What should I look for in a Whiteboard?

In case you haven’t noticed, the plain old cheap whiteboard is quickly becoming a thing of the past. If you have found yourself in the market for a whiteboard for your office, you may have discovered that there are many features and options out there. You can choose features such as web and PDA interactivity, premium surfaces that don’t ghost, and high-quality frames. It is enough to make your head spin just trying to figure it out. In the following article, we will try and help to guide you through some of the features that are currently available in whiteboard surfaces. Hopefully, this article will help you in choosing a whiteboard surface that be the best for the needs of your office.

1. Erase-ability: Depending on how frequently your whiteboard is going to be used, you will definitely want to pay some attention to how clean the board erases. For light, low-profile use, such as in break rooms or factory floors, melamine is an acceptable surface. Melamine is the least expensive marker board surface. However, it will require the use of cleaners on a fairly regular basis for best performance. If you are looking for a whiteboard that will be used more frequently, it is recommended that you purchase a board with a porcelain writing surface. Porcelain boards erase cleaner and require much less cleaning. At the top end, there are surfaces such as Quartet’s Magnetic Total Erase system that not only erases completely, it features a magnetic surface for added flexibility for your presentations.
2. Durability: Again, the consideration here is how frequently and under what conditions your whiteboard will be used. Many of the lower-end surfaces such as melamine can scratch and dent easily with even moderate use. If you are going to be using the board frequently, or are going to be moving the whiteboard around much, you really should invest in a higher quality surface such as porcelain. There are some boards on the market that guarantee that their surfaces will never dent, scratch, stain, or ghost, and you may be wise to seek them out. Especially if durability is a concern.
3. Special features: As we mentioned above, magnetic surfaces can increase the scope of your presentations. There are also higher end boards that feature grid patterns that make writing in a straight line and drawing graphs or diagrams much easier. The grids are very subtle and are usually not visible or distracting for your audience.
4. Interactivity: At the forefront of whiteboard surfaces is the interactive marker board. One example of this type of board is the Quartet Idea Share Computerized Whiteboard. It features a gray porcelain surface and fully integrated electronic imaging technology. This type of board really pushes the envelope when it comes to collaboration and flexibility. You can use an interactive marker board to host web-based meetings, print, share, or save data to a computer or even connect your board to certain kinds of PDAs.
5. Brand. There are a few great whiteboard manufacturers such as Balt Best-Rite, Ghent, and Quartet. Each of these companies make boards in a wide variety of sizes with both porcelain and melamine surfaces. Choosing a board made by one of the manufacturers is a way to ensure you’re getting a high-quality product you’ll love.
6. Price. Price is also something you should think about. You need to choose a whiteboard that won’t cost too much while also having the features and quality you need. Resist the urge to get the cheapest board out there. You’ll find that it lacks the quality you deserve and have to replace it after a while. So save money from the get-go by getting the most durable, high-quality board you can afford. That way you won’t need to replace it as quickly, if at all.
7. Warranty. Finally, you should choose a board that has a warranty you feel comfortable with, just in case something unexpected happens. For instance, some of Quartet’s higher-end boards come with an incredible 50-year guarantee so you can buy a product like that with a lot of confidence