barrytech

The BenQ came with a wireless dongle. Just FYI, the dongle can be installed on the back of the TV (it has a screw panel that stops it from being stolen/removed). This space also has a USB port for the remote so it can't be stolen. The BenQ you can lock all settings (including the front buttons if you want). Enable the account management and that'll lock it down. Password is admin/admin Wireless casting has been great for us.

Hi Kieran, Went BenQ RM8603A and are very happy. Promethean was stuck on Android 9, and the normal model didn't have 4K on the OS - it looked noticeably bad especially at 86". I didn't mind Promethean, but BenQ was the better piece of hardware by a fair margin in the end. The Promethean OS was great, just let down by hardware.

Haven't tested it yet, but presumably it'll be possible with 3CX. Wouldn't be reliable for emergencies though... The app could potentially be uninstalled etc

Really interesting reading this. I've never been in a school with desktops. K-12 school, all our teachers have laptops on a 3-replacement cycle (currently Lenovo L13 Yoga Gen 2 i5/16gb/256gb... Although Lenovo drivers have been very troublesome). Teachers carry their laptops between rooms. They project with either BenQ wireless, or USB-C (projection, touch and charging) for our highschool. The junior school uses HDMI if they aren't using wireless. We zip tie + screw the cable to the TV to prevent theft. We have a cable clip on the panel for the cable to (theoretically) be secured to after use, although some teachers leave it on the ground. Office staff get 2x24" monitors with a dock. Teachers have access to two hotdesks with 34" Ultrawide monitors that have USB-C PD for charging and display (intended for when they have to spend an extended amount of time at a computer). I get a 38" ultrawide which I find to be useful. I have an old 24" for when I need to produce screencasts that are 1080p.

Yep, saw a number of retailers not offering display adapaters over the past couple of weeks, particularly the 4k version. Such a shame as they kind of just worked (mostly) and didn't break the bank.

I'm interested to hear how you are finding it (and how your teachers are finding it/using it interactively)?

We are installing Interactive TVs in every classroom. They all run Android. We'd like to be able to use BellCommander or similar for announcements and have the announcement come through the TV. Does anyone do this currently? Is there an Android App that would work for this scenario? Or am I dreaming?

The RM03 just got a refresh to the RM03A. It was actually a decent bump with more ram, android 11 and better speakers. We had both panels and could tell the difference.

I thought about doing that initially, but I think everything is controlled by their android os - even the HDMI/USB-C inputs are run in a PIP-style app (I could be wrong though).

Groovy. I'll try that tomorrow if I get a chance (the perils of having the demo unit in a classroom means getting access to it is tough!) Interesting. I read about this and the promethean (and I guess everyone else too). Will it replace the existing OS going forward (i.e. no android anymore)? Oh another note which I need to test on the promethean to see if it's the same... I was hoping I could sign in to the AMS, then sign into OneNote, and then sign out of AMS but retain the signed in status of OneNote. However, when I sign out of AMS and then sign back in, OneNote is no longer signed in. I know this might not be what the AMS use case was originally for, but it'd be so nice for us Windows camps to be able to use the native OneNote/MS Whiteboard apps with BenQ on the panel themselves.

