Side by Side Comparison of: Ikan vs Drunken Bear Media

Very solid product. Easy to use, seems durable and sturdy. Tripod mount and connection for the camera to the base is stable and well-constructed. Packed in a foam box insert that apparently also fits a travel case. The glass arrived with a small crack in it; they said that I would receive the replacement in a couple of days. My only suggestion for improvement would be better (significantly better, and more explanatory) instructions. It covers only the basics, and seems to assume a level of familiarity with products such as these that not everyone may have. A discussion of how to achieve balance would have helped me (and not cost me 45 minutes of trial-and-error). That said, though, the product itself - and customer service - get a 5-star review. Expensive and worth it.

Sturdy. The housing for the mirror holds firm, and using the Universal Tablet holder it adjusts to hold about any pad firmly.The fabric housing is sturdy, well designed and holds well without any fabric sag. Did not use the remote yet. Using the demo version of Teleprompter software by Luke Brody for Mac, so that I can then AirPlay a second monitor to the Ipad and remote control the app at the Mac station, so the remote isnt needed in my situation.

I received my teleprompter and was pleasantly surprised! I had some nervousness from previous reviews however, this thing is awesome. Also, there were some great youtube clips of people setting it up so I felt a bit more confident about purchasing it. First of all, the glass and the tablet mount came already assembled and that meant that the issue of knowing which way to place the glass was solved. The rest of the assembly was easy and the remote worked perfectly too. Lastly, the foam in the box is great and I will keep it around and likely purchase the waterproof case to be able to transport it and store it as needed. It is obvious that Ikan has made several changes from original reviews that have been posted over time. And that is also awesome. Ikan PT-ELITE-V2-RC Universal Tablet Teleprompter (Black)

When I originally bought the PT-Elite Teleprompter I had an older iPad. It worked great with that device but when I got an iPad Air and gave my old iPad to my son the holder no longer fit correctly. Getting this device fixed everything. Works great with the iPad Air. Removing the old iPad holder and replacing it with the Universal tablet holder was a breeze. I would highly recommend this product to anyone who has the Elite Teleprompter and wants to future proof the device for different tablets.

