer than 5 metres and higher quality hdmi leads (Neet ones from Amazon) again under 5 metres. Other than that nothing they just sit there and work and have done for over three years. All screens I have are run from PCs mostly with nvidia G210 or newer equivalents. With the screen dropout do you get that on HDMI 1-4?

 

I'm not in any way questioning what you're saying just adding my experience. Doesn't sound like you've had much luck with yours!

[sted]

Yes the 4000 series can't be calibrated they are factory set. Issues we had initially with these were solved with direct usb cables not longer than 5 metres and higher quality hdmi leads (Neet ones from Amazon) again under 5 metres. Other than that nothing they just sit there and work and have done for over three years. All screens I have are run from PCs mostly with nvidia G210 or newer equivalents. With the screen dropout do you get that on HDMI 1-4?

I'm not in any way questioning what you're saying just adding my experience. Doesn't sound like you've had much luck with yours!

Ive also found running them off powered usb hubs can help but the one thats getting the most complaints atm has a decent ~2 m usb lead plugged straight in and its still poor and apparently (ive never been able to confirm this) has a mind of ts own where it thinks theres contact near the top right so keeps minimising things when nobody is anywhere near the board (you can also see on screen where it thinks its been touched)

 

Video drop its been tried with the normal class pc (intel 400 iirc),random spare laptop again intel,my laptop intel and nvidia 1070, colleagues laptop (probably intel) even tried both windows 8.1 and 10 just for completeness. Its a stupid fault most visible on youtube and random its definitely more an issue on hdmi than vga but it still does it on vga (again brand new cables direct to board in every port the damn thing has)