We are going through this process now. We've demoed a large number of vendors, not all are the same. My recommendation is to get the spec sheet from each. Go Android 11+. If possible, check the speakers/soundbar on them. One supplier had a terrible quality soundbar. The BenQ RM03A was one of the better from the mid-range offerings. I find the anti-glare or whatever on the BenQ to actually be the worst out of the panels we demoed. While they advertise highest nits, I found it actually to be quite dull when compared to MaxHub, Promethean and a local supplier. Get something with at least 65W power delivery. If you don't have USB-C devices yet, you will in the future. Having one cable for data + AV + power is great. Ideally find something that has the port on the back of the TV and then zip tie it to the TV so teachers can't damage the port. The BenQ RM03A only has a front facing 65W which is problematic. One of our local panels has 100W PD which is awesome. No more uncharged laptops for teachers. Wireless casting might be important for you too. The BenQ has lots of latency, chromecast doesn't work for me with it either. The Promethean was pretty good. MaxHub was the best by far. The native Miracast has imperceivable touchback. Also, consider having physical buttons on the panel. We aren't handing out remotes. The MaxHub has no physical buttons, so we're no long considering it as an option. The Promethean is probably the pick in terms of physical buttons. The BenQ isn't bad, but a physical freeze button would be good for staff. Consider the software. I'd recommend avoiding the in-built software and using what teachers are already familiar with. We are heavily a OneNote school, but even PowerPoint has good annotation ability. I liked BenQ's floating toolbar the most - it allowed teachers to do easy annotations. Most panels with have some account mangement feature, but I found it not to be useful. I was hoping with the BenQ I could get a teacher to sign into the OneNote app and it would persistently sign in again when they sign out of the panel - not the case. So we won't even advertise that feature. Lastly, consider the DMS features. MaxHub (ByTello) is the best in this regard. You can program your bells through your panel, run live-streams where every panel turns on and automatically starts playing a local stream, push out apps, set schedules, send announcements, delete apps etc. The BenQ is second, Promethean third, and then the rest of the pack. I am still deciding but it's a close call between Promethean ActivPanel 9 and the BenQ RM03A. Both are the same price after some haggling.

TP-Link AC1900 is the dongle I ordered. We have the official BenQ wifi dongle but the Miracast is horrible (Microsoft Wireless Display Adaptor and the MaxHub Bytello Miracast are rock solid so I think it's the BenQ dongle or android implementation or CPU/GPU of the board). I'm keen to narrow that down as it should be lag free and the best windows solution. I couldn't get Miracast working at all from my android phone but works fine on the Microsoft Wireless Display Adaptor and also MaxHub with Bytello Miracast, flawlessly. The Instashare 2 app was okay, but noticeably worse compared to native Miracast. Firmware is up to date. I am also finding Chromecast to be average at best. I thought that might be a good compromise... "Use the Instashare for general viewing and Chromecast if you're watching a longer video". But the casting from an Chrome tab took a while to load the YouTube app and then the pause/seek functions didn't work. Another feature request with the Instashare is to have an option offload YouTube to the board similar to how Vivi does it. Any who, just trying to make the best decision for the school. We'll be rolling 60+ boards out in the next month or so, so I'm keen to get the best solution

Hi Chris, I've ordered a different USB Wifi adapter and will report back to see if it makes a difference (or even works). On a side note, how do we provide feedback about feature requests for the x-sign broadcast? In particular, I'd love to see: + Bells integrated. The ByTello DMS has a bells feature where you can schedule 'bells' to play through the TV. I get this is kind of possible through the calendar scheduling but not really that elegant. + Live streaming locally from RTSP + 1-click alert that is big and easy to find for admin/leadership team (i.e. an exclamation mark) + Storage allocation (even small) to be able to re-use assets

I'm in Australia and our data privacy laws are pretty strict. To use AB Tutor Cloud, Senso etc we'd have to get informed consent from every parent as student data is stored with a third party - sounds like a headache to me. How do people feel about cloud based student monitoring? What's stopping a senso employee viewing a student's device innapropriately (aside from obvious moral/emplyment/legal reprecussions)? How do you know a bad actor isn't viewing devices? At least having it locally you have control. Just curious to see if people are opting in/out and also getting around any privacy concerns.

Hi Chris, Thanks for the reply. A quick question for you, we bought a RM7503 two weeks ago (although I understand there's now a newer A version, and I read the 04 was demoed at BETT - what's the timeline for these)? But the actual question is the Instashare and Miracast both have noticeable lag. I'm surprised the Miracast is so laggy. We demoed another Maxhub panel and Miracast was ultra smooth, like the Screenbeams and Microsoft Wireless Display Adaptor. Is the issue the android implementation? It has a better cpu and GPU than the Maxhub. The other thought is the USB wifi adaptor is the culprit. Happy to order a better adaptor if that's the case. We want teachers to be able to wirelessly project and interact without lag (i.e. write in their OneNote). Cheers Chris!