Bought this to have something a little more mobile, lighter, and quicker to set-up than my Ikan studio prompter. I expect to use it almost entirely for through-the-glass work as a prompter rig, not off to the side, above, or below the camera.I just rec'd it yesterday, and have to echo the sentiments of others here: the instructions could be just a bit more inclusive. For example, the fear of metal-on-metal when attaching the camera to the base was alleviated by a couple of sticky-backed cork strips that came with the prompter. However, until I studied photos of the rig, the instructions I rec'd make no mention of the cork. What is more glaring for me is the lack of any kind of anti-rotation/stabilizing pin to seat the camera in the correct orientation. Yes, the kit included the thumbscrew, and I wasn't facing the metal-on-metal fear, but there is no way to "center" a camera - and keep it centered - once the thumbscrew is used to tighten the camera to the base plate. Often, when facing the lack of that stabilizing/anti-rotation pin, I find the camera turns just a little bit as I tighten the screw that holds the camera to the base plate. That, in turn, twists/loosens the cork or rubber strips. The assembly instructions didn't make it clear where those cork strips should be used. (If you need sticky-backed cork strips, check out any well-stocked local fishing tackle vendor. If they have rod-repair or rod-building supplies, it's likely they'll have that cork strip in long rolls. I was able to buy just a few feet from a local vendor).The kit also came with a single sticky-backed rubber strip that I still haven't figured out the strategic location for, and for which the instructions don't help. That rubber strip is wider than any of the 5 sliding braces that hold the tablet in place on the tablet tray. I may simply cut it into smaller pieces to apply to those braces. (Actually, I think getting 5 rubber strips that are less wide, 1 to be applied to each of the L-shaped arms/braces that hold the table in place, would be more helpful. ).Additional echos of others' observations:- it is solid and well built, though that also adds to its' weight, so be sure you have a tripod up to the task; consider tightening any loose nuts/screws on the tripod before using it. (Until I upgrade, I'll be using it with either a Panasonic HMC-150, HVX-200, and maybe even my LG G3, if I can figure out a way to mount that to the base plate).- it is difficult to tell which side of the glass should face the camera. (I think I got it right, but it would be helpful if there was some indication which way the glass should be inserted. (It's not like there isn't enough room near the edges of the glass for a small sticker of some kind).- most of the tools you'll need for assembly come with the kit; specifically, mine came with 3 allen wrenches and all the necessary screws, thumbscrews, and braces, but you'll also need a Phillips screwdriver to insert the glass. (That was not included, but I suspect most households have one).- yes, it's a little difficult to get that thumbscrew into the camera bottom while working your finders between the rail-mount and the base plate. Even by raising the base plate to make it easier to insert that thumbscrew, it's still a bit awkward, and my hands are not all that big, nor do I have chubby fingers.At present, mine is attached to Manfrotto 351MVB tripod legs with a Manfrotto 503 fluid head. I'm using a Manfrotto 504 PLONG plate to slide the entire rig into the head. Because of the weight of the unit, a camera, battery, and other potential add-ons, e.g. microphone or wireless mike receiver, I attached the 504 PLONG to the Ikan base plate with two standard 3/8 screws. I may also find myself using this with Manfrotto 351MVB2 tripod legs with either a 504HD head or a 503HDV head.So far, I'm quite satisfied with the kit. As time passes and I gain more experience using it, I hope I'll think to update this review.Perhaps the weakest point of the "tablet-as-a-prompter" idea is not the prompter hardware itself, but the availability of a decent Android teleprompter app. At the moment, I'm testing the paid-for app Teleprompter Pro, which is decent, but a far cry from real "pro" software that a prompter op might use. (Though I suspect Android doesn't provide features to allow 2 separate displays, i.e.: 1 in normal orientation for an operator to follow along with, and 1 mirrored for the reader). I've already tested the app using my LG G3 as the "control" while it was connected to an external display through a SlimPort micro-USB-to-HDMI converter. I've successfully used a Lilliput 10" monitor as the external display, and may end up using my smartphone in that configuration. I'm also waiting for delivery of a device-specific adapter for my Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2" tablet. If that works as I hope it will, I may be using my tablet as the "control" via Bluetooth keyboard, while using the Lilliput monitor as the main display. With Android, the biggest problem so far is when using "mirrored mode"; it's difficult to serve as an operator and follow along when all the text is reversed. (Most studio prompters have software that eliminate that problem when controlled through a laptop). If none of those work well for people in front of the camera, I may just use my laptop and the software that came with my studio prompter, with the Lilliput monitor as the secondary/external display. I've searched for monitors of tablet size and thickness, but haven't had any luck finding one. (Tablets can do so much these days, it would be nice to be able to set them to "monitor-only" mode, and include an HDMI port. However, with the SlimPort adapter, and the one coming from Samsung, I'm almost there; what's lacking is the ability to use the tablet as only a monitor rather than a "computer").Bottom line is, I think the hardware is top-notch and worth the price, and would recommend it if you're going the "tablet-as-a-prompter" route. Just be sure to get a good, reliable prompter app.Of course, now that I've read everything about this kit and purchased mine literally less than 1 week ago, a check of Ikan's site today reveals they have a newer model just released with additional features that provide for easier storage, transport, and set-up. Of course it's more expensive, but also lighter. If it's of the same quality as the other Ikan products I own, I suspect buyers would be at least equally pleased with it.

A simple and functional teleprompting device. Very robust, and works very well - this is actually the second one i bought, as the first one was stolen. The reflector glass is high quality special glass, with a very clear reflection from the iPad (just be sure to mount the glass right side forward). The camera mount is quite versatile, and will probably fit most dslr:s. The app for the iPad cost a bit extra, but is easy to use, and has all basic features. A good device, and makes a world of difference when we make in-house videos.Cons: the only minor gripe I have is that the prompter does not pack very small once it's assembled- with a little product refinement it could fold into a very convenient size, making it easy to transport when traveling.Tip: the light from the viewer in the camera can show through on the text - so it's good to blind it when filming. The easiest way to avoid this is to get an extra rubber eyepiece (a couple of euros on eBay), and blind it with e.g. a piece of plastic, and just switch the eyepieces when using the prompter - takes seconds.

It does what I need it to do.

