VeryPC_Andy

Ooops ! I didn't post on my VeryPC account. Andy Hopton Managing Director VeryPC

My business makes new PC's and we have this conversation with customers every week. Buying refurb desktop is likely to be the best way to get the highest number of desktops per £ of capital budget. The CPU performance of a 2nd gen i5 2400 (4 core 4 thread 3.1GHz) is approximately 12% more than the current Pentium G4560 (2 Core 4 Thread 3.5GHz) . The upside of refurb is you get a lot of machines for your money . The downside of refurbs are ; Power consumption (a lot higher) , GPU performance (a lot lower on CPU compared to latest intel pentium). Over a period of 3 yrs use the total use despite having a lower capital cost the operating cost can exceed that of new equivalent (depends on power management and sleep profiles etc). Below is a table comparing the pro / con of each machine for a recent customer project. [TABLE=width: 926] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Refurb 2nd gen i5 2400 4GB DDR2 120GB Windows Home or Pro [/TD] [TD]New Pentium G4560 7th gen 2 x 3.5GHZ SFF Minitower 4GB DDR4 120Gb SSD Windows 10 PRO Education[/TD] [TD]Conclusion[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Aprox capital cost [/TD] [TD]£200[/TD] [TD]£224[/TD] [TD]Refurb is £20 Less[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]CPU performance[/TD] [TD]5800[/TD] [TD]5200[/TD] [TD]12% Faster[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]GPU performance[/TD] [TD]302[/TD] [TD]755[/TD] [TD]New has 2.5 x better graphics[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Idle power consumption[/TD] [TD]55W[/TD] [TD]19W[/TD] [TD]New uses 36W less on idle[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Peak power sonsumption[/TD] [TD]128W[/TD] [TD]55W[/TD] [TD]New uses 73W less on load[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Average power consumption [/TD] [TD]95W[/TD] [TD]37W[/TD] [TD]New uses 88W less on average use [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]PRO[/TD] [TD]Low capital cost Fast CPU performance[/TD] [TD]Slightly higher capital cost Slightly slower CPU[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]CON[/TD] [TD]Poor GPU performance Higher power consumption [/TD] [TD]Much faster GPU Lower power consumption Less heat Much longer warranty of 5yr vs 2yr[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Energy cost based on 200 DAYS,6Hr per day 75% idle , 20% med use, 5% load @12p /KWHR[/TD] [TD]£17 /yr[/TD] [TD]£7/Yr[/TD] [TD]New has lower power cost /Yr[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Warranty[/TD] [TD]2Yr[/TD] [TD]5Yr [/TD] [TD]Warranty of new longer[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]TCO over 3Yr[/TD] [TD]£251[/TD] [TD]£245[/TD] [TD]TCO new £5 Less[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]TCO over 5Yr[/TD] [TD]£285[/TD] [TD]£259[/TD] [TD]TCO of new £26 Less[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] In summary I would recommend considering - How long are you using system for ? What is warranty / risk ? Power use over lifetime Whether GPU for Basic 3D is important Happy to provide anybody a quote on new equivalent to refurb and provide a TCO calculator for you to make an informed purchasing decision.

Hi there If you buy laptops with win 7 pro you can reimage with win 7 pro. To upgrade these to 10 pro you will need the edu bundle . If by a laptop that comes with 10 pro you can reimage to 7 as you have downgrade rights and reimage back to 10 pro without the need for the microsoft edu desktop bundle . Unfortunately as the free upgrade path to 10 ended toward the end of july it means if you have a 7pro , 8.1, 8.1pro or win 10 home you will need a ms bundle package or alternate volume licensing agreement to goto 10 pro.

