What Interactive Touchscreens are people using?

[CHSGM]

I had one of the new line 65" BenQ screens on demo for the last 3 days - apparently we were to first to use!

 

Was really shocked at how good it was. The EZ software astounded teaching staff and the fact the soundbar is builtin made it all the easier. Waiting on some pricing but the person who did the demo believes they will be at some price point as the iiyama's, which would amaze me if true.

[mjk]

I had one of the new line 65" BenQ screens on demo for the last 3 days - apparently we were to first to use!

 

I had it last Thursday !!

[CHSGM]

I had it last Thursday !!

 

What did you think of it?

[mavhc]

Meh.....

 

This is the situation with at least 90% of schools that use IWB's staff generally get zero training, software updates cause problems etc, etc. So they don't get used and in my opinion provide zero impact on learning in the classroom.

 

I've got plenty of schools who have ripped out all the IWB's and replaced with far cheaper, more reliable LCD Tv's. No software training required, they either turn off or on, plenty of connectors for casting to the screen via Chrome, iPad or laptop.

 

As as for comments saying consumer units don't last I have one school who invested in these 7 years ago, no problems ever reported with them.

 

What models did they get?

[mjk]

What did you think of it?

 

ok. Better than the IIYama, but not as good as the Samsung*. There was no overlay on HDMI, the wireless is optional, and there is no way of moving the IR sensor. Sound was good, display was reasonable, touch was good.

We aren't really using the onboard software which I think is what @christhetech is referring to with the intuitiveness of the $$$$Geeneeworld displays - I'm only really looking at the hardware.

 

* There are some firmware issues with the current model that they are working on.

[mavhc]

Which ones can cope with a chair being thrown at them?

[mavhc]

Also https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Office-365-Blog/Microsoft-Whiteboard-is-now-generally-available-for-Windows/ba-p/214574

[Clevertouch_Rob]

Which ones can cope with a chair being thrown at them?

 

 

In all honesty - very few.

 

i'm pretty confident in our glass and toughness and perfectly capable of withstanding a punch etc, but a chair - i don't think many would survive. I work with these screens all day every day so have a reasonable idea.

[Progress]

I have the happy job of installing 8 Sharp 65" screens over Summer - We had a demo and we were very impressed.

 

I have installed Smart (V.Heavy), BenQ which are excellent, and Hitachi which have rubbish remotes.

We got the price down to £1200 per unit -

 

I heard about Smart changing their licencing model, that it costs more if you don't have any Smart screens. looking to move away from Smart Notebook as soon as we can.

[BenQ_Royce]

good to see you liked it, we've been working hard on the whole new range, and pushed HQ hard to get the RM6501K into the UK before summer.

 

Overlay on HDMI, meaning annotation? floating tool bar should have come up with a two finger hold as per previous models.

 

also for the first time we have a fine point IR. so can use fine nib pens through to art brushes, with the built-in whiteboard software able to recognise two different pen colours at one time.

 

RM series being mainstream, so will remain cost effective too.

Edited July 14, 2018 by BenQ_Royce

[sigma]

There does neem to be a number of quality products in this space now compared to the board and projectors we had previously. That would seem to bode well for future pricing. The other differentiators are number of years warranty, whether the teaching software including all future updates remain free for the life of the board are not, repair policy, ie best efforts on site next week or a next day hot swap.

 

A question I now have for all the vendors that I never asked during our demos is around the Android software that runs the boards. How long (if ever?) are the vendors planning to patch the underlying Android operating system and will they offer rupgrades to the latest Android releases? Now that the boards are network connected in their own right, it would not be inconceivable to turn up one morning to find them hacked into a botnet, bitcoin mining or worse. Would you consider putting a 5 year old unpatched Windows machine on your network?

[christhetech]

There does neem to be a number of quality products in this space now compared to the board and projectors we had previously. That would seem to bode well for future pricing. The other differentiators are number of years warranty, whether the teaching software including all future updates remain free for the life of the board are not, repair policy, ie best efforts on site next week or a next day hot swap.

