Promethian VS SMART Interactive Displays, Who Do You Go For!??

[cheekycharly]

Hi guys, its a real simple one this for you but who is the preferred system these days. Years ago SMART was classed as the top line and Promethian always made a similar product at better pricing.

 

Been looking at the following Interactive Displays and wondered your thoughts...

 

SMART Board MX275-V3 75"

 

SMART Board MX275-V3 75" interactive display with iQ and SMART Notebook® (goeducation.co.uk)

 

Promethean AP7E-B70 4K 70"

 

Promethean AP7E-B70 4K 70" ActivPanel Titanium Touchscreen with USB-C inc. Bracket (goeducation.co.uk)

 

There isn't enough difference in price for me to take a preference so I am hoping some of you will know from experience.

[atcoates]

This is really a teaching and learning question as the hardware is very similar. Which set of tools is best suited for your staff to deliver lessons? Generally, only teachers are going to know that so would need to have some input on the choice, they would be the ones delivering the lessons.

 

Might Help

 

 

BETT is the obvious place to take a few staff so they can see for themselves.

Edited March 8, 2023 by atcoates

[LeMarchand]

I'd say you're probably stuck with whatever your staff are currently using unless your head is willing to lay down the law. From my observations most staff rarely do anything that Powerpoint couldn't do but as the school has years/decades of resources in SMART/ACTIV that no-one wants to convert it's one of those that still gets used. In one of my three schools the head actually observed lessons and, on realising that no-one was using the screens for more than inking over displayed documents, chose a platform agnostic system. I no longer include SMART (as it was there) in any build and no-one has complained.

 

Obviously, if your staff actually use the functionality it's a different story!

[cheekycharly]

Why is there such a vast difference in the two products.

 

I know historically I have seen/skirted over the use of SMART Notebook and found it very simple to use.

 

Usage is mostly screen shared staff laptop likely by HDMI with the ability to write on the screen and highlight words and circle round in the same manner.

 

Enough sound to not have an external speaker rig setup.

[DanRob]

Agree with the above, however you should note that Promethean have released the ActivPanel v9 & v9 Premium to replace the AP7 recently which may change your comparison somewhat. I don't believe the v9 is available in 70" either which may or may not affect your decision. Edited March 8, 2023 by DanRob

[cheekycharly]

The use of the screens inbuilt Android system is almost null/void to me and is more a PITA as the Android version will one day be way out of date and a security risk if it gets connected to the network.

 

Staff currently have knackerd old projectors that are utterly garbage and must be 10-15 years old. A change to a screen would be a step up no matter brand and facilities.

Edited March 8, 2023 by cheekycharly

[DanRob]

If your intended use case is pretty basic then Promethean have hinted at a new product to be released in summer of this year that promises to remove a lot of the complexity and therefore significantly lower the price. May be worth you speaking to your reseller to see what they're able to tell you before finalising a decision.

[cheekycharly]

Arranging to go and see a site that just had Promethean's rolled out across it.

[atcoates]

Arranging to go and see a site that just had Promethean's rolled out across it.

Try and drag a few teacher's with you.

[cheekycharly]

Cant see that happening.

[steveg]

If you don't want many fancy features then might be worth considering the Smart GX series, only annoying thing about them is the freeze function involves holding a button for 5 seconds, other than that they seem pretty good solid boards.

[Aprice]

Promethean would be my preferred option of the two for the flat panels, for the old projector based ones I had the opposite view.

 

Currently our main customer has 50 odd ActivPanel Titaniums which on the whole seem pretty good, we have had a lot of issues with them not picking up HDMI inputs reliably, but now believe that it's possibly something to do with the desktops they are connected to rather than the boards themselves, although it has been a real headache to definitively prove.

 

Having said all that BenQ and Viewsonic I think are better value options and we've also had some really good experiences with HiSense lately which were much cheaper than all the above.

 

The main thing I find is that none of our customers tend to use the built in OS stuff, so long as it's got a freeze button and a HDMI input they're happy. Digital clock function that the Promethean has is great for exams.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Aprice

[TechMonkey]

Do they have to be SMART or Promethean? Are you stuck in their ecosystem? Why not a standard touch panel and then staff can use any tools they are comfortable with. Will almost certainly come in cheaper.

Alternative suppliers are Sharp, NewLine, Vestel, BENQ and many more.

[GizmoIT]

We have nearly completed a site wide rollout of Promethean ActivPanels to replace our aging ActivBoards & Projectors. Staff widly use ActivInspire in lessons and Powerpoint, we are also connecting the Android side of the panels to our wifi to enable staff to use Apps.

Great support from the supplier and also from Promethean who are coming on site next month to deliver training to staff.

[cheekycharly]

Promethean would be my preferred option of the two for the flat panels, for the old projector based ones I had the opposite view.

 

Currently our main customer has 50 odd ActivPanel Titaniums which on the whole seem pretty good, we have had a lot of issues with them not picking up HDMI inputs reliably, but now believe that it's possibly something to do with the desktops they are connected to rather than the boards themselves, although it has been a real headache to definitively prove.

 

Having said all that BenQ and Viewsonic I think are better value options and we've also had some really good experiences with HiSense lately which were much cheaper than all the above.

