I think I know (generally) what I'm looking for--but tablet vs digital photo frame?

[Darrell KSR]

Scenario: the athletic boosters board wants to recognize certain contributors/donors by displaying a plaque at the school.

The problem is that:

a) The donors will be changing, hopefully adding new donors.

b) It's a "20/20" plan--seeking to have individuals pledge $20 per month for 20 months. Some will pay the $400 donation up front, but others will have it billed monthly to their credit card.

c) Some of the individuals will, either intentionally or inadvertenly, stop paying. [If/when they do, they'd like their name to come off the list].

I was told last night that it cost about $5 per name to engrave a single plate, which is ridiculously expensive. Probably have 150 names or so currently that "might" go on it, and some may drop off, etc. It doesn't need to be a $750+ plaque.

So I suggested a digital plaque instead--something that could be hung on a wall, and updated monthly.

My low-tech thought is to do this:

1) Purchase a digital photo frame that automatically rotates photos

2) Make a Microsoft Word type document. Or Publisher, or whatever. The document would contain an alphabetical list of donors, possibly by category.

3) Make a PDF or JPG of each page and put it on an SD card. Install in photo album, and boom--you have a rotating list, digital plaque of names.

The beauty of this is that you'd have plenty of space for other things--maybe some photos of what the boosters are doing with the money--a page devoted to "Thanks to new Donors for November"--a thank you page for corporate donations--etc.

All of which could be kept on a Microsoft Word document, easily editable, and with two SD cards, changed out at a moment's notice without any interruption.

Does this make sense? I told them last night I was low-tech, but thought something like that might work. Any other suggestions?

Any specific product? It doesn't have to be super-cheap; in fact, a nice, large display would be great. I don't know about electricity; but I guess it would be located near an outlet. If not, are there any that use very minimal battery power, where a battery could be charged up and it last for a long time, hopefully days or weeks? Or a solar powered battery type option?

Is there an easier/better process than what I described? Should there be a tablet, rather than a photo frame? I'm thinking the lower tech, the better, if it makes it simple. Heck, could even take a photo of the pages to display if that would be better.

But if there is an ability to have a "marquee" scrolling kind of thing on it, it would be great, too.

Help! Suggestions, specific product possibilities, etc. are appreciated.

[KSRBEvans]

^I think it makes sense. I was also thinking if you want a larger screen, you could use a TV where you could plug in a thumb drive or SD drive and play it.

Or if you want an excuse to play with a Raspberry Pi, you could get one and set up a server to run to a monitor/TV:

http://lifehacker.com/5929913/build-a-xbmc-media-center-with-a-35-raspberry-pi

[dan_bgblue]

I know a fellow that likely would take on the Raspberry Pi programming just for the fun and challenge of it, and he works cheap. My fried chicken dinner on Sundays is all it would take. He wrote the script and set one up for me to use as a GPS tracker to keep track of all my company driven mileage. Includes locations of stops, mileage, and is programmed to auto dump the info when it gets within range of my home network.

Having said that, after watching the vid provided in BE's post, even I could likely make it work, and that is saying a lot.

[KentuckyWildcat]

My low-tech thought is to do this:

1) Purchase a digital photo frame that automatically rotates photos

I've not read the whole thing yet, but I will. I bought my parents of these...they enjoyed it for about 2 weeks....

[KentuckyWildcat]

Do you have an All In One (AIO) computer? If so, we have a few options. I've done both of these at work.

1) Free digital sign software called Xibo. Might be hard for a non IT person to setup, but any "IT" guy should be able to do it. If so, you can just log in and schedule the photos or even videos. I run a pretty old version now, but that is b/c it works and I've never had to do anything with it.
http://xibo.org.uk/

2) PowerPoint. I'm assuming there will be a network wherever you are doing this? If not, you can edit it locally on the AIO or whatever your computer display is. I've taken PP files and put it in the startup folder. Turn the computer on and it launches. If you are not a network, you can just launch a shortcut of the file and edit the file on a server/computer somewhere.

[KentuckyWildcat]

I only suggested the AIO because you don't have to hide or mount a computer to the TV. But we have 50 inch TVs with small form factor computers mounted behind them.

[Darrell KSR]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We're looking for a plaque replacement. The TV would work as a large one because they are so inexpensive now they practically give them away at the 19" size. But I'm liking the low tech version of everything.

Raspberry Pi is already getting over my head. They do have a tech guy that could do anything required, I guess but I'm looking for something that could be constantly updated by a Neanderthal.... ;)

[dan_bgblue]

Raspberry Pi is already getting over my head. They do have a tech guy that could do anything required, I guess but I'm looking for something that could be constantly updated by a Neanderthal....

Only thing you would need to do with that set up is to create a new set of files and put them on the flash drive. The tiny computer does not know the difference and just sends the new file signals to the TV screen

[Darrell KSR]

I'll mention it to my son if I get a chance, but as simple as you know it to be, it's still over my head....

[dan_bgblue]

Talked to SIL today. It really is simple. He would be happy to assist. He would set up the PI for you (you would need to ship it to me or if you ordered on line then just have it shipped to me. He sets it up with a micro card that stores the OS and an SD card that stores the images you want to display. Plug the Pi power cord into a wall receptacle then connect it to a TV monitor via a HDMI cable, turn the monitor on and watch the show. Any time you want to change images, unplug the Pi, remove the SD card, insert SD card into a camera, laptop, etc and delete and or add images, text, scrolling text, etc.

He started off storing the images in a drop box account in the cloud and using the Pi as a wireless server to connect to the drop box account, access the images and then display them. I said fine, but can we do it in a more simple user friendly fashion? After that I thought that simple might not be best as you might not want to have to physically be there to add or delete images so the wireless option might actually be the best.

He said that the Pi plus memory cards, protective case, power cable and USB cable will run about 70 bucks including shipping. Add in a HDMI cord for another 10 bucks plus the TV monitor and you would be good to go.

If you decide to go that route, just let us know as he said he would be more than happy to help.

[Darrell KSR]

Dan, I'm very interested in that; I allowed this to go to the 2nd page without knowing it. We haven't had a board meeting since then, and this is what I will recommend, subject to the availability in school, where it will be located, etc. We MAY have a board meeting early next week--if not, it won't be until December.

Thank you and your S-I-L for the offer, and if we ever meet again, I may try to take him up on that generous offer.

[dan_bgblue]

I talked to him today, and he said he is still willing to set it up if that is the route you choose.

[Darrell KSR]

Thanks... If the delay causes him not to be available, that's fine and understandable. We work too slowly here sometimes.