 

A question I now have for all the vendors that I never asked during our demos is around the Android software that runs the boards. How long (if ever?) are the vendors planning to patch the underlying Android operating system and will they offer rupgrades to the latest Android releases? Now that the boards are network connected in their own right, it would not be inconceivable to turn up one morning to find them hacked into a botnet, bitcoin mining or worse. Would you consider putting a 5 year old unpatched Windows machine on your network?

 

That is a very good point that you make. I know that there were a few people on here who felt that the Genee boards that I have been looking at were overpriced. However, I did ask about the teaching software and was advised that this was included free for the life of the board, and the warranty is 5 years onsite, with a next day Service Level Target, so not a bad warranty. The question that you pose about how long they would patch the Android OS for is an interesting one though and something that was not really mentioned during the demo. I've got approval in principle to place an order for some new screens for installation during the holidays, but I think that I will go back to the reseller and ask that question before I pull the trigger.

[mavhc]

They'll patch it for about -3 years, ie it'll be 3 years out of date when you get it, and never updated. They'll suggest because it only runs a subset of apps this is ok.

 

Just open source your implementation already, you're not interested in software, you have no clue how software works, leave it to people who know what git is

[difinity]

A question I now have for all the vendors that I never asked during our demos is around the Android software that runs the boards. How long (if ever?) are the vendors planning to patch the underlying Android operating system and will they offer rupgrades to the latest Android releases? Now that the boards are network connected in their own right, it would not be inconceivable to turn up one morning to find them hacked into a botnet, bitcoin mining or worse. Would you consider putting a 5 year old unpatched Windows machine on your network?

 

Considering the vast amount of outdated Android phones in the wild that are internet facing and not behind a firewall I really don't think this is an issue, the main attack vector is malware laden apps in the Google Store. I would think the store is disabled or has a way to be controlled on these TVs ?

If an attacker can see you're running an outdated version of Android you have far bigger concerns.

[sigma]

Considering the vast amount of outdated Android phones in the wild that are internet facing and not behind a firewall I really don't think this is an issue, the main attack vector is malware laden apps in the Google Store. I would think the store is disabled or has a way to be controlled on these TVs ?

If an attacker can see you're running an outdated version of Android you have far bigger concerns.

 

Most of the demo’s I’ve seen have promoted access to Google’s app store as a feature. I appreciate there a lot of outdated phones in the wild, but they are not integrated into your network and expected to be so for 5 plus years.

[difinity]

Most of the demo’s I’ve seen have promoted access to Google’s app store as a feature. I appreciate there a lot of outdated phones in the wild, but they are not integrated into your network and expected to be so for 5 plus years.

 

They are internet facing though. Malware laden apps are a different security risk to a non updated Android though although some malware makes use of unpatched vulnerabilities.

[Zoom7000]

ActivPanel v4 70" in a few of our classrooms and an ActivPanel v6 86" in 2 of our halls. Nothing else comes closer in price. Promethean have always been cheapest for us.

[mjk]

ActivPanel v4 70" in a few of our classrooms and an ActivPanel v6 86" in 2 of our halls. Nothing else comes closer in price. Promethean have always been cheapest for us.

 

Would you mind giving some indication of prices. When speaking to promethean re-sellers, even they don't seem to be recommending them on price - just on the fact that the migration path is simple due to their software locking you in.

[Zoom7000]

Would you mind giving some indication of prices. When speaking to promethean re-sellers, even they don't seem to be recommending them on price - just on the fact that the migration path is simple due to their software locking you in.

 

Most recent pricing I got for a v6 70" and 75" is as follows:

 

70" v6: £2,225

75" v6: £2,595

[mjk]

Most recent pricing I got for a v6 70" and 75" is as follows:

 

70" v6: £2,225

75" v6: £2,595

 

Is that INC VAT? The BENQ list price is for 4K is cheaper than these.

https://www.avpartsmaster.co.uk/p-73091-benq-rm7501k-75-4k-android-education-interactive-touchscreen-9hf4atkde1.aspx

[Clevertouch_Rob]

Most of the demo’s I’ve seen have promoted access to Google’s app store as a feature. I appreciate there a lot of outdated phones in the wild, but they are not integrated into your network and expected to be so for 5 plus years.

