gavtow

We also noticed that once assigned to a port that they couldn't easily be swapped, check with Sanako (that's what we did) and because of our support contract we were entitled to a newer version which fixed this issue. Gavin

The main Sanako lab doesn't need to go into a dedicated VLAN, you can if you want create one but we didn't. If you alredy have VLAN's then the Sanako software is smart enough to handle this, even if say the teacher is in a different VLAN to the students (you just need to enable multicasting). Gavin

We have been using Sanako language labs for about 15 years now, (I think they used to be called Tandberg), and we have nothing but praise for them. What we like about the Sanako 1200 is that all we needed was the computers and headsets, in the olden days Sanako would install a whole dedicated hardware solution but as technology has improved Sanako have kept up to date and released this software only based system. My major worry (as Network Manager of a school with over 2000 students) was that any solution we introduce doesn't cripple or slow down or network and that it doesn't keep crashing. I'm delighted to say that the Sanako solution doesn't do either, it is very reliable and stable and when we have had the odd problem their technical support was brilliant. Gavin

We were in exactly the same position you were in and we considered a number of solutions. What put us off Sony was that it was quite old technology, we didn't want any potential problems when we migrated from XP to Windows 7, and when Sony sneaked out the rootkit and installed software (without telling the users) onto users computers that disabled certain features and was virtually impossible to remove, well that completely put is off Sony. I personally would never trust them again. The Sanako solution wasn't the cheapest option we looked at but it was by far the best, as Andrew has already said it actually does far more than the teachers ever use, but I always think its better to have something and not need it than need it and not have it. The old Sanako solutions used to be hardware based, I remember them installing their own cables for audio distribution, this was to keep network traffic down to a minimum and not disrupt the rest of the school network, but that as technology has improved they have brought out systems that run over your own network cabling, ie you only need computers and headsets. I can personally vouch for the 1200 and the Study 700, it is absolutely fantastic, and loved by both teaching staff and students alike. The great advantage with this is that it is upto date and fully MS Windows compliant. The other good thing about Sanako is their technical support, they are always helpful and have always resolved any issues we have had. Gavin

We had that problem a while ago but Sanako sorted it out in less than an hour because they offer remote assistance with their support contracts, we've always found them to be very helpful and very quick to resolve issues. If you don't have a support contract then I'd certainly recommend that you take one out, obviously emailing Finland isn't ideal, I know our MFL teachers wouldn't want the language lab to be down for that length of time. Gavster

Steve Blackie is brilliant with Sanako stuff however he doesn't do anything for Robot Wars, you are confusing him with Mike Lambert who's a legend on that show Gavster

Hi I work at a school that uses this lab and we would really appreciate any spares. I'll send you a PM Thanks Gavtow