Hi @StampStudy We're not a school in your area but may be able to arrange a demo of a Smart panel and Epson Interactive UST . I will PM you my details or feel free to get in touch with our AV nerd @VeryPC_Ross Andy

HI @alfatec Another option could be to look at SMART CLAAS (classroom as a service) , this i where the school takes out a service agreement with smart and pay a monthly subscription over a period of 3 years. At the end of the 3 years you can continue the subscription at a reduced rate , replace with new (bigger /better) or stop the service . This is an option to consider if you are keeping with a SMART based install , want the latest Smart learning suite software and IFP panel but don't have the capital budget right now. I guess its a question of how many projectors you will replace in the short term , the cost and how long you plan to run them vs replacing all equipment on subscription . I'll pm you my details if you want to get in touch . Happy to answer any other questions on SMART CLAAS for any thread readers .

Hi @TwistedHelixis - The E70 was released aprx 12 months before the 4065. Both are FHD and both use the same touch technologies. 4055 , 4065, E70 = FHD , No OPS slot (slot in PC ), No pen colour recognition , MiniPC mount , upto 10 point touch 4075, 4084 = 4k, NO OPS slot (slot in PC ), No pen colour recognition , MiniPC mount , upto 10 point touch 6055, 6065, 6084 = 4k , OPS SLOT , Pen colour recognition , MiniPC mount , Object awareness (know difference between pen , finger , palm ) The product sheets are here e70 and 4000 series - http://downloads.smarttech.com/media/sitecore/en/pdf/products/ifp/ed-1607-ifp4000-16-1-factsheet.pdf 6000 series - http://downloads.smarttech.com/media/sitecore/en/pdf/products/ifp/ed-1607-ifp6000-16-1-factsheet.pdf So in summary the E70 and 4065 are pretty much the same in features - the difference is the screen size 4065 = 65" and e70 = 70" , the E70 is heavier as is bigger. The E70 will be aprox £700 more expensive than 4065 . I'll pm you my details if you would like a comparative quote or feel free to reach out to @VeryPC_Ross who is our AV specialist. Hope this helps Andy

Wow 12 years ! Mega ! I'm off for some Shuteye, but happy to show you some options and arrange a demo if of interest.

Hi @melholt. I would suggest taking a look at either smart or vividtouch interactive led flat panels . They come with a licence of smart notebook and smart advantage subscription meaning you get updates and support from smart to the latest version of notebook . Between the two brands there are plenty of size and spec options to fit budget and both vendors come with onsite deinstall/reinstall warranties? Did you have an idea as to the size of screen and inputs you require VGA, HDMI etc ? There are other options that come with different software that will open your smart notebook files but if your teaching staff are used to smart notebook it may be disruptive changing the software .

No apology required @Homeland I think your quest for additional help is perfectly valid and I'm quite impressed by how calm and measured your reaction to this difficult situation has been. I posted here today because I thought a public apology was in order and to share the information we have on the subject for anyone following the thread. Andy

Hi there @Homeland First of all, I want to say sorry for the trouble you’ve had with our Thinbook product. We absolutely hate it when a VeryPC customer has a disappointing experience with us. Whilst the VeryPC technical team are handling your warranty requirements with you privately, I think it’s also important that I make a brief response here for the sake of others in the community who are reading along. In a few isolated cases VeryPC customers have recently reported similar issues to those described above with the Thinbook. By talking with the manufacturer, we have now worked out that a small proportion from a particular batch of Clevo W540 and W550 models have a fault which can lead to an intermittent CPU overheat alarm and system shutdown. The alarm appears not to be caused by an actual overheat which points toward either a firmware, power or CPU fan fault. Despite this, and frustratingly, the symptoms of the specifically affected products are not resolved by firmware update or CPU fan remount. The Taiwanese manufacturer of the Thinbook, Clevo, and Intel are aware of the issue and are supporting VeryPC to diagnose and issue a fix for returned products in their labs. We have replaced and will replace any further Thinbooks with this issue when the support case is not resolvable by other means. Unfortunately the issue is intermittent and very difficult to replicate in a lab environment to determine a fix. We will be contacting the small number of VeryPC customers that are potentially affected in the next few days to determine if their Thinbooks may be affected by this issue and to make sure they are taken care of. Looking after our customers is extremely important to us. Any business is only as strong as its relationships so we work really hard to keep our customers happy and always do the right thing by them so those relationships continue and prosper. If anyone has any doubts, they can of course contact their VeryPC account manager or call our technical support line on 0845 0345 018 or email [email protected] and we’ll be happy to address their concerns. Andy

