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- Verified Buyer
I recently bought and installed this whiteboard, and I wanted to provide some feedback on some apparent improvements Quartet has made for customers.First, Quartet provided a large "template" sheet for marking hole locations. I say "template" because it doesn't have preset mark points. You still have to lay the whiteboard over the paper and mark the centers.Special note, when marking the center, the true center, use additional lighting to cancel out the shadows. This is a recess, so light from a side will cast a shadow and make it look like center is in a different place. Even a phone LED camera light will do well for mobile lighting to find the actual center.I marked my holes and taped the big paper to the wall. I used nothing else to align or check fitment and just YOLOed it. When you tape, make sure you spend the time to level it and have it nice and flat. I taped the 4 corners plus the 4 centers and made small adjustments until I was happy.I drilled 7/32" holes through the paper, then removed the paper, and installed the drywall anchors provided.Two, the drywall anchors appear to be improved. These are the same style but appear to be a heavier duty version, metal I believe. Past reviews showed white plastic anchors. Mine were silver and appeared to be a cast metal of the same "screw" style of anchor. It went in well, no complaints.Three, there were complaints about the threads being bad. Quartet shipped the mounting hardware threaded together. I don't know if this is how it's normally shipped, but this choice does mean someone is hand threading and checking the threads during final assembly. This might be a choice to self QC these parts by forcing pre-assembly at the factory. When I got my parts, I had to unthread the two metal halves. The threads seemed good and worked fine with no anti-seize required.Final thoughtsSo how'd I do? Well, I just went for it just to see how things would turn out. It turned out good. Everything aligned well, assembled easy, and I can't really complain. It was not a hard one person job and all of 10 minutes of work. It probably took longer to unpackage than install, and the only thing that took time was taking some care to mark the true centers and to lay the big paper on the wall well.Alignment optionsLet's say you mess up a little bit. What are your options for alignment? There is a small amount of wiggle room in two places. There is some wiggle room in the hole for the small, long screw going into the drywall anchor. You should be able to loosen this and move the metal cylinder part around a small amount side to side to gain a small amount of extra clearance if needed. It's not a lot of play, but it's some. There's also a little bit of wiggle room in the hole of the whiteboard, so the whiteboard does have a little play in the design. Combined, it might be able to compensate + or - 1/8" or so.For the most part, just take your time marking the center well and use a secondary light source that you can move around. This will probably take care of most of the fitment problems people have. Also spend time getting the paper nice and flat, both underneath the whiteboard when initially marking centers and when taped on the wall. Take a little time at both these steps, and you should be golden. Even for me not really taking any additional steps, I was probably within a 1/16" of center to center between the worst two holes (bottom left, top right) for alignment relative to each other's ideal.Is the whiteboard any good?Yea. It's got a metal back for magnets, but the magnets need to be strong to also have enough strength through the layer of glass. Magnetic strength drops off fast relative to distance away, so layer of glass means powerful magnets are needed. As long as you're aware of that, great. The stock Quartet stuff works good. If you get aftermarket magnets, just look for higher strength stuff. That's it.The glass is of course nice to write on, so it's too functions well. It's hard to complain about a glass surface, aka why I bought this one.The slight 3D effect from the glass layer and the white backing is neat/interesting. Good or bad? I don't know. The whiteboard still functions well.The hardware that came with the whiteboard is certainly decent enough for the price point. I would not expect more, so it's perfectly acceptable for the price and ultimately looks good and a little upscale.The packaging is ok. There was plenty of use of foam on all sides and in the corners. The glass whiteboard arrived in good shape. I can't say if it'd ever take a real fall or toss, but the outer carton is clearly labeled "glass," so hopefully it's handled well enough. Mine was.Nothing was missing on arrival.Instructions were simple enough to follow and had enough information to where I was not questioning anything. I'm a poor use case though. I'm already pretty handy, so this is kind of eyes closed stuff for me. But the key bits of information like what drill bit size was readily found in seconds. No complaints.I love this "whiteboard" SO MUCH. (We need a new generic name: it's a *black* whiteboard, but "blackboard" suggests chalk. How about "glassboard," good for any color?)How do I love it? Let me count the ways:1. It looks so much cooler than a regular whiteboard. In my home office, where I have some black steel in my furniture, it looks particularly sharp and really pops against my lighter walls. And I really like that it "floats" away from the wall. It has design impact.2. IF you're reasonably handy and have the tools and someone to help, it's not that hard to install. (I realize those are big IFs, though.) The template helps a lot, and my spouse has ALL the tools (including a laser level, though a traditional one will work), so we got the anchors in perfectly. The board came out *exactly* level. As I have a mild obsessive streak about things not being level or straight, this was *really* important to me. I couldn't have done it by myself, though. The final mounting requires two people (one to hold, one to screw the final bolts in), and if I weren't married to a handy person I wouldn't have had the tools -- I would've had to call a friend to help. And just remember: always measure twice just to be sure it's all accurate ("measure twice, cut once" is a woodworker's motto).3. It's sturdy. Whether I'm erasing or writing, there's no