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If you are looking for just a simple cover to protect against dust and other 'elements' - the best thing i've seen out there is: www.WhiteboardCovers.com They are nice, neoprene covers (like wet suits) to put on your IWB when not in use...

agreed with those statements - sometimes it is a firmware update needed to the SC card (the brains of the SMART Board) - if you go into the diagnostics (control panel) of the SMART Board Toolbar - what version of the firmware is the board running at?

I agree about the height adjustment when mounted on a wall - check out http://www.whiteboardrails.com - they make a great mounting system...

But the SMART Board pens can be 'replaced' with anything if you lose them - you dont 'need' them to use the board as with other IWBs... and, a complete replacement set of pens is just $10 (US)... SMART Notebook software is the best out there, in my opinion... What do you prefer about the Promethean board? I still think it is key to have touch with the boards... the pen-only enabled boards seem kind of awkward (when I want to move something, it seems weird to use a pen). I like with a SMART Board that I use my fingers to move stuff and pick up a pen when I want to write - seems more natural...

you may just need to flash the firmware to make sure you are on the latest update. Sometimes board ship and dont have the latest firmware... if it is not that, sometimes it can be a bad serial controller card... you can get a replacement easily for that too.

So, I see Promethean advertising on their website, at conferences, etc about being the first interactive whiteboards to enable multi-touch... but they are WRONG. How is it that they can blatantly lie? They seem to constantly put out their marketing materials in such a falsifying way... they mention 'touch' in their advertising, but it is touch with a pen - but they try to prey off the idea of touch like a SMART Board... Oh, and by the way - the Rear Projection SMART Boards (like the 2000i) have had multi-touch/multi-inputs available for years... So, how can Promethean just lie to people in what they say? I have a lot of trouble with them, as they seem to be making statements to boost their awareness, but they are not wholely true most of the time...

Why would you write with your finger on a SMART Board if you have the pens to write on the SMART Board? I never understood that statement. When you want to write on the SMART Board, use the pen! When you want to manipulate objects, use your finger... I think the flip-side is more of an 'issue' - Why would you manipulate objects with a pen and not with your finger/hand? It is more naturaly to manipulate objects with your hand/finger as you would with real manipulatives, and use the pen when you want to write... As for software, both are fine - but SMART Board software seems to be less buggy and more powerful for the things commonly done in a classroom.

I think it is around $700 in the U.S. for the mounting system.

Go to: http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/Accessories/600iSeries.htm That is what they officially named the 'Height Adjustable Wall Mount' and it is available now through any SMART reseller. I saw one in New York City - it is pretty cool. This one (the SMART one) has no levers or 'clicking' to lock in place - the system is based on counterweights, and it glides and stops wherever you want along the track... you can move it with one finger, it is that smooth in it's motion...

Thanks - I've seen those threads, but they are a bit different - they are people looking for 'hard covers' to encase their SMART Board on the wall in a cabinet, or they are looking at what to do to charge people a fee for damaging SMART Boards... I am really looking for a soft case/cover... so, like Belkin and them make soft cases for macbooks or iPods, I am looking for the same kind of thing - like a neoprene cover for my SMART Boards... anyone know of these existing?

Anyone know of a good place to purchase a cover for my SMART Boards? During the summer, we have teachers from other schools who work in our school and I want to protect my investment in these. I dont need something to secure and lock to the boards, just more of a cover that covers the board. Last summer we wrapped garbage bags around them - of course it was functional, but i'd rather have real covers... any ideas?

It is not just a piece of molded metal - i assembled one a few weeks ago (a pre-release version of the mount). It is a rather hefty system with counterweights and more to make it move smoothly up and down without needing to click in and out or lift with more than one hand... it is actually great - my only concern is hanging that securely on old, crumbling school walls....

I've used a service called Doteasy (http://www.doteasy.com) - I have had excellent service from them and great speed/uptime. I've been using them for about 5 years now... I host about 15 domains/sites with them... definitely worth checking out... the only catch may be that invoicing/PO thing - most of these places all accept credit cards. Their yearly hosting fee for unlimited traffic and lots of storage space is pretty cheap.

The Airliner is great is a classroom that also utilizes the SMART Board... We have some classrooms that have chosen just an Airliner and a projector, and it is ok - but not as effective as you still end up with a 'personal device' being used as opposed to a collaborative device.... The combination of the SMART Board & Airliner(s) in a classroom really gives a teacher and students the most flexibility and modes of interactivity... The schoolpad (interwrite) is ok - all of them are basically the same - they are just bluetooth mice (with a stylus for navigation). It is really about the software - and out of all of them, I still think SMART Notebook is the best. The others are comng along, but aren't up to par yet... by the time they get up to par, SMART will be on v10 of their software - and it should be just like the impact that Mac OSX had in way of change from the older MAC OS versions... I cant wait to see it!

well, reccommendations, opinions, etc are always going to vary... what is great is that you always have options, so if you have a large interactive whiteboard with an XGA projector and your teachers like that combo - then that's the one to choose. If they like a smaller board with SVGA - then that's the way to go. If they prefer some other combination and it is one that they will utilize in the classroom, then that is the way to go...