Imex have had a busy year in Ireland. I met Peter Niblock, the MD of Imex, last year at a course I was giving. While Imex have an almost 75% market share of Interactive Whiteboards in Northern Ireland, their penetration down south was less so. Peter showed me the Imex board which I reviewed during the summer and I mentioned that I felt a touch board was an essential thing for any board these days, so hence their offering, although robust, didn’t tick my minimum boxes!
Since then Imex have won the NCTE procurement contract to sell projectors to schools and this year they are one of the main sponsors of the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) conference 2010. I went to their stand to visit them and congratulate them on their success this year and lo and behold I found a new Interactive Whiteboard AND it’s touch-based AND you can write on it with whiteboard markers! Hooray! (12/3/10 OOPS! I just got an email from IMEX to say that they were wrong about it being safe to use with whiteboard markers – this is something they are working on)
The IMEX Touch board does everything I require an IWB to do and it comes at a good price, with a good warranty and good service. Peter said that they designed it based on my comments on this blog but although I’m happy to be plamaused and flattered, this was probably coming anyway!
The one thing I really like about the ethos of IMEX is their assurance of the quality of their products. It’s almost impossible to break them and they last forever. The IWB also comes with IMEX’s own software which is getting better looking all the time. I’d say it’s a very close second to Promethean’s ActivInspire. In fact, if I were to have this software, I probably wouldn’t bother buying the ActivInspire software separately as it’s that good. There’s lots of lovely quirky Flash activities, great clipart and a number of other fun videos and bits and bobs.
My next IWB review is going to be a thoroughly different affair with so many boards finally adapting my 3 requirements. The market is converging this way and it’s the little things that are going to matter in 2010. Will there be a supporting visualiser? Will there be good pre-made content? What more can I get for my money? The Imex Touch comes for a very reasonable price for a short throw solution and it’s yet another board that would sit nicely in a classroom in my school.
Last Update: August 17, 2017