Everyone seems to want an interactive whiteboard. I remember when Smart boards were the new thing, and they were HUGE. Teachers wanted them, principals feared the costs. Don’t get me wrong, Smart makes a great product, but the cost can be prohibitive for some. Enter the Ipevo Wireless Interactive Whiteboard.

As always, in the interest of full disclosure, this product was provided to us to do an impartial product review.

We first got our hands on an IW2 quite some time ago. As it turned out, we had a bum receiver in ours. Ipevo acknowledged there was a batch that had this issue, and it had been corrected. They provided a replacement. The replacement was used as the basis for this review. Ipevo has a great customer service department.

First, you need to download the software from the Ipevo website. After that, it is literally plug and play. The only remotely complicated part is getting the camera set correctly.

A camera, you say? Yes. The way the IW2 works is simple. You have a battery powered ‘pen’, a USB receiver for your computer, and a camera. The camera has to sit 8-11 feet from your projected surface. Mine sits on top of my ceiling mounted projector just fine. The camera is powered by a mini-USB plug. This comes with a 110v adapter, or it can power off the USB slot on your projector. The camera simply views the screen and where you tap with the pen.

Upon setting up the IW2, you will need to calibrate the IW2. Like most other whiteboards, you tap the various targets on the screen. Mine was calibrated and working perfectly in under a minute.

I find the IW2 to be easy to use, and mobile. I can take it with me for presentations and staff development. I can decide to loan it out, if I choose. I rarely have to re-calibrate the sensor. The accuracy is great. When I tap a spot on the board, I get that spot, not a spot half an inch to the left or some craziness.

I use the IW2 on a Mac with the extended desktop, and it works fine like that. The extended screen is the one being monitored for the pen, while my screen is not. I have used it with a Windows machine as well, with no issues. The IW2 also works with a Chromebook now. While I don’t find myself doing so often, it is nice to know that I can present from a Chromebook if needed, and still have my IW2.

Ipevo also has annotation software for the IW2. This allows you to draw, annotate, write, etc. using the IW2 pen. It also allows for screen recording, and many other functions. It has built in shapes for flowcharting/geometry as well.

Overall, this is a great piece of tech for the classroom.  It costs right at $170, a fraction of the cost for a permanently mounted whiteboard. For a school wishing to roll out interactive whiteboard technology, Ipevo has come through again with a low cost tool that performs much better than the $170 price tag makes one think it would work.