bounce like there is with cheaper melamine white boards.4. The Quartet brand magnets, markers, and eraser WORK. The neons aren't quite as bright as I thought they'd be, but they're fine. The white one that comes with it really pops. See more below for some helpful hints. It DOES work!5. As a writable and magnetic board with a blank slate, you can set it up as you want. I printed calendars and posted them with magnets, and wrote to-do lists directly on the board by their side. Colored paper looks really cool against the black background. And if I wanted, I could draw arrows from deadlines to task, use it as an idea board, or whatever. You can use it your way.6. You can use the marker tray or not. It slides on and off easily enough. I'm using mine now, but might take it down for a sleeker look. So again, it adapts to your uses.7. The packaging protected everything well and the board arrived quickly and in perfect condition.Some helpful hints about magnets:- Yes, they need to be strong, but a larger surface area helps, too. Some of our smaller rare earth magnets *didn't* work, but random ones I had that were half-dollar size did. The Quartet brand ones work well.- You can also hang things from the *back* with regular strength magnets, since the board floats away from the wall and the metal is on the back. I have documents and lanyards hanging from the bottom of the board that way.Some helpful hints about marking and erasing:- The Quartet brand markers need two things first to work: shaking vigorously (each time you use them) and, for the first use, depressing the tip until the ink starts to flow. Be patient. The pen that comes with it *will* work, despite what others say.- The white one that comes with the board works best in terms of contrast, but it looks like they don't sell white separately, at least not on Amazon. Hey Quartet, are you listening? -- sell packs of white markers for your glass boards here on Amazon, please!!- The neon ones are next best after the white ones. Pink, green, and yellow seem to "pop" the best. Blue is a little hard to read.- I bought the Quartet brand 3-in-1 eraser, figuring their products work best together. It has two surfaces, one of them with two sides: a black felt surface (two-sided for when one side runs out) and a blue microfiber side. I find that the black side works best to get the initial marker inks off, and the blue microfiber really polishes things up after that. The black felt tends to collect the ink flakes, but most of them can be brushed off by hand when it gets full of them.- The magnetic quality of the eraser is strong enough for the glass board -- mine lives on the board (covering the logo everyone complains about, though that has gotten smaller).TL;DR: it's sleek and stylish and gorgeous; it's sturdy; it's flexible for your needs; the right magnets and marker work on it; and if you or a friend/family member is reasonably handy, it's not that hard to install.I was very excited for this. The mounting system is very difficult to get right. They manufactured it in such a way that if you’re off by even a millimeter it will not mount properly. They could’ve widened the holes just slightly around the glass board so you could position it to make up for the precision required to mount, but they did not. Be prepared for a less-than-ideal mount.Also, the drywall mounting hardware they provide are made of metal, but shatter easily. I nicked the corner of a stud and it looked like I had twisted the thing in a vice. I had to pull metal shrapnel out of the stud before attempting again.Do yourself a favor and use plastic drywall screws.The board arrived with many chips and scratches due to shipping. They are very minor, but I notice them every time I look at it. It seems to be wear and tear from old age, if I’m being honest.The whole board I ordered seems to have been sitting in storage for a very long time. The market was a dried husk. The felt tip of the marker splintered when I tried to “prime” it. It collapsed with minimal pressure into hundreds of individual strands. I would be incredibly surprised if the marker wasn’t years old.If they had sent me a new product, I probably wouldn’t have complained as much, but I’m fairly sure this was a return, or it had been lost in a warehouse until I was unlucky enough to buy it.But it’s a good thing I did. I was hoping to get the biggest size for my workshop, but now I know better.Overall I'm very happy with this product. I give 4/5 stars because of a couple of issues: dry erase markers don't work well, and installing the board at home can be a challenge (see below for details).I was looking for a whiteboard for my home office and wanted some other that looked more professional than an ordinary wall-mounted whiteboard.The board itself is a glass board with the "white" behind the glass and a thin metal layer on the back.The glass with the white layer behind it produces an interesting "floating" quality to anything written on the board. One thing that I have found is that traditional dry erase markers do not work well on this glass board. This is not to say they don't work, it is just that they are "faded" without nice strong color to them. I have tried 3 different types of dry erase markers with varying success. The standard red/blue/green/black markers are ok (I tried 2 different sets - different brands - just to be sure) but generally are very faded and can be somewhat difficult to read. Fluorescent colored dry erase markers work better, but still aren't ideal. What I have discovered works best are liquid chalk markers. The colors are bold and easy to read.The thin layer of metal means that you need to use rare earth magnets to attach something to the board. This is not an issue for me since we have many of these around the house, including on our refrigerator. Some people have had an issue with this, but for me it works and I don't see a reason to mark it down for this.The marker tray works fine as well. Went on and stayed on without any trouble and seems sturdy. The ends of the tray have plastic covers to prevent scrapes from any sharp edges.The board itself is heavy because it is glass (somewhere in the range of 10kg). This can provide challenges when mounting it on a wall, not the least of which is that it really is a two person operation to get it installed. I'm not entirely convinced that the provided mounting hardware is suitable