 

The main thing I find is that none of our customers tend to use the built in OS stuff, so long as it's got a freeze button and a HDMI input they're happy. Digital clock function that the Promethean has is great for exams.

 

Thanks for the information that was the exact sort of thing I was looking to find out. I will take my laptop with my when I visit this new site next week and have a play with connecting my laptop up and see if any issues arise.

 

Not sure what model screens they have yet but I will update once I know.

 

Totally agree though the staff wont be bothered about a built in OS and its just something else to go wrong & likewise a pause button and HDMI connection is all they will be looking for.

Edited March 9, 2023 by cheekycharly

[cheekycharly]

Do they have to be SMART or Promethean? Are you stuck in their ecosystem? Why not a standard touch panel and then staff can use any tools they are comfortable with. Will almost certainly come in cheaper.

Alternative suppliers are Sharp, NewLine, Vestel, BENQ and many more.

 

Budget on them wont be an issue so I would rather look at the top known brands. I have seen all the other brands listed and looked at their very affordable prices but I would prefer the support you would get from a Promethian / SMART system.

[cheekycharly]

We have nearly completed a site wide rollout of Promethean ActivPanels to replace our aging ActivBoards & Projectors. Staff widly use ActivInspire in lessons and Powerpoint, we are also connecting the Android side of the panels to our wifi to enable staff to use Apps.

Great support from the supplier and also from Promethean who are coming on site next month to deliver training to staff.

 

Thats all good to hear. Did they fint them or did you get a local installer.

[PotNoodleTech]

Always had promethean activboards but went to see a couple of schools interactive Tvs - and the school with Smart screens impressed me the most.

 

Could only afford 6 Smart GX 86 this year but those 6 teachers are happy as larry!

[BenQ_Royce]

with BETT just round the corner, it's an ideal opportunity to try out other brands, as there are so many out there now it can be bewildering, especially if you're not fixed to one software platform as the OP suggests.

 

Obviously I'm biased, I would recommend choosing a brand that's been around a while and has learnt a lot about UK education needs, pop by the BenQ stand right at the entrance, can't miss us, the tour bus will be back again, and the coffee is always decent!

 

/Royce

[PotNoodleTech]

Do your screens have a "freeze screen button" to pause the image so the teacher can do something else and then unfreeze the screen later Royce?

[BenQ_Royce]

Do your screens have a "freeze screen button" to pause the image so the teacher can do something else and then unfreeze the screen later Royce?

 

absolutely on all models, both via remote (as we know how they disappear) and via the touch menu.

 

(I developed the product in 2010, taking classroom projector functionality, so it's been a feature from almost the start.)

[sigma]

When we refreshed a few years ago, we looked at everything at Bett, made a shortlist and then arranged for 6 vendors to bring a demo board to the school (on six consecutive weeks) for a demo to the teachers. It was not particularly well attended, but there was a core group of teachers for whom it mattered as to what they would be getting, and who wanted a chance to input into the decision.

 

Some vendors left the board on site for a week so that teachers could get a feel of them.

 

Where you go next I think depends on how much the teachers use the proprietory display capapbilites of the board, or whether they just show power point presentations. When I surveyed staff, I was suprised how many used powerpoints or just the very basic capabilities of the proprietary software.

 

If they use the tools the are supplied with the board, can existing presentations be auto imported/converted to a different proprietory standard - generally yes.

 

Given the costs involved, I think its hard to make the case for anything other that a basic interactive board with Microsoft/Google or other free display software. I do mean their proper interactive software not powerpoint.

[KK20]

We looked at this from the coalface. Ask the teachers what they need, then look at if they need it. We used to have promethean with activinspire. Old v2 and 300 boards. Less than 10% of teachers used ActivInspire with bespoke ActiveInspire functionality, most just used it for overlays, scribbles and as a "pen for a mouse" functionality. So I put openboard on the system and pointed teachers to MIRO education. This meant I could look at simply touch screens (no smart functionality) for the vast majority of teachers who were happy with openboard. For those who wanted smarter functionality BenQ won out. They were substantially (over a third) cheaper than promethean or smart for not just equivalent but slightly larger panel.

[BenQ_Royce]

Given the costs involved, I think its hard to make the case for anything other that a basic interactive board with Microsoft/Google or other free display software. I do mean their proper interactive software not powerpoint.

 

couldn't agree more, our stance is to offer as flexible a hardware platform that fits around how teachers teach, and how ICT support, not how a hardware developer wants you to teach by locking you in to their product.

 

offering Microsoft & Google native but controlled environments is an ideal scenario, but they have to tie into that platforms services backend, being able to open and convert files is clunky and not intuitive.

 

We also appreciate for many ICT Managers that these are no longer just displays but network resources and that's becoming more in demand, such as; cloud file access, monitoring air quality, energy consumption, remote messaging, scheduling & remote management... all we can do today.

 

certainly recommending coming to see BenQ at BETT as we hopefully have some answers to the problems raised in this thread, one of which will be a first look.

 

/Royce

[cheekycharly]

So I spoke with our sister school and they bought ActivPanel Titanium AP7_B70 for £2500 each inc the VAT and bought 8. I cant see the older 7 series for that price anywhere but I did see the invoice.

 

Anyone used CTouch? I was recommended these by a guy I know from a local acadamy.