Share Your Whiteboard in Real Time with Quartet SMART kapp Boards

Electronic white boards have been around for a few years now but have struggled to gain much traction in the workplace. The reasoning was simple: a board that can scan its contents isn't much more useful than taking a picture of it, and the technology to scan in real time was finicky and relied on the markers as much as the board itself. Thankfully, Quartet now has a board that is easy to use, works with regular dry erase markers, and automatically streams real-time content to anybody connected online.

Quartet SMART kapp 84 Digital Dry-Erase Board

This board simplifies every process that posed a challenge for mobile collaboration. There's no complicated set-up: mount the board to the wall and plug it in. Each board has a QR code that will connect to a mobile app that streams whatever content is on the board live. This stream can be shared with anyone in the world through the app, providing a versatile collaboration tool for any office.

Since not everybody can make every meeting, even remotely, SMART kapp boards also can document what's going up on the board. With the push of a button, a snapshot can be created and either streamed to everyone following online or sent in pdf form to a connected USB drive. These can be viewed as a slideshow, tracking ideas on the board from inception to realization. With the ability to follow along anywhere and capture the image on the board, SMART kapp is finally the digital whiteboard we've been waiting for.

Boards are available in a 72x53 inchsize and a smaller 23x44 inch model.

Get a Free Glass Marker Board By Buying A Swingline Shredder

The importance of having a paper shredder handy at your desk can't be understated. Privacy laws require certain companies to destroy sensitive information. Even when it isn't a legal issue, the risk of identity theft and corporate espionage means slicing up old credit cards and personal data offers peace of mind. Many offices don't have enough shredders to go around or overwork the shredders that are present. More shredders to accommodate more desks or departments are always a good idea, and now there's a way to get something to else to help the office- a free glass marker board!

Quartet Infinity Glass Board

Acco Brands is running a promotion in September and October where purchases of a qualifying Swingline shredder are eligible for a rebate for a Quartet glass marker board. Shredders that qualify range from small office use to heavy-duty Stack-and-Shred units that can accommodate entire departments, shredding entire reams of paper on their own while you go back to work.

Swingline Stack-and-Shred 750X Shredder

Glass marker boards are some of the trendiest office products around. They're stylish and aren't as susceptible to ghosting the way melamine boards are. Put up marker boards to promote collaboration among employees or replace outdated or worn out boards in your conference room. The better the shredder purchased, the bigger the marker board you'll get!

Writing On The Wall To Improve Efficiency and Promote Collaboration

Outside of technology, two of the most significant innovations to hit the office in the last half-century might have been the Post-It Note and the dry erase marker board. This is evident in the way both have endured through, and integrated with, the wave of technology in the modern office. For all of the e-mail, instant messaging, and remote conferencing that happens, every desk still has a stack of Post-Its and every conference room either has a whiteboard or seriously needs one.

It Just Ties the Room Together

Truth is, whiteboards are useful anywhere. Thanks to Post-It's new Dry Erase Surface, now they can actually be anywhere. On one side is a removable adhesive that can be applied to many surfaces. On the other is a quality dry erase surface that resists ghosting better than a standard melamine board. This allows companies to put the sheet anywhere they want, horizontally or vertically. A wall can become a whiteboard, a table can become a whiteboard... an old chalkboard can become a new whiteboard!

Since the sheets can be cut to any size, the applications here are endless. Factories and warehouses can use them anywhere for communication and direction. Conference rooms can be outfitted with new dry erase surfaces or have their old ones repurposed. The most exciting prospect is collaborative flexibility. Collaboration happens everywhere at the office; minds do not always meet in meeting rooms. Whether at a desk, a set of cubicles or just the hallway, two or more people can start hammering out ideas anywhere. Having more whiteboard space available in such locations allows employees to write their ideas down, work off each other and come up with solutions and breakthroughs more easily.

Post-it® Dry Erase Surface - IT + Development

Take a look at the linked videos and see how the Post-It Surface can help your company.

Glass Dry Erase Boards

As functional and necessary as the dry erase board is to the office and the school, it does have aesthetic limitations. Whether the board is melamine or porcelain, it's a big wall of white surrounded by a wood or metal frame. There are only so many ways to dress that up. That might be why the new trend of glass dry erase boards is taking off.

Lorell Glass Dry Erase Board

For offices with an eye for style, glass dry erase boards are an attractive alternative to melamine or porcelain. Glass boards are frameless- one smooth piece of glass with mounts embedded into the corners. Boards are either an opaque white or frosted to allow them to function as writing surfaces while retaining some transparency. The surfaces erase easily and are less likely to ghost than a melamine board

Quartet Infinity Glass Dry Erase Board

The Quartet Infinity Board here illustrates just how many benefits a glass marker board can have. The glass is tempered and hard to break. Marker trays are easy to attach for storing markers and erasers. The Infinity, among other glass boards, can be ordered with undated calendars printed on them for easy planning. Most importantly, many glass boards are also magnetic, allowing them to double as bulletin boards and notification centers.