for the interior wall of a house (i.e. drywall). I recommend doing what I did: mount at least one side on a wall stud if possible. Unfortunately the mounting holes are not spaced for standard wall stud spacing so it is unlikely that you can get all four mounting screws attached to wall studs (which would be ideal). When it is installed the mounting hardware puts the board spaced about an inch from the wall which gives it a nice appearance.So originally I purchased a black 3x2 board from Staples, since they listed an earlier delivery date than Amazon.ca, but after multiple emails to customer service I got the board a month after the Amazon board would've been delivered. (Lesson learned, Amazon has delivery and customer service figured out far better than others).Black board: basically only able to use liquid chalk or Sharpie water based paint markers in light colors that get washed out by any glare or reflections. You have to really clean the board to remove residue from these kinds of markers or they will leave cloudy streaks. They look better than classic white board markers, but there is no simply wiping the marker off the board. Works good for semi permanent or permanent markings like weekly/monthly checklists etc.After deciding legibility was important and tired of anything written on the black board being completely washed out by glare I ordered a white version 3x2 board...Then I realized, I could probably strip the black paint off and frost the back with a can of frosted spray paint. The back metal sheet is held on by double sided tape, easily removed with 99% alcohol to dissolve the glue and a putty knife slowly slid underneath. The Black is indeed a layer of paint that can be scraped off with the help of paint stripper. After removing the paint from the back, I found that there was overspray on the front of the board which needed to be removed with a bit of scraping. After taping off the edges, and spraying a couple coats of paint, it looked really great, although no longer magnetic.Frosted Board (home made): looks really nice. Markers are legible. If I did it again I would tape off an inch of the back all around the circumference of the board, giving it a clear frame which would make it look amazing.White Board: probably looks the best. The white backing makes markers the most legible, although you can see the double sided tape used to hold on the sheet metal on the back.Markers: liquid chalk and Sharpie Paint Markers look the best and are the most legible. I find bullet tips produce an even line instead of the uneven lines of chisel tips. Chisel tips make all writing look terrible. These markers do require work to clean off the board though (scraping and wiping). Just a warning, the Sharpie Paint markers come in water based and oil based. The oil is REALLY hard to clean off, but would work well for a permanent calendar template. Classic whiteboard markers will work on the frosted and white boards, with darker colors being better and some lighter colors being almost invisible. And wipe right off like on other whiteboards.Installing: I made a template out of paper, but if possible just tape the posts to the board and have someone hold it in place while you drill it inplace. There is VERY LITTLE forgiveness or wiggle room. Also the posts you attach to the wall are female, so you can't just put the board up and screw the caps on, you have to hold the board in place and screw the male caps through the board... he install process and hardware needs a rethink. There has to be a better way. The 3x2 board does line up with wall studs perfectly, so that's nice.Conclusion: while nice and elegant looking, I'm not convinced a board and some blackboard paint wouldn't have been better. The magnets just ok. I don't use mine. Avoid the black since glare is a pretty big problem. I use a t-square with self adhesive rubber bumpers to keep the ruler off the surface to avoid bleed from the wet markers. Felt bumpers would work as well.I like this product, it is looking very good and seems good quality.There is few issues that made me remove 2 stars.1) Mouting is hard. The board ships with drywall screw, which are not strong enough to make a robust installation. I highly recommend not to use them, a child could make it fall without too much effort. Also, the hole distance is not construction standard (16" in North America), so you can't really have 2 sides into a wooden beam. I had to open the wall to add some hard material behind the drywall.A solid mounting bracket that could go behind the glass would be very usefull2) Pen and pen holder are not the best. The white pen that ships with the glass is giving me hard time, I'm always struggling with it cause I don't get enough ink. The holder at the bottom easily fall, I had to add glue to it.The quality control just isn't quite there for a five star rating. I was able to install the board by myself (2 x 3' board) by using the cardboard from the box as a template for the mounting holes instead of the glass itself. The clear rubber washers need to be mounted on either side of the board and this is a bit tricky - for even two people I'd imagine. I ended up taping the backside washers to the metal hangers with scotch tape so that I could hold the glass with one hand and then get that first bolt in place. After that things were easier. There doesn't seem to be much of a margin for error.The black marker that came with this board was superior to the package of Quartet fine point ones that I also purchased.White paint around the front edge of the board that shouldn't be there would be my biggest complaint I suppose. If Quartet spent a few cents or dollars more on QC for each item they ship they could be the unquestioned industry leader for whiteboards. I have a cheaper $35 standard whiteboard and the same logic applies. Quartet would do well to stop making stuff so that it meets some kind of penny-pinching bare minimum of expectations.This board was perfect for our meeting room. I was worried about the installation but it was fairly straightforward. I used my own anchors for the screws as the included ones seemed a bit small. You definitely need 2 people to install this.The board itself is excellent quality and durable. The markers don't stain the glass like some other brands.I added some foam behind the glass as there was some flex while writing. With that addition its super sturdy now.
