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puzzler314
I love the idea of IdeaPaint. However, in practice, things aren't that simple: IdeaPaint just doesn't compare to a quality white board. A quality standard white board does better in almost every important aspect; a smoother surface, better erasing, no "burn in" (if we left something up on the wall for too long, it would become nigh impossible to erase). Sure, IdeaPaint is cheaper, but I find I'm never disappointed with quality, even if it costs a little more.
jimmyjazz14
The fumes from it are seriously intense (when it is wet), they used some in my office and I had to leave for the day because they where to strong. Otherwise, it seems to work pretty well,
gbelote
I work in a coworking space that has IdeaPaint everywhere. It's awesome. But you're right: it's lower quality than a typical whiteboard. The surface is bumpy and doesn't erase as well.

I personally don't mind the negatives and enjoy the extra real estate, but it's certainly not for everyone.

janesvilleseo
I agree. I have it at our office. Actually i was the one who found it and painted it on the wall. The packaging hat it came in was really cool with a lot of thought put into it. The instructions turned into a "wet paint" sign.

The surface is bumpy, but it works. It it currently being used as a giant project calendar.

[dead] deepGem
I am now thinking of getting one room painted with ideapaint. Any specific reasons for the bumpy surface - I mean does some extra sanding/smoothening of the surface before painting ideapaint help in removing any bumps ? OR is the bumpy surface because of the paint quality.
lucasjung
I've covered every suitable vertical surface within easy reach of my chair with whiteyboard[1]. They also make big ones (3.3x6) that you can slap on a wall. It's cheaper than IdeaPaint, way easier to apply, and it looks like it's smoother (although still not as smooth as a regular whiteboard).

My whiteyboards do suffer from "burn-in," but that's easy to fix: just scribble over the "burnt-in" writing with another dry-erase marker, then erase immediately. The solvent in the fresh marker picks up the old "burnt-in" pigment so that you can erase it. This trick also works for getting permanent marker off of a whiteboard.

[1]http://www.whiteyboard.com/

pitdesi
Cool product and I love the marketing story, but not as good as a whiteboard (too hard to get smooth) and VERY expensive:

http://www.amazon.com/IdeaPaint-Sq-Ft-Kit-Whiteboard/dp/B002... $175 for a 50 sqft area - $3.5/sqft... a lot more expensive than the cheap tileboard that many startups on the cheap use:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_61082-46498-31023248_0__?productId=3... $10 for 10 sqft - $1/sqft

Another cool idea (that I've never seen/tried) is Whiteyboard http://www.whiteyboard.com/ $35 for 20sqft - $1.75/sqft

Incidentally, we decided to hell with all of these things and that it was worth it to spend $400 on a kickass whiteboard and ended up with this http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Ship-Deluxe-Reversible-Markerboa... (but paid closer to $400). It is awesome - rolls around and flips

Does anyone know why whiteboards are so damn expensive?

chopsueyar
I've been using shower tile boards for almost a decade. I've always found 4' x 8' sheets for about $10 at Home Depot.

If you are going to spend the money on paint, get the black chalkboard paint. $15/qt for 100sqft...

http://www.lowes.com/pd_203261-4-007.0203261.005_0__?storeId...

With the black chalkboard, you can use many colors of chalk and pastels. How many colors can you use on a whiteboard?

foob
I once had an office with chalkboard paint on all of the walls and it was terrible. The rough surface tears apart chalk much more quickly than a real chalkboard and the result is chalk dust absolutely everywhere. It would cover desks and laptops and we eventually decided that it wasn't worth using at all. Even if you love using chalk I highly recommend avoiding using chalkboard paint in a work environment at all costs.
chopsueyar
Good to know. I have only used the chalkboard paint for residential projects. However, I have also found using a cheap roller, with any type of paint, will leave a rough surface. Wool (mohair too) rollers are more expensive, but provide a rather smooth surface (also Purdy brushes make a difference too). Plain drywall is fairly smooth.

There was a cool video from one of the first Kinect previews on Xbox Live and the family's living room had an area covered in black chalkboard paint with chalked designs all over it. Of course, I am sure this was not a real family, nor their real home.

louhong
Thats what I did - purchased white bathroom lining for about $15, used blue painters tape for the edges and mounted it on the wall.
firemanx
Responded, then saw your post - I don't know if the shower tile boards are the same melamine that we used, but they probably are.

We bought some chalkboard paint awhile back and discovered they now have a magnetized version as well, which may match how people use whiteboards more than non-magnetized melamine.

colanderman
> How many colors can you use on a whiteboard?

Uhh... the classroom I work in has at least 16 (bolds and pastels). I can't imagine even if chalk afforded more colors that they would be distinguishable enough to be useful in technical contexts.

chopsueyar
Oil pastels are usually available in 24s,48s, and 72s but yes, I do think humans could distinguish between more than 16 colors.

Personally, I have never seen more than 8 colors of dry-erase marker that are legible on a whiteboard.

brianbreslin
I think he meant unable to distinguish many shades against the black chalkboard surface.
colanderman
Oh I don't doubt that humans can distinguish between more than 16 colors. But white/blackboards are used mostly for sciences and business, not drawing. Trying to distinguish between turquoise and aqua in a graph or formula is difficult at best. (And I really wish infographic/map designers understood this concept.)
firemanx
We built an entire whiteboard wall (8 x 16) for less than $20 - just go down to Home Depot and pick up sheets of melamine, I think we got em for $8 or so a sheet (the sheets we bought were 8x4). Attach them to a wall and you've got an instant whiteboard. Feel free to buy some trim and add that around the board.

They aren't magnetic, but you get a LOT more whiteboard for your money.

ericfrenkiel
we did the same thing and have been extremely happy with the result.
mcav
Yes. Buy a whiteboard cleaner and ghosting isn't really an issue on melamine.
jonah
Or if you want to be nifty, float a piece of glass in front of a white wall and write on that.
jrussbowman
can you paint over it with normal paint? Or at least sand it down easily enough to prime/paint? I'd consider doing my daughters room with this as long as I wouldn't have to gut it to resell as we plan to move when we're no longer upside down.
chopsueyar
Just reduce the width of her bedroom by 1/2" when you attach new drywall over the existing, painted drywall.
jrussbowman
Not sure if that was a serious suggestion or not? The logistics of that get more difficult when you take into account door frames and window ledges, the over all product would not be very appealing. Over all be easier to gut the room. If that's the case, I'll wait until we can get a new home we want to live in for years. The current one is on the wrong coast, my wife from Vancouver wants off the east coast :)
hop
Glass is a pretty cool looking surface to make a whiteboard (clearboard?) with too and can be cheaper than this stuff, even with the hanging hardware.

I wonder how well ideapaint works with textured walls? Have to tip my hat to these guys for selling a quart of paint for $170 bucks with their marketing effort.

dochtman
You have to sandpaper textured walls first, works fine after that.
nolanw
I was looking into turns-into-whiteboard paints/stickers recently and turned up a handy comparison of various surfaces and their whiteboard-ability. Turns out washing machines and dryers often work great, though are likely impractical.

http://rumkin.com/reference/whiteboard/surfaces.php