For more information and product links to other glass dry erase boards, check out our buying guide.

End of School Year Deals

We're nearing a happy time for students and teachers alike as the school year draws to a close. For students, it means a few months of downtime and warm weather. It's pretty easy to see why they're enthusiastic. We hope educators get to enjoy the same. But savvy teachers and school administrators also know that May and June offer some great opportunities to prepare for the next school year.

Frugal educators may often find themselves with some money left in their budgets towards the end of the year. This is often a use-it-or-lose-it situation, and not using it may lead to the false impression that the budget is safe to be reduced the following year. So it's time to spend it on items next year's students can use. Because of this, May is one of the biggest months for school supply sales outside than August.

Quartet Premium Dry Erase Board

So what are some good purchases to consider? To start, how is the room's dry erase board holding up? We've detailed the differences between various boards before, and a board that isn't equipped to handle the rigors a class puts on it may ghost, stain or even crack. For boards that aren't cutting it, consider a porcelain replacement that is smoother, magnetic and eliminates these problems.

Swingline Fusion 3000L Laminator

We recently discussed how useful laminators can be, and schools know that better than anybody. This is a good time to save on Scotch or Swingline thermal laminators, with prices of up to 50% off retail.

Stanley Bostitch Quiet Sharp 8 Pencil Sharpener

Classrooms are also one of the last resting places for wood pencils, and the sharpening technology in them often reflects that. Many classrooms have an outdated pencil sharpener, so this is a great time for an upgrade. The Stanley Bostitch Quiet Sharp 8 is affordable and features an easily replaceable cutter. Best of all, it's designed to work with colored pencils, which most sharpeners tend to struggle with. Right now, if you order a Quiet Sharp 8 sharpener and use our coupon code, we'll throw in both a replacement cutter and a box of colored pencils free!

The Whiteboard For You

The dry erase board has become such a permanent fixture in conference rooms, schools and the doors of every college dorm room that not much thought is given to it. They're so commonplace that it's hard to remember that they only gained popularity about twenty years ago. That's not a long time in the office supply world; the Post-It note has been around for 35 years and we still think they're magic.

Try to Imagine This Wall Without the Whiteboard

However, with such ubiquity often comes a lack of responsibility. A whiteboard is more complex than just a glossy surface and “does it fit the space” should only be the first question asked. How often will the board be used? Will it be used for presenting or planning and organization? Does it need a tray to store markers and erasers? The answers to these help determine the type of board you're looking for, and this page will help you find it.

One of the biggest problems to contend with is ghosting, which leaves marker stains that are difficult to erase. This is a result of ink getting soaked into the board's melamine surface. Melamine boards are the cheapest type of whiteboard, and while they work well for light use like a workspace or breakroom, more important functions require something better.

Quartet Prestige Plus Porcelain Whiteboard

For boards that will receive heavy use such as schools and conference rooms, consider a porcelain board. Porcelain isn't porous like melamine, so the surface is smooth, durable and will not stain. Furthermore, porcelain whiteboards are magnetic, allowing you to use magnets to create a full planning center.

If you aren't sure which board is the best fit for you, you're in luck! Now you can get free return shipping on all Quartet whiteboards. This way you won't have to worry about looking for the right dry erase board before you try it out. If it doesn't work for you, you can return it for free!

Whiteboard Tower Defense

It was recently brought to my attention that an artist/game developer was bringing his own unique brand of physical gaming into the world.  Rather that just create a project and move on he decided to start a Kickstarter campaign to try and get this project moving a little faster (if he could turn a profit, I'm sure nobody would be crying).

Doodle Defense

If you've ever played a Tower Defense game you get the general scheme of things here.  Create a path, setup towers, enemies approach your defense system and wipe you out as they exit the screen. Doodle Defense takes the tried and true formula and just changes the medium you play it in.  Rather than using your fingers or a mouse you use dry erase markers on a whiteboard. If you are interested in the tech that powers this game, good on you, it isn't very interesting.

The demonstration videos and photos aren't very clear or useful, but here's what I could glean from it. You have to use a red, blue, green, and black marker so you'll have to make sure you have a package of all four color dry erase markers.  I saw that at least two different types of markers were used, both Quartet dry erase markers and Sanford Expo dry erase markers.  I couldn't tell what kind of whiteboards were used.  I couldn't see the brand or attempt to divine the size of the boards.  I assume it'll all depend on how close you keep your projector to the board.  The source code for the game is available if you want to try to build your own rig, but that's too much effort for me.

So I just went looking to see if any other whiteboard games were available and found Whiteboard Tower Defense.

This is really just a standard Tower Defense game and the only reason that "whiteboard" is in the name is to excuse the poor art quality in my opinion.  You can see in the screenshot that somebody took a photo of the whiteboard in their office and used that as the backdrop for the game.  They even left the Quartet logo in place on this game's backdrop so you know they have a Quartet whiteboard.

I doubt that Quartet officially sanctioned this game, but whatever.  That's for the lawyers to fight about.

