Multiple Touchscreen with single Computer

[gregoryx]

I am planning for atleast 4-5 wallmount like picture frame and 1 portable to be used as large remote.

Do you happen to have Fujitsu 3400 and 3500
Can you compare Fujitsu 3400s vs 3500s interms of speed and display (indoor and outdoor). Are they around same. For any model say 3400 how is the display in indoors compares to outdoor.

How is your overall satisfaction level from these fujitsu models. Is it really worth going for X models (XGA) resolution or S model(SVGA) is just file. I will not be using these as I use my laptop (thinkpad T20) but rather as Input devices/remotes with large buttons (Xlobby/mediaportal/cqc/mainlobby screens).

The one unit that I want to be portable will be used for pdf/word doc reading, email checking, photograph viewing and occasional web browsing. Should I consider XGA version for this or the small screen size makes XGA resolution difficult to read?

With the cost of balus/kvm, I can only afford these lowcost tablets.

Would be indebt with your detailed feedback.

Regards,
Shaurya

I currently have 5 3500X units (XGA) and one 3500S (SVGA).
I also currently have 1 P600 outdoor screen and one P600 indoor screen.
I have not used the 3400.

There is a noticeable - though not significant - difference in performance between the 3500 and the P600. The 3500 is a 500 MHz Celeron, the P600 a 600MHz P3 (not Celeron). The fan turns on a LOT more on the P600 making it noisier as well.

The outdoor screen works decently outdoors, though not even close to the way my Motion M1400 and LE1600s with their "VuAnywhere" screens work. Those are amazing in any light by comparison to everything else I've tried. I figure for the money, the P600 outdoor screen is cool.

Having the 3500X and S, no question: no more S units. The screen quality is much higher on the 3500X, not just the resolution. Getting the S was a shipping / seller mistake that I didn't check until too late.

I use them exclusively with MainLobby. I moved to these when ML got too slow on the six Progear tablets I used to have. I tried a couple other units in between: 14" Paceblade and some other thing... can't remember. I decided 10" was really the way to go - and the 8.4" is nice for sitting on the couch as an over-sized remote.

I use them for news-reading regularly. Slow but fine for that purpose. Hit Google news - in or out of MainLobby - and read while sipping a coffee... just pull one out of a cradle instead of walking my lazy butt downstairs to grab one of the two LE1600s.

Interestingly, the recent versions of MainLobby have actually improved the performance on these low-powered units, so they're working pretty well.

You should be able to see some screen-shots of my (older - not entirely current) Main Lobby screens here.

Interesting point of note: I have recently started "stripping down" the ML controls and feedback to a raw text version that runs on my PPC / phone on 240x320. I'm pretty pleased with it as an additional alternative. Ugly, but fast and simple.

Cheers!

 

[DavidL]

gregoryx, suprised you haven't started using the MainLobby Server 3 webserver for PPC / remote access?

 

[gregoryx]

Ah... but I have! B)

... that'd be what's mentioned in the last paragraph above.

... and that'd be the topic that Mario (and you?) have recently told me that Dave is the only one who can help figure out why status information only works on port 80 and commands only on port 6246. Sound familiar?

Then there's the variables for JPGs pointing to 6246 explicitly that needs to be addressed.

But - as above - I'm using it. It works very well and very fast. I have all the lights working on it and am starting to build AV controls for it. B)

 

[znelbok]

As mentioned, the Betwin software works well (so far in trial mode) for 5 touchscreens.

The touchscreen driver needs to support multiple monitors (most have that I have tried) and you only then need one PC.

Mick

 

[upstatemike]

You may want to look into TouchTronix touchscreens using UTMA technology. PM Cocooner Dwayne if you need additional information.

The Touchtronix UTMA solution has a lot going for it. I like the fact that there are both In-wall and Tabletop versions. I like the fact that it runs off of 12 volts so I could power it from an Elk 4 amp battery backed power supply. I like the silence of a fanless driveless device. I like the fact that it uses an ethernet connection so it fits into my existing wiring infastructure. I like the fact that ethernet makes it easy to swap servers without any hardware changes and no messing with funky vga extenders or proprietary multi-output video cards. I like the fact that I can go though several generations of server hardware without needing to upgrade my touchscreen hardware. (I'm not going to buy a bunch of tablets or UMPCs and then replace them all every 3 years!). It seems very practical if you plan to have more than 2 or 3 touchscreens.

Only negatives I have heard is the quality of the screens themselves and the fact that touchtronix might move from 12VDC to 110VAC for power.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

You may want to look into TouchTronix touchscreens using UTMA technology. PM Cocooner Dwayne if you need additional information.

The Touchtronix UTMA solution has a lot going for it. I like the fact that there are both In-wall and Tabletop versions. I like the fact that it runs off of 12 volts so I could power it from an Elk 4 amp battery backed power supply. I like the silence of a fanless driveless device. I like the fact that it uses an ethernet connection so it fits into my existing wiring infastructure. I like the fact that ethernet makes it easy to swap servers without any hardware changes and no messing with funky vga extenders or proprietary multi-output video cards. I like the fact that I can go though several generations of server hardware without needing to upgrade my touchscreen hardware. (I'm not going to buy a bunch of tablets or UMPCs and then replace them all every 3 years!). It seems very practical if you plan to have more than 2 or 3 touchscreens.

Only negatives I have heard is the quality of the screens themselves and the fact that touchtronix might move from 12VDC to 110VAC for power.

Don't forget the fact thet there is also ZERO (as in nada) maintenance (other than maybe an occasional firmware update, but this will occur with a single click of the mouse)! When you get past a handfull of computers in your home, you will enjoy this feature (i.e. windows updates, antivirus scans/updates, spyware scans/updates, backups, etc...).

 

[upstatemike]

Don't forget the fact thet there is also ZERO (as in nada) maintenance (other than maybe an occasional firmware update, but this will occur with a single click of the mouse)! When you get past a handfull of computers in your home, you will enjoy this feature (i.e. windows updates, antivirus scans/updates, spyware scans/updates, backups, etc...).

Good point. And if you run them off of a Hometroller with Homeseer and Mainlobby you shouldn't have to do any Windows patching or antivirus scans at all. Add an elk connected to Homeseer via ethernet and the whole system should be very easy to manage.