I've been looking at a piece an app called "reflector" - Reflector Airplay Receiver - Mirror an iPhone or iPad to a Mac, PC or Android It essentially makes a Windows PC, Apple or Android device an airplay receiver - This means you can airplay/screen mirror to a PC connected to a projector, IWB, IFP display . It seems like a cheaper alternative to Apple TV or less technical setup than an air-server. Anyone else used/ using reflector?

@gsk I checked out the E70, it is not EOL next stock should be available in toward the back end of October.

We've supplied a good number of E70's this year and actually have a 6065i in our demo/training room here. The E70 was rumoured to go EOL, from my last conversation with Steljes (UK smart wholesaler) they were still stocking ordering and bringing the E70 into the UK. I will double check and post back in a bit. The 6065 is a great bit of kit and looks the part to, the 4k is also a perk in terms of future proofing as the amount of 4k content people use /have access to right now is minimal. My only niggle on 6065i is the only video input is 1 x HDMI , having said that you can upgrade to a second HDMI. With all the smart products you get a licence of smart notebook and also a 1yr subscription to smart advantage (updates and product support). We are based in Sheffield and our demo room is always open for visitors - Feel free to a PM me or our AV champ @VeryPC_Ross if you would like more info, pricing or to arrange a demo. Cheers

Hi @Tesla Smart changed their business model earlier this yr, from a hardware sale with free software updates, to a hardware sale with bundled software and a subscription model to get software updates. Smart Bundle 1 yr subscription to updates and support with new smart hardware or if you purchase a smart notebook licence for a non-smart device ie Phillips /Hitachi. The subscription model is relatively simple - Products are licenced on a per classroom basis and not per device. There are now two products - Smart notebook = The software package Smart Advantage = Subscription to Software updates and support Smart notebook - Is bundled with smart products. If you have old smart kit you have a smart notebook licence for the device. If you buy new smart kit you get a licence + 1yr subscription to advantage. If you have purchased non-smart branded kit and have not purchased a notebook licence you will need to purchase one. Smart Advantage - New smart products come with a 1yr subscription to advantage enabling you to get updates and support for a 1 yr. If you have existing smart products and no advantage subscription you will need to purchase an advantage subscription to get the latest software updates and support. If you have non-smart hardware (ie Hitachi) but have purchased a notebook licence for the device in the past you will need to purchase a subscription to get the latest version. Smart advantage is licensed per classroom and not per device meaning you need only need one licence for a classroom with say 4 interactive devices, there are discount available for purchasing site licence (all your classrooms with interactive devices are licenced for smart) and for volume purchases. If your advantage subscription expires and yu do not renew you still get to use the software but it will not recieves update past the version/date that your advantage subscription ran out. I'll drop you a PM across with my details and will be happy to give you pricing for the various options if you like. Cheers

@cgilmour , can you provide throw distance , aspect ratio and inputs you require on the projector ? I will happily then make some suggestions. Projector bulbs tend to always be cheaper when he projector models are current - My assumption as this is supply / demand cost. The older the projector gets the more expensive the bulbs get. If refreshing a fleet of projectors and not going down the casio route, I would consider buying bulbs for your deployment at the outset.

