Review: EBeam

One might ask why it’s taken me until 2010 to review the eBeam. The eBeam is probably the third best known interactive solution in the education market. Back in the days when there were really only two companies fighting for the right to sell Interactive Whiteboards in Ireland, (Smart and Promethean), the eBeam came along costing a fraction of the price.

Up until a couple of years ago, I was telling everyone to go out and buy eBeams over the other options. To be honest, I was selling eBeams! My argument was based on cost. Back then you could buy 5 eBeam set ups for the same price as 2 Promethean or Smart boards. This is not the case anymore.

For those of you who don’t know what an eBeam is, it’s basically a small boomerang shaped dongle which sticks to an existing whiteboard. Through plugging it into a laptop, it transforms the whiteboard into an existing interactive whiteboard. You can then interact with the whiteboard using an electronic pen.

The cost of eBeams have gone down a lot and now you can buy them for around €500. (Add a bit more for a wireless version). Because of this, many companies have been using the technology to make their own boards. Essentially, they stick an eBeam onto a whiteboard, give it a fancy name and sell it as cheaply as possible. Examples include the 3M board, the Vosa iBoard and the Rainbow IWB. You’ll generally get a short-throw set-up with full instalation for around €2,000, which is a good price.

My main problems with the eBeam are to do with the pen that comes with it. Firstly, if you drop the pen on the ground, you’ll be lucky if it works ever again. Replacements are about €80. I also find the pen clunky and you need to put batteries in them. This gives them the annoying feature that all of a sudden they just stop working. My other problem with the eBeam is that it doesn’t allow for finger interaction.

On the positive side, they are cheap. They also allow the user the ability to keep using the existing whiteboard as a dry-wipe board. I’d recommend that a matt-finish whiteboard will cause less glare from a projector so probably it’s best to use those.

EBeam argue that their dongle is portable and can be shared between classrooms. I found that this didn’t really work in practice and found that it was easier to permanently install eBeams in classrooms professionally.

Software-wise, eBeam uses a circle toolkit, which has a few features, none of which are outstanding in any way. There are few clipart resources either. Most companies provide alternative software with the eBeam these days, usually Easyteach from RM. I’d recommend using Promethean’s Activ Inspire instead.

Overall, I would not be looking at the eBeam as an option for my school. There are better cheaper options such as the Intech Portable Board. I even think the Mimio just about edges it out for accuracy. Having said this, there is a lot of love out there for the eBeam and a pretty large community out there to support it. If you’re looking for a reasonably cheap IWB option, and you’ve already got a whiteboard and projector, this may be a cheap investment.

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