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Looking for recommendations on large 50-60+ inch LCD HDTVs suitable for meeting rooms along with their (ballpark) cost? It would be a bonus if there existed some that are touch-screen. Not sure if one from the "regular" consumer electronic brand ones (Sharp, Sony, Toshiba etc.) or if there was a specialized brand that serviced business and enterprise but looking to replace the hassle and consumables of projectors.

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4 Answers

up vote 5 down vote

We just recently had a client asking for a large touch-enabled screen before. The "large" requirement was not a problem - we got them a 60" Samsung plasma TV. It was the "touch" that was an issue - we couldn't find any touch-enabled large screen TV.

The solution in the end was simple though - we bought a Fujitsu T5010 touchscreen notebook, and hooked it up to the Samsung plasma. So, if any touch drawings needed to be done - it was done on the Fujitsu, which the Samsung plasma will show. The whole place was tastefully wired up, with the Fujitsu raised on a stand and the cables tucked away and prettied up (like a podium).

Thus the speaker could run a presentation off the Fujitsu, and at the same time general business meetings could use the screen as a whiteboard too.

Total cost? The Fujitsu T5010 is now about USD$1,894.00, and the Samsung is about USD$2,000.00. Cost effective, versatile, and easily replaceable. Best of all? No smudges on the presentation screen itself.

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Wow, very elegant solution! – Ernie Dunbar Oct 6 '09 at 18:02
@erniedwork : Heh, I hope no one discovers this! We are making quite a bit deploying this solution to companies. – caliban Oct 6 '09 at 18:05
Thanks caliban for the tablet laptop solution! We have a "fleet" (or whatever the term is for laptops) of HP business laptops we may experiment with for this purpose. Wonder if there are alternatives to SMART (as we have a couple) since their pricing may be high due to lack of competitors in this field. Also considering a Wacom Cintiq ($1-2k) tablet instead of a dedicated tablet laptop due to less complexity in terms of mechanical failure. Any comment on the latter? – rei Oct 6 '09 at 22:06
@rei - A Wacom Cintiq is overkill for this solution IMO. Cintiqs can be very expensive, and it is just a monitor (which means you need to invest in another computer). What a Cintiq can do better though, is that it has support for pressure-sensitive pen controls (some of the newer tablets support pressure too, albeit not as fine as a Cintiq). That is probably about the only advantage. – caliban Oct 7 '09 at 3:29
@rei - with the new range of touch-enabled netbooks coming out of the door, it might make this whole solution even cheaper. You do not really have to worry about mechanical failures unduly - if you want to make it super rugged, get an SSD, dial down the processor speed. It should last you a good few years at least. – caliban Oct 7 '09 at 3:32
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up vote 1 down vote

You mention SMART boards. These are actually a brand, and one of the market leaders for classroom interactive boards. One of these products should suit.

Front projection

Interactive overlays

Two years ago I arranged to equip 4 classrooms with boards and projectors, along with fitting, cabling and training for something less than €20,000 (at the time about £12,000).

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Yes, was aware of them being a brand but are you aware of any other North American (or otherwise) competing brands? – rei Oct 6 '09 at 22:07
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The other main one is Promethean prometheanworld.com I've used them a little but much prefer the Smart board for educational purposes. There is a US section on their site. – outsideblasts Oct 6 '09 at 22:54
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up vote 0 down vote

I would fully expect that consumer brand anything is going to be cheaper than "business and enterprise" anything, both due to the improved cost of mass production, and the excuse that "businesses can afford it".

I would also fully expect that consumer TVs and monitors (I actually have a 42" plasma monitor at home that works as our TV - it has an input for VGA as well as RCA/HDMI plugs, but no built-in TV tuner) are expected to be on for longer periods of time, which is why projectors and their consumables have been used extensively - the picture is much bigger than any TV can provide, but the tradeoff is that the lamps don't last very long. That tradeoff has been acceptable in environments where the projector isn't on for 6 hours at a time.

If 60" is enough, then go for it. If it's not, then you still need a projector.

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up vote 0 down vote

As outsideblasts said I would agree that the SMART brand is what your looking for. I recently worked on a teacher's smartboard and it was hooked up to their cable TV/VCR/DVD, and the computer so she could run presentations, watch videos, etc. You could be on an internet site on the computer and be able to control it at the board. Very cool for demonstartions and classroom work.

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