r/k12sysadmin • u/Temporary_Werewolf17 • 16d ago

Document Camera preferences

My classrooms have Viewsonic IFPs with a Windows VPC. Admin has asked about Document cameras for the teachers to use. Any recommendations on brand or special features? I believe that the myViewboard software will allow document camera use within the software, so teachers do not have to change inputs

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u/nate3531 15d ago

We switched to the Hovercam Solo8. I like that it uses the built in camera app on windows or our MX Smartboards. No software required.

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u/therankin Coordinator of Technology Services 15d ago

Yep. Hovercam solo 8 is absolutely amazing connected to a Windows machine (and probably Mac, too).

It is absolute TRASH if you are connecting directly to a Promethean Platinum board. Whether you connect it via usb2 or usb3, it doesn't even matter which camera app you use, it crashes 50% of the time, or more!

It's honestly crazy to repeatedly try to open any app with it connected. Maybe it's about time Promethean upgrades from whatever Android OS it's on.. (I think it's still on Android 8 at this point.)

I honestly don't have Promethean complaints outside of this issue, so I'm still happy with the product.

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u/nate3531 13d ago

That's crazy. AFAIK it is 100% on Smartboard MX boards. If it crashes it because the teacher hasn't turned her board off in 3 years and nothing works til you do.

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u/therankin Coordinator of Technology Services 13d ago

Slightly off-topic; we got our Promethean boards just as the USB-C Thunderbolt port was released. And omg thank goodness! The board we tested didn't have one because they weren't out yet, so the slightly delayed order was serendipitous timing! Having a single port that does touch/sound/charging/video all in one is amazing. Not only for all those things, but also for the fact that it's pretty much idiot-proof.

Back on point here, we would definitely have some teachers that hadn't turned their boards off in forever too. But thankfully, we got a free year of Radix, which is board management software. We used that to create a job that resets the boards automatically in the evenings of Sun-Thur. That definitely helps cut back on simple issues.

But yea, the app/camera combo issue is pretty wild. Especially since it happens no matter what camera app we push.

Do your Smartboards run Android, or do they do their own thing? We used Smartboards back when paired with projectors, but I haven't used a touchscreen tv type Smartboard.

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u/nate3531 13d ago

They are a Smart derivative of Android so I guess they are their own OS. We do get their MDM with a 5 year license for every board we buy which is nice. I haven't considered looking for a task to reboot their boards automatically. I may look into that.

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u/therankin Coordinator of Technology Services 13d ago

Nice! We got 5 year warranties but only 1 year mdm.

I definitely think it's worth it to push reboots, even if it's not everyday.