Don't Confuse Your Markers

While attending a meeting and dutifully creating a multitude of Venn Diagrams on our white board I noticed a different marker among our usual colored markers.  It was one of the nice chunky Pilot BeGreen markers with replaceable ink cartridges when they go dry.  I immediately recognized it (they are hard to miss) but I confused it with a different Pilot BeGreen marker I already have.

Pilot BeGreen Markers

Notice the similarities?  Notice the differences?  There aren't a lot.  One marker (top) is a permanent marker and the other is a white board marker.  They are no doubt easy to confuse, but you'll want to make sure you don't confuse them so your cost/benefit analysis chart isn't permanently emblazoned on your dry erase board.

Just because the white board marker is easy to confuse with the permanent marker doesn't automatically mean you should avoid purchasing these markers.  I have had the same black Pilot BeGreen marker for several years now and it still writes as good as the day I first unwrapped it.  I've used some of the cheap black permanent markers on many occasions and sometimes they are great, and sometimes they are awful.

Pilot BeGreen Dry Erase Marker

Here you can see the chisel tip version of the refillable marker.  Not surprisingly, it looks a lot like the photo of the marker I posted above, only it was taken with fancy photography equipment.  It is a straight ahead glossy photo shoot.

Pilot BeGreen Permanent Marker

The marketing gurus at Pilot made sure their imagery for their permanent markers and their didn't look as similar as they do in real life.  Note the different placement of the cap, and the greatly decreased shininess of the photo and you can see it was even at a slight angle to give it a little more depth.

Of course, different styles of marker photo shoots doesn't mean everything is intentional.  It might be just two different freelance marker photographers (I assume somebody has to do it).  Of course the Permanent Marker Refill and Dry Erase Marker Refill are different products, but they look suspiciously similar.  What are the chances you could put a permanent refill in the dry erase marker or a dry erase refill in the permanent marker?  Is anybody who has both markers willing to experiment and possibly ruin one or both markers in the name of science?

Retractable Dry Erase Marker Takeapart

If you are a dedicated reader you might remember my previous post Retractable Dry Erase Marker: From Skepticism to Joy from April of this year.  I'm pleased to report that after several additional months of usage my enjoyment of BIC's Great Erase marker held strong.  Unfortunately, it started to get lighter and lighter.  I first assumed that this was the work of a co-worker who was playing with my marker in an attempt to get it to dry out, but soon came to the realization that it was more than that.

After my marker had transitioned from black to gray to an illegibly light gray color, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands.  I needed to see why this marker had decided to go belly up in what seemed like a relatively short time, and tore it apart.

BIC Dry Erase Marker Whole and Pieces

The marker has a good weight and a solid feel so I assumed there would be a fair amount of ink included.  Unfortunately as I remove the felt portion of the marker I was disappointed to find it actually was not designed to hold much ink at all.  When compared to the typical tank style dry erase marker you can easily see why I was disappointed.  Those markers are just ink ink and more ink with a little plastic holding it together.  This marker is plastic, plastic, and more plastic with a little ink in the middle.

BIC Great Erase Retractable Dry Erase Marker

Knowing what I know now would I purchase these markers if given the option?   The jury is still out.  The marker does a great job of delivering strong, thin lines, and it works extremely well, but given the extra cost of the marker and the relatively small amount of ink in the reservoir it's a tough decision.  If you have a tight office supply budget these markers probably aren't for you, but if you are the kind of office who values convenience and usability over cost then it's a no-brainer.

Neon Dry Erase Markers

So the other day a package was thrown at me without much warning, so I opened it up and threw away the plastic and whatever promotional paperwork was included. That paperwork is the equivalent to an instruction manual and my manly instincts are to discard them when ever I can (like shredding the instructions for a shredder). Inside was a Jetstream 101 pen that is pretty brand new (not all suppliers have photos or pricing for it at the time of posting). As the name would suggest, it is a very simple ball point. It has a softer plastic than the most basic pen, and it feels a little thick to me, but it is a solid stick pen. I also got a Sharpie Liquid Pencil (as previously discussed) and something I didn't know was on the market, a Neon Dry Erase Marker from Expo.

Expo Neon Dry Erase Marker Pack

Now I know when you think neon you either think about the hottest fashion trends or a crummy little economy car (ask me about my road trip to Canada sometime) so not many people have fond memories of neon things. If you are a hipster or want to kill hipsters you'll already have made up your mind about neon. Since I'm still mostly hipster agnostic I can dig the total bright explosion on my white board. They are great for drawing circles around things I need to emphasize.

Normal Dry Erase Eraser

The new extra bright color does come at some cost though. My normal dry erase eraser doesn't work perfectly on the new neon dry erase marker. The magic neon doesn't dry as perfectly as my normal set of markers so when attempting to erase I have to use more pressure and usually go over it several times. I checked the dust created from my normal expo markers and the dust created from the neon expo markers and the neon dust has just a little moisture left, so they didn't completely dry. I don't know what would happen if I attempted to let it properly dry by leaving it on my board for several days, but leaving things on the board for that long just isn't my style.