 

The fact is NONE of the interactive screens that have on board android are Google GMS certified.

 

If you buy a screen that has the play store go to the play store settings you can check this by looking at the device certification.

 

 

If you see this i would be questioning your vendor on why the play store is there, as this is clearly a breach of googles terms - Google DO NOT issue GMS to any large format interactive touchscreens - never have, and never will.

 

Most manufacturers use the Android AOSP platform that is pretty secure. To this date i'm not aware of any breach or hack of our system.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Clevertouch_Rob

[Zoom7000]

The fact is NONE of the interactive screens that have on board android are Google GMS certified.

 

If you buy a screen that has the play store go to the play store settings you can check this by looking at the device certification.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]49693[/ATTACH]

 

If you see this i would be questioning your vendor on why the play store is there, as this is clearly a breach of googles terms - Google DO NOT issue GMS to any large format interactive touchscreens - never have, and never will.

 

Most manufacturers use the Android AOSP platform that is pretty secure. To this date i'm not aware of any breach or hack of our system.

 

I'm sorry, but the support I had from CleverTouch for some boards that I inherited at one of my schools was nothing short of horrendous! I wanted to get the version of Android updated on the built in module, so I called Sahara who put me through to some other company and despite several attempts at chasing, I never got a reply at all, despite being told someone would send me the updated ROM.

 

I went back to our supplier for a quote and it was well over £3,000 for a CleverTouch board, whilst the Promethean came in at £2,225. In addition to this, I think it hurts the other suppliers who sub contract their on-site support out as the service is never as great as it is with Promethean.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Promethean fanboy by any means and have been highly critical of some of the things they do (*coughcoughActiveInspireClassflowEtccoughcough*) but hardware quality and after sales support has been the best I've experience so far and even then they have a lot to improve!

[Clevertouch_Rob]

I'm sorry, but the support I had from CleverTouch for some boards that I inherited at one of my schools was nothing short of horrendous! I wanted to get the version of Android updated on the built in module, so I called Sahara who put me through to some other company and despite several attempts at chasing, I never got a reply at all, despite being told someone would send me the updated ROM.

 

I went back to our supplier for a quote and it was well over £3,000 for a CleverTouch board, whilst the Promethean came in at £2,225. In addition to this, I think it hurts the other suppliers who sub contract their on-site support out as the service is never as great as it is with Promethean.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Promethean fanboy by any means and have been highly critical of some of the things they do (*coughcoughActiveInspireClassflowEtccoughcough*) but hardware quality and after sales support has been the best I've experience so far and even then they have a lot to improve!

 

I'm sorry you have had a bad experience - i will pass your comments onto our Tech Support manager.

[MYK-IT]

Very good discussion thread this, been reading with interest! As I am in need for a big, interactive screen (at least 70") for a non-classroom room.

 

Was looking at the Dell C7017T 70" Interactive Touch Monitor (as we had a loan unit a few months back) but after comparing say, to the BenQ RM7501K which offers 75", 4k UHD & 5-year warranty (as opposed to 70", 1080p & 3-year warranty) for similar price... it does get you thinking.... Although we have had bad, long-term experience with BenQ projectors. Hence why I am bit apprehensive at this stage - but would value and appreciate feedback / onions from other (BenQ) users.

 

Thanks.

Edited July 16, 2018 by MYK-IT

[Brimstone]

What models did they get?

 

Sorry I don't which ones, I think they were Philips 65" LCD TV's but came with a 5 year warranty and were about £599.00 each. It's a primary school with 2 of these in every classroom.

 

As said previously IWB's are an utter waste of money, provide zero impact on learning and cause issues with teaching in the classroom when you need sw updates all the time.