Searching for Quailty A/V Carts? 43
Tyrson asks: "I work at a university and we are looking to purchase new A/V carts. At the moment we have the plain and simple shelves-on-wheels and the nicer multimedia display carts. The simple carts are sturdy yet insecure and lack useful features. The display carts are secure and useful yet built from weaker materials that only last a few semesters. We are looking for A/V carts with useful features preferably built from metal or plastics. After googling it and making some phone calls I had found several good carts that were sadly upwards of $1,200 apiece. I don't expect them to be cheap, but $1,200 was a little to steep. Does Slashdot have some suggestions for us?"
Long's AV (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Long's AV (Score:1)
Maybe someone out there can help me find the perfect role of sticky tape. I want one with a few features, will last the whole semester, preferable made of plastic and doesn't cost upward of $1200. Hold on, I'll ask slashdot !!
Re:Long's AV (Score:2)
Maybe someone out there can help me find the perfect role of sticky tape. I want one with a few features, will last the whole semester, preferable made of plastic and doesn't cost upward of $1200. Hold on, I'll ask slashdot !!
Well, it *is* "News for Nerds"...I guess the "Stuff that Matters" fell by the
I think not... (Score:2)
I think not. Maybe if you had not wasted so much time checking your spelling and checking to make sure your CAPS LOCK key was not accidently set you would have made it.
What's an A/V Cart? (Score:1)
Re:What's an A/V Cart? (Score:1)
Think these:
Image [longselectronics.com]
Re:Spell pedantic (Score:2)
Preempt the initiate questions... (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Preempt the initiate questions... (Score:1)
They're for putting TVs, VCRs, DVDs, etc on, and wheeling from room to room, often used in Educational establishments
Put those university resources to good use (Score:5, Insightful)
An example of a similar project happened a few years ago when the university needed a new retaining wall built for a pretty high and nasty hill next to the road. The old wall was basically a big slab of concrete and it had a very pronounced lean towards the road and was in danger of collapsing, so instead of hiring someone to design a new one they gave the project to the senior engineering students who designed a new wall for their school. That part of campus that was once an eyesore is now a beautiful piece of landscaping.
Re:Put those university resources to good use (Score:2)
It doesn't even have to be for a class. A lot of universities have one or more "student shops" that students can pretty much use on their own, generally for school related things (grad students in experimental physics, for example, tend to do a lot of machining). Even when the shops belong to one department, they tend to be shared to avoid duplicating resources too much. You can probably get someone who can
Right... (Score:2)
I am not sure if you are commenting here on "getting someone" or "welding" - if the former, I appollogize for the following, but if the latter...
For a beginner, welding is anything but easy. Welding is a skill that takes a lot of practice and a bit of stamina as well. It takes a knowledge of metals and heat, how thickness of metal, temperature of the metal, the kind of metal (and in certain cases, if you are welding two similar, but not quite the sa
Re:Right... (Score:2)
For a beginner, welding is anything but easy. Welding is a skill that takes a lot of practice and a bit of stamina as well. It takes a knowledge of metals and heat, how thickness of metal, temperature of the metal, the kind of metal (and in certain cases, if you are welding two similar, but not quite the same types of steel together, the knowledge of that), etc - to produce a good weld.
Good advice and great details (and beyond my competence level), but I think the project in question is a bit simpler th
Re:Right... (Score:2)
Re:Right... (Score:2)
A decent MIG welder and a bunch of cheap steel and even a beginner can be putting together AV carts in a couple hours (I was certainly doing more difficult stuff than that after an hour or two). I wouldn't even recommend buying a welder for a project like that-- borrow one or use one from somewhere at the universi
Re:Right... (Score:2)
Re:Put those university resources to good use (Score:1)
Specialization of labor vs. wasting your time (Score:1)
Re:Specialization of labor vs. wasting your time (Score:2)
Re:Put those university resources to good use (Score:2)
I think this is an excellent idea. If you have a mechanical engineering department, ask a professor to initiate a class project to design and build what you need. AutoCAD should be available to the design students and there are sheet metal bending programs available for free (as evaluation-ware) on the net. Plastic construction is not really feasible for this "home-built" type of thing.
I'd like a followup on how this project develops if the decision is made to build the carts. BTW, what does one look like?
Re:Simple answer (Score:1)
Partnership.... (Score:2)
Now, find the local Vo-Tech and ask them if they would be interested in manufacturing a few custom carts to your specs.
InterMetro (Score:4, Informative)
Re:InterMetro (Score:2)
This is particularly amusing, since I used to work in retail before they privatized my department. That zoo has by coincidence a Jurassic Park-esque look to it and have enough of a sense of humor about it to occasionally play music from the movie soundtrack. But working around that shelving all day every day with the occasional Jurassic Park soundtrack music thrown in the m
Re:InterMetro (Score:1)
Go Anthro (Score:4, Informative)
Anthro Corporation [anthro.com] has some of the best components to make A/V and general computer carts around. You can make a pretty pricey cart, but you can also get by with a reasonably priced cart. The best part is that you can configure the cart exactly the way that you need it. The carts are extremely sturdy and well built.
Look out for their sales. The April sale was 35% off on phone orders
Check out Anthro. (Score:3, Informative)
Anthro [anthro.com] makes some excellent products that could probably be configured to meet your needs. I use an Anthro fit System Standard unit [anthro.com] as my primary desk, and I absolutely love it. I think their utility cart would probably suit you well. They also do quantity discounts [anthro.com] based on the dollar value of your order.
Good luck.
Re:Check out Anthro. (Score:2)
Re:Check out Anthro. (Score:2)
The good stuff can be pricey, but it's worth it.
~Philly
Home-made (Score:2)
Re:Home-made (Score:1, Funny)
SMARTdesks (Score:3, Informative)
We've used the lectern/podium units from SMARTdesks [smartdesks.com]. They cost $1000+, but were lockable and had lots of nice features and custom options (we had custom cut-outs for VCR's in the front doors).
My main beef with them is that, though sturdier than some, they did still tend to break down (broken hinges, etc.) over time.
One annoyance that we've had to deal with is that in order for these to be relatively movable in a classroom, we have to tether them to a wall panel with a sizable cable bundle (power, vga, VCR a/v, ethernet, etc.). Of course, now we would go with wi-fi instead of wired ethernet, but still can't get around the other cables. I sure would like to find a better way...
Not a dumb question (Score:3, Interesting)
Tektronix scope carts (Score:1)
Just look for a Tektronix Scopemobile cart. The older, the more metal it has.