@tonymaybery , Sorry to hear about your issue, as we are the AV forum sponsors I thought it only right to step in to lend a hand. If it helps save you budget, I'd be happy to have our install team call you and do the installation work at our cost (mileage and time). I know it won't be fixing your projector but I'm very certain we can cut that £500 into a bitesize number. Our AV engineers are smart accredited so it should be a simple fix. Where are you based? A PM coming across shortly with my details. Cheers

@iainjd, Genee are a software company with offices in India and UK (Wolverhampton) They do a large amount of hardware in India and Africa, in the UK they were amongst the first LED touch flat screen manufacturers and have been a competitor to clevertouch product by Sahara. Genee import and re-brand their kit from Asia, this is something not to be afraid of as Ctouch, Clevertouch and many of the other vendors do this. Where Genee stand out vs Sahara (Clevertouch/Cleverboard) is they are a software company and their bundled software ,SPARK, is a cut above the Lynx and Wordwall bundled with Clevertouch/Cleverboard product. Again with all the AV solutions out there the crux questions that will define which solution to go with are ; What do features/ size/touchpoints do users want out of the hardware? What do users want out of the Software? What software are users used to , will they change packages and what are you licenced for? What is the budget and how important is saving it compared to the needs above.

@iainjd , In terms of board the Smart , Promeathean and Hitachi are all decent boards. Where the Smart stands out as many have commented is that Smartnotebook is really at the cutting edge of interactive software bundles and goes beyond a basic inking tool. Having said that it's worth considering and engaging with teachers on ; - What are the teachers actually using the Inking software to do ? Advanced maths or glorified powerpoint ? - Which software/inking package are they used to using? Are they happy / will accept a change? - Are you licensed for existing on new/different vendor hardware? I will Pm you my details if you want to discuss further - Happy to help and give you some options if needed. Cheers

Hi Ashley Primary ICT support! Many thanks for sharing the positive feedback. It's a great morale boost for team VeryPC when we hear the sweet sound of happy customers. Please feel free to get in touch as and when it fits in with your plans. Have a great summer ! Andy

Hi EduGeek! VeryPC have put together a range of great value tablets, 2-in-1 convertible and netbook aimed specifically at the education market. We are offering both Android and Windows devices and they all come with a broad suite of Intel® Education Solutions software designed to enhance students' learning experience in the classroom. I've posted an official launch article in the news section of the VeryPC website, where it looks a bit prettier, but I thought I'd also share it with our buddies on EduGeek directly. As I said above, you can read my original article in our website news section if you prefer. If you'd like to learn more about VeryPC Mobile Education Solutions, feel free to drop me a PM, email [email protected] or call us on 0845 0345 017 / 0114 321 8609 All the Best, Andy.

Forgot to add if you have a minitower or do not need a lowprofile bracket pretty much any gt610 will work for you. Just make sure you have a spare pciex16 slot.

There are some really great value low profile graphics cards that will have HDMI, VGA and dvi output. Nvidia gt610 low profile is a safe bet , to get all three outputs in a sff case you will need a low profile bracket . sometimes these are bundled with the card, I know we stock an MSI version that come with the bracket and is passively cooled. You are looking at between £20-25 + shipping wherever you get it from. I am on a train and not smart enough to paste a web link . once deskbound I'll post a link for you to see .

Hi ICTRich, There a growing number of LCD touch options available and the majority of the hardware is much of muchness. The key thing will be to establish what the teachers demand in terms of Interactive board software; Clevertouch, Iboard, Genee - do there own software - Iboard is particularly good Benq and Smart - Are bundled with smart notebook Phillips, Infocus and Hitachi - Generally don't come with software although you can licence with ; Open Sankori - open source free software RM easy teach - Compatible with Promeathean and Smart file formats Smart Notebook - Smart software - Although licencing model has changed recently to a yearly subscription model What Smartboard software are the teachers using/demanding ? Andy

Hi zoom . What OS / coa license do you have on the PC's in question ? As this May give you more options. If none The cheapest way would be to purchase a retail copy of win8.1 or win 7 premium . you cannot technically buy an oem version (which are cheaper ) retrospectively as it is supposed to be supplied by the manufacturer at point of purchase. there is a volume license option called a get genuine license which is about the same cost as above. Hope this is of use , if you would like me to take a more thorough look please feel free to send me a pm Cheers !

My secret it out .... I also wanted to add The "Duffman Thrust" technique also a key warmup before delivering a successful motivational speech, Oh yeah ! I owe this all to my good friend Steve what an inspiration..........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8M6S8EKbnU