Cleverboards have been around for ages and anyone collecting Tesco computer tokens may have dreamed of saving several million of them to get one of these boards but they haven’t had the same impact in Irish schools as Promethean or Smart have. I, in my ignorance, thought they had gracefully died and went away. However, Shaw Scientific are selling them now and I think they may wish to reconsider.
This is the third generation Cleverboard, which must mean it is miles better than Cleverboards 1 and 2. As far as I could see, their big boast is it now contains Mimio capture technologies and software. That isn’t something I’d be boasting about.
The Technology
CleverBoard 3 is a pen-based IWB, which automatically puts it in the inferior basket, in my opinion. Using Mimio’s technology means that you get a highly accurate pen, which is obviously good. Also, as Mimio are backed by the Parker Pen people, you are possibly getting the most accurate handwriting recognition too. However, I think this claim is now a bit defunct as other IWBs have caught up. Oh.. I should point out the boards are 5 inches smaller than the others, (although for probably more money you could get a 105 inch board).
The Software
It comes with Lynx latest software, which is similar in look to but not as good a Smart’s Notebook software. I definitely would recommend getting ActivStudio or Easiteach instead.
The Price
A couple of months ago, the price of €2,999 would have been competitive. However, since Promethean are offering a similar package for €2,500 through their resellers and Some Smart companies, (Liosdoire) are selling a similar package for €2,400, this falls into the overpriced category.
The Quirks
The company would see their latest quirk as using the latest Mimio technologies, which doesn’t fill me with confidence.
The Verdict
It looks like Cleverboard will continue to be on the third tier of people’s IWB shopping list. There are now several IWBs which are better and more cost effective and Cleverboard would need to cut their price by at least €1,000 to make people sit up and listen. I checked out Shaw’s web site and it doesn’t even feature on it. That seems to say a lot more to me.
Last Update: August 17, 2017