Test Drive--ProMax LWP 100, LCD Writing Panel

By Jeffrey Hastings -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2005

Promax Technology, 20700 Civic Center Dr., Suite 170, Southfield, MI 48076 (248) 663-2345 www.promax-tech.com. Windows 98 and up, Pentium III, 500 MHz or higher. $2,045

One of the little ironies about today's high-tech digital technologies is that they are often specifically designed to produce results that seem… well… a little less digital. The ProMax LWP 100 LCD writing panel is such a product; it helps users infuse their rigid electronic presentations with some of the attention-grabbing spontaneity of old-fashioned, manual mark-up. You can use the LWP 100 to jot notes over PowerPoint and other applications or to create art and documents that have an authentic, hand-drawn look.

The writing panel itself looks and performs just like a standard 15" flat-panel monitor, but it comes with an electromagnetic pen that both guides your cursor and lets you write over applications in real time. The panel is pressure sensitive, so a gentle jab with the pen works like the click of a mouse, or you can use the pen's built-in right and left mouse controls to navigate as you annotate. You can then save your work to replay or share.

I first used the LWP 100 with some antsy sixth graders about to begin a research project. Sure, they had seen a projection screen before as I showed them how to access our electronic databases. But when I whipped out the "magic" pen, they were stunned, as I scrawled arrows and circles on the screen. Younger students enjoyed using the pen and Corel Art Dabbler (included) to create pictures akin to the joyously organic stuff parents everywhere stick on their refrigerators.

Teachers in many disciplines would find the device handy, when used with a data projector, as a replacement for their overheads. They can call up background graphics of musical staves or math graphs, for instance, and mark them up live, then save them. Or, they can simply use the panel as a whiteboard or blackboard without having to turn their backs on the class or fuss with manual erasure. Since most teachers would use the writing panel with a projector for classroom viewing, purchasers should have a VGA Y cable available for each unit.

If you want to lend a little handwritten spontaneity, energy, and individuality to otherwise pre-fabricated digital presentations, consider the ProMax LWP 100 LCD writing panel.

Jeffrey Hastings is a school library media specialist at Highlander Way Middle School in Howell, MI. You can e-mail him at hastingj@howellschools.com.