MagicInfo screens... worth the extra money?

[gshaw]

We've currently got a single plasma screen in our front lobby for news updates etc that's controlled by Xibo running on a PC in a back office. In terms of look and scheduling it's really good but the screen is having a few wobbly moments now (I think power supply related).

 

We're looking to upgrade to two new screens on the wall, been looking at the Samsung screens and basically comes down to one of two solutions...

 

- 2 x MagicInfo 40" screens

- 2 x standard Samsung 40" screens with Xibo external PCs

 

I was thinking of using Acer Revos or similar to run Xibo on (has to be small form factor to hide neatly behind the screens )

 

So what it comes down to is whether the Samsung software is worth the £300-400 difference between the MagicInfo screens and the standard ones. Once you factor in the Revo for each screen it's probably £200 extra per screen in real terms.

 

Searching the forums people's experiences with MagicInfo don't exactly seem to be glowing with praise so I'm leaning back towards Xibo again. Am I right in thinking we'd need one Xibo PC per screen if we want separate content on both?

 

Also looked at Navaho but think it came out a bit pricey as again it was one box per screen (although this was a while back so correct me if I'm wrong)

[glennda]

Having moved from Navaho to Xibo - all i can say is you would be going backwards with that. but never used a magicinfo screens.

 

And yes you would need seperate machines to run it with one of them being the server and the other one with just the client - I currently have 6 xibo screens around my school 4 running on 42" and 50" LG screens (they go into standby once the pc is off and then turn back on when signal returns) and the other 2 running server/helpdesk monitors in our office.

 

if you are after ultra cheap machines you could possibly look at building some very small pc's to run it on as they don't need high spec parts

[maniac]

Use a 10" netbook PC that has a VGA output as the PC for xibo. Cheap as chips and does the job nicely - may seem a little bit of a waste as you don't use the built in screen, but compare the costs of other options it works out the cheapest. Won't run a full HD one properly in my experience, but a 720p screen is fine done this way and they're so small and light, a couple of cable ties holds it out of view behind the screen easily and if you want more security, use a kensington lock.

[p858snake]

I know that a couple of people on here ended up updating the xp firmware on the MagicInfo screens so they could end up running Xibo compared to the MI stuff, Try having a read of that big Xibo thread that is around here somewhere.

[gshaw]

Ye it was the big Xibo thread that sparked our interest in it, been very happy with it so far The only missing feature was that we'd like RSS feeds to scroll then stop at each story rather than a continuous scroll as it does at the moment. Apart from that it's spot on, a bit of Photoshop to make a custom background and it looks the business.

 

My technician has done a power calculation and apparently it works out cheaper to run separate PCs with a standard screen than the MagicInfo integrated solution!

[SpuffMonkey]

We have MagicInfo and are just in the process of installing Xibo - as MI is complete pants.

 

Now - just got to find a decent replacement to handle 3x2 video wall we've got - then we'll be free of that Samsung rubbish - anyone used an Eyefinity card with 6 outputs - was wondering if that would do the job - tied to a little PC.

[3s-gtech]

Eyefinity would do nicely - but remember that the cards it comes on are usually power hungry, so the PSU in your small form factor PC may not handle it. Not sure if any of the lower end cards have it yet.

[IanT]

We have a few of these screens.................DONT BUY them! software is terrible, the plasma's are rubbish!

 

We are getting a new system in soon.

[SpuffMonkey]

We have a few of these screens.................DONT BUY them! software is terrible, the plasma's are rubbish!

 

We are getting a new system in soon.

 

What are you going for as a replacement?

[HMCTech]

Had a Samsung MagicInfo screen and the software worked okay. But as we pass responsability to others to update and create the displays the software was like mandarin to them so we had to go back to simple stuff. I remember network problems and using the shutdown at time x and power on a time y powering up onto the TV instead of the magicinfo.

 

Like others we now use the display to show something other than MagicInfo

[OverWorked]

Today I mounted our Samsung MagicInfo screen.

 

I'm finding my way round it, and have tried installing Showpoint just to get it running.

 

Every time I reboot it, it resets back to the original settings and anything I've installed is gone. Is this some feature of XP embedded? It's like the HDD reimages itself at boot. What's going on?

[chrisgirdler]

Today I mounted our Samsung MagicInfo screen.

 

I'm finding my way round it, and have tried installing Showpoint just to get it running.

 

Every time I reboot it, it resets back to the original settings and anything I've installed is gone. Is this some feature of XP embedded? It's like the HDD reimages itself at boot. What's going on?

 

You have to use EWF commit to save the settings before rebooting.

 

Took me a while to figure this out

[gshaw]

There's a thread on here that gave instructions on how to disable the EWF feature iirc.

 

Sounds like I'm going to be unconvinced by the MagicInfo sofware (we tried the software via a demo Samsung sent us and it seemed OK if a bit clunky) but I like the idea of the all-in-one PC as it's a neater solution than separate PCs. Only thing that's a bit worrying is if the power management isn't working right, can anyone confirm they can turn off their screens on schedule as the software suggests it should be able to?

 

Got to order these soon so want to get the right ones, image quality has looked fine on all the ones I've looked at but they're LCD or LED rather than plasma so that might be why?

[Navaho]

There's a thread on here that gave instructions on how to disable the EWF feature iirc.

 

Sounds like I'm going to be unconvinced by the MagicInfo sofware (we tried the software via a demo Samsung sent us and it seemed OK if a bit clunky) but I like the idea of the all-in-one PC as it's a neater solution than separate PCs. Only thing that's a bit worrying is if the power management isn't working right, can anyone confirm they can turn off their screens on schedule as the software suggests it should be able to?

 

Got to order these soon so want to get the right ones, image quality has looked fine on all the ones I've looked at but they're LCD or LED rather than plasma so that might be why?

 

Hi gshaw, The thing about having an all in one unit is that you could be compromising on quality, also if you need to fix it/ upgrade, you would need to take the whole screen apart. There are many systems out there with dedicated units that are pretty small so can easily be mounted behind the screen or in a floating ceiling. With the MediaCAT you can be sure you are getting a fully operational dedicated digital signage solution that is compatible with pretty much all display systems - Projector, LCD, LED and Plasma (although not recommended). It is also easy to schedule the MediaCAT to turn LCD screens on and off automatically. I would hate for you to compromise on quality for the sake of having an all in one unit. PM me if you would like some more info.