Monitor set-up for Event

Robert_Smith · #8 11-01-2007, 10:07 AM

From bitter experience stay WELL clear of Betwin, it will drive you insane, its OK if you do not have to dismantle your set up and you can always be on the internet. Every time you change the PCs configuration you have to re register with betwin, that means if you alter you USB for some reason, if your hard drive has to be changed at an event for some reason, if you have a motherboard problem, you have to reregister online, I had to do this 3 times in one day when the hardware configuration changed , and let me tell you its a very slow process with them IF you can get through, try doing it when you are miles in the country, no internet connection, you might as well pack up and go home

Rob

DougAxford · #9 11-01-2007, 12:57 PM

Wow, I'll try to answer all the thoughts posted. First, thanks for all the replies. Even though I don't agree with some, I still appreciate everyone taking the time to reply. I am trying something different. It will either work great or NOT

Tried Betwin & Extenda - disaster. never again. It's murder if it crashes when you're busy. I fully understand what Robert says. Spent long time looking at Explorer kiosk, not what I want for now. I will check out Koolu.

Slideshow vs. customer input: I went the slideshow route for a number of reasons. We're shooting by request, not everything. Screen #1 shows last heat (probably 30 pix) #2 shows second last heat (again 30 pix) Screen #3 shows only pre-ordered customer's child on request - we expect no more than 20 of that child. We will do a quick pre-edit prior to display for bad focus only. Screen 4 is used by sales staff to control others, plus go over order with customer aka selling. I'm aiming for 5 orders per hour. We're selling higher end goods like posters, montages, clings, etc. Still have usual 8x10s, but push is for higher avg. I can easily add a few extra laptops for customers to go through their own images, simply added on the network. I'd like to avoid this if I can, but your replies are swaying me to be prepared for it. I do have to watch budget. I've been told that the last few guys didn't make $$ and didn't want to come back. However, this is one of the bigger swim meets in Canada, so it SHOULD work.

I saw this system working at an event and I was impressed with how cleanly it worked. No keyboards, no mice, no customers fiddling with anything. Everyone seemed happy - especially parents.

I don't expect problems with the PC because it is a high quality custom one. There will be an identical spare in case, plus 2 laptops. I had a very long look at multiple PCs or laptops. They were rejected because I want multiple people viewing each screen, not one that hogs it. In the event I watched, the screens are a bit higher and 6 or more people could easily see one monitor. Mine are bigger than what he used. My extra cost is one video card plus one more LCD ($250. total)

I guess my push is to get closer to what Norm & others are doing. Slideshow attracts customer, pre-order (open wallet a bit), shoot for requests, view their images (not everyone else's with it), sales staff work with customer to open wallet wider. I am NOT wanting to have one 8' table (that's all the space I can have) swamped with coaches & kids. Also, this is my first major foray into event (shooting & selling on-site), though lots of experience shooting 1000 kids in 4 hours. I'm looking at how to maximize my average sale, not push quantity. We're expecting (hoping) to print very little on-site since there is simply no room. My big concern is electricity. I have one outlet to work with, that's it. I have a feeling I may not be able to print at all. 1000 watt ps plus 4 LCDs plus 2 laptops, we're getting close to 15 amp. Inkjet would be OK, but humidity is high so I can't use inkjet or paper will curl and I'm guaranteed not to dry easily. Dyesub is power hungry. Remember, we're 15' from the warm-up pool -no other option unless we want to be in the mezzanine 100' away. (no, I don't want staff in both places)

Maybe I'm dreaming, but we'll have to see. Any other thoughts?

Terry Zorich · #10 11-01-2007, 02:40 PM

I have viewing stations in my event trailer (currently using four of them). My current set has been extremely stable; I've been running the original (Windows XP) builds for three years now and have not yet had to reload or rebuild. I use ACDSee as our image browser, and I've written a utility that automates the deletion of the ACDSee database, as the program begins to run slowly when the DB gets too large. Otherwise, the things are maintenance-free and reliable.

That said, I like the idea of thin clients. However, I absolutely REFUSE to generate HTML pages at events, so using a browser in kiosk mode has never appealed to me even a little bit. (Don't even make suggestions; it's not going to happen.)

What I'd like is a thin client that can run ACDSee or Photo Mechanic or some other full-featured image browser. Any ideas on THAT?

DougAxford · #11 11-01-2007, 02:58 PM

What I found myself and read was that thin client had problems with image size and high color (32 bit) on the monitors. I could get it running, but I had to sacrafice quality that I refused to. I'm not sure if this is still the case.

Chris_Lax · #12 11-01-2007, 03:03 PM

Terry, I think some thin clients CAN have software loaded on them, but they tend to be the more expensive versions.
Regarding generating webpages.....why not?

Chris

Claude_Ferron · #13 11-01-2007, 03:07 PM