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Promethean and Smart

witch

By witch
in Promethean Direct Support

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witch

witch

Posted
Posted

Can I have a definitive answer re Promethean and Smart software?

 

1/ Am I right in saying that I can use the ActivInspire software on a Smartboard, and it WILL be interactive?

2/The school has several Prometheans already, so can I upgrade to Activinspire and then use it on the Smartboard at no cost or is there one?

 

3/ When using the AcivInspire software on a Smartboard, can I view previously created content - flipcharts etc - from ActivPrimary 3?

4/ And if I can, will it be interactive or not?

 

5/ If I upgrade my Prometheans to ActivInspire can the teachers use their previously created content?

 

Thanks very much

penfold

penfold

Posted
Posted

I thought you couldn't use the interactive software on a rivals product? This is part of the response from Smart when I spoke to them

"You can install SMART Notebook on as many computers as necessary as long as the computers are not connected to any restricted products...A restricted product is usually a competitor product, or a product that enables touch features similar to our SMARt Boards"

 

Not sure if the same applies for Promethean but I would imagine something similar? This was when I querried the installation of Smart Notebook, which may have slightly different rules as I was asking about that specific product.

broc

broc

Posted
Posted

You need to be very careful with this; We wanted to use ActivInspire on a bunch of Epson Interactive Projectors, Promethean came back and said we must pay £500 for each copy of ActivInspire being used on 3rd party hardware.

 

We are switching to RM EasiTeach Next Generation, a site licence was £700.... the software authors claim this will work with any hardware....

ZeroHour

ZeroHour

Posted
Posted

Basically for both, you can only use their software on their boards. If you want to use it with a competitors board you MUST buy a special license to run it.

So smart notebook on a promethean will work fine (interactive) but you would have to buy the smart competitors license, the same is also true when reversed.

broc

broc

Posted
Posted
Yes, & it will work on a variety of hardware platforms, but the bundled copy of ActivStudio/ActivInspire that comes with a Promethean board is only licenced to be used on that board. We had loads of old Promethean boards that we could have stored in a shed but we still could not use the Promethean software on any non-Promethean hardware without paying for a new licence.
witch

witch

Posted
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Posted
Basically for both, you can only use their software on their boards. If you want to use it with a competitors board you MUST buy a special license to run it.

So smart notebook on a promethean will work fine (interactive) but you would have to buy the smart competitors license, the same is also true when reversed.

 

That's what I thought but I can't get an answer as to whether previously created flipcharts etc would work interactively.

Tech support just told me that you can't use promethean software on smartboards and I KNOW that isn't true - hence this thread posted where hopefully someone from Promethean will see it

cmssbrie

cmssbrie

Posted
Posted

Hi,

 

Is it possible? - Yes, it is.

 

Is it breaching any license? - thats where it gets quite tricky!

 

It might be worth you looking here regarding the licensing (right hand side of page - Teacher Consent License)....

 

English : ActivInspire : Software : Promethean Planet

 

This is regarding Personal Edition - which basically allows you to use Inspire personal on anything - so you can open any flipchart created in Inspire, annotate in it, draw in it etc etc).

 

If you have Pro edition (i.e you have entered a license key when you have installed the software), which has been obtained via a) an upgrade from previous version of software or b) with a new Promethean board, then no, this does not allow you to use it on other competitors boards.

 

If you have purchased Inspire Pro (which I think is around £500), then I believe that yes, it can be used on any board.

 

But, it's worth noting that any machine can run personal edition (which allows creating / editing / opening of flipcharts - just some tools are not availible), and if you wish to use it on a non Promethean board, then the above website should be able to advise further.

 

Hope this helps!

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InspireICT

InspireICT

Posted
Posted

I recently contacted Smart (through Steljes) to see if a school could buy Smart 10 (they have some awful RM IWBs) and they said, "No, you cannot buy Smart Notebook it only comes with a new Smartboard.

 

I can't believe this is true but it's what I was told.

 

I do know that Smart notebook works on Promethean boards and ActivInspire works on Smartboards and that both work well interactively. You can open ActivPrimary and ActivStudio flipcharts on ActivInspire and they work interactively too.

 

As to your licensing issues - I couldn't tell you. I think your best bet is to contact promethean direct.

witch

witch

Posted
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I have contacted promethean direct and they said that the software CANNOT EVER be used on a smartboard and this plainly isnt true so I dont think I can rely on them.

It seems that Inspire Pro can be used on any board with the software but I still cant find out if flipcharts produced in ActivPrimary can be used interactively if we purchase Inspire Pro.

From a purely technical perspective, I would like to purchase a Smart board as in my experience they are far more reliable and do not lose contact with the laptop - of course new prometheans may well be different. However it looks as if I shall be going with Promethean because of the extra cost of using Promethean software on a different board and the teachers want to use all their previously produced flipcharts

InspireICT

InspireICT

Posted
Posted
The other potential alternative is to import your flipcharts into Smart Notebook - not sure if it's worth the trouble though. Also not sure if you'll lose some functionality. Might be worth a test though. Personally I much prefer Smart Hardware and Software to Promethean in most cases.
witch

witch

Posted
  • Author
Posted
The other potential alternative is to import your flipcharts into Smart Notebook - not sure if it's worth the trouble though. Also not sure if you'll lose some functionality. Might be worth a test though. Personally I much prefer Smart Hardware and Software to Promethean in most cases.

 

Yes, but the issue is that if we change to a Smartboard, the teachers wont be able to use their previously created Promethean flipcharts. It is to get around this that I am looking for these answers.

STILL need to know if we pay for Inspire Pro, and use it on the Smartboard, can we open and use previous ActivPrimary flipcharts - interactively?

cmssbrie

cmssbrie

Posted
Posted
Yes, but the issue is that if we change to a Smartboard, the teachers wont be able to use their previously created Promethean flipcharts. It is to get around this that I am looking for these answers.

STILL need to know if we pay for Inspire Pro, and use it on the Smartboard, can we open and use previous ActivPrimary flipcharts - interactively?

 

You certainly can.

 

All Primary flipcharts should be in .flp format. Inspire opens and creates .flipchart files. If you open an older (.flp) file, and open it in Inspire, and re - save it, it will however save it in the new .flipchart format - which cannot be opened in Primary.

ZeroHour

ZeroHour

Posted
Posted
You certainly can.

 

All Primary flipcharts should be in .flp format. Inspire opens and creates .flipchart files. If you open an older (.flp) file, and open it in Inspire, and re - save it, it will however save it in the new .flipchart format - which cannot be opened in Primary.

 

Just a side point but I take it from this Inspire by default uses the .flipchart extension rather then flp?

If so thats brilliant as Flash likes to take the .flp file type by default.

cmssbrie

cmssbrie

Posted
Posted
Just a side point but I take it from this Inspire by default uses the .flipchart extension rather then flp?

If so thats brilliant as Flash likes to take the .flp file type by default.

 

Your spot on! - yep - Inspire's "default" is .flipchart - however, if you have Studio / Primary installed first, and then install Inspire, it will default .flp's as well (of course, if you then install Flash, that may take over the .flps as the default program!)

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