It looks great. I hope it will serve my purpose

This app is so simple to use even old guy like me had no problem figuring it out. Great job

I have only used this for a short time,but it seems to work really well. I can mirror the text which is a must for an app like this. If I run into problems I will update my review but right now it's great. Excited to use it with my new teleprompter on my fire hd

Fantastic teleprompter software! Easy to use and works great. Has bluetooth control, so you or another person can control the teleprompter from a distance, off camera.

Happy with the purchase, works as advertised. Great for general video work and small digital cameras. Only problem was the assembly instructions. I had to really become MacGyver to figure out how to assemble some parts. Otherwise works great.

This was a great price for the quality of the product. Very easy to set up, and was a great investment for short scripted videos.

This is a nice piece of equipment. It's well built and works well with my Canon XA25 and an 8 inch tablet. We've been shooting broadcast quality materials with no reflections and good eye lines. I did need to move to a tripod rated for a heavier load than I was using, because my tripod was not able to keep the prompter from slowly sinking forward due to the amount of weight out front of the camera.If there were anything to know about the product, it was not particularly straightforward to mount the camera on the rail system. Out of the box it comes with a small metal thumb screw that fits through a slot in the rails. This results in a metal on metal contact, which froze up on me immediately. I added a rubber washer to keep it from locking. Also, it helps to raise the rail platform to give your fingers enough room to get in there to tighten the screw. They do make a quick release mount, but it was about $125 and that seemed pricey for what it provided based on these small work arounds. It would be good if Ikan included a slightly longer screw and a rubber plate or washer to make it easier to mount the camera.As other reviewers have said, I would not recommend traveling with this unit to protect the glass from getting cracked or scratched.

Well made, does everything it needs to do. Doesn't fold up easily so it's a bit bulky for transport unless you take it apart each time. Bit difficult to attach the camera to the rod system plate each time if you're not usually using a rod system. Apart from these minor points it's a good choice for an ipad prompter.

I like this app a lot for the price. What I like the most is the ability to control it remotely using Bluetooth. I use a small Bluetooth keyboard that is easy to keep out of sight. While it is true that you can't download Word files directly to the app, you are able to copy and paste from a Word file directly to the app. In fact, I am limited to this method because my Kindle Fire will not allow a .txt file to be saved and these are the files that this app is expected to import, so, copy and paste from Word is my workaround.

I use this every week for preaching and it works very well for me. Just one suggestion: Once parameters for background color, font color and countdown are chosen, have that be remembered. It is frustrating to have to set these e very time. Thanks for your good work!

Pretty decent app especially for the price! I would like to suggest the following improvements:1. Wider range of font sizes and perhaps font style options.2. Auto hide option for the menu bars which will leave more room for the text scroll.3. Adjustable (and larger) font for the countdown timer with color options for foreground and background.4. Audio beep sync option for countdown timer down to 2 seconds.5. Ability to edit script titles after they have been saved.6. Saving desired font and timer settings as defaults so adjustments are not required EACH time.7. Similar to #6 the ability to save individual settings (non-default) for each saved script.I'm hoping some of these features can be added in future revisions. Thanks!

Tough to tell which way to install the glass. Both sides looked the same to me under close inspection. After I installed everything and hooked it up I found I had it backwards. Would be great if they attached a small easily-removable sticker on the 'front' side. Otherwise it has worked fairly well. They have a free version of their app that will work if you are an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber, so I saved the $6 or $7 for the full app.

For $5, I can't even rearrange the files. The scroll isn't slow enough of all things. The layout is otherwise good, but I've used free apps that had more features.

Well it works, and is probably the best option on Kindle (and Android in general - I have tried it on a Samsung S5 as well as a Fire HDX 8.9). But it does have some notable limitations... The advertized ability to control scrolling with a bluetooth keyboard is not quite what I hoped. I have a Logitech K380 and what I hoped was that I'd be able to use the space bar to toggle pause and play while I'm speaking in order to adapt to natural variations in my speaking rate. The problem is that whenever you restart play mode with the space bar, the 3 second countdown restarts as well, obscuring the text. So this function is not useful at all for what I wanted to do. However the speed-up/slow-down function with the A and S keys works, as does the restart function with the R key. The forward/backward function with Q and W does not work. According to the app website, voice-adaptive scrolling was due to be released Summer 2015, but this feature is not yet available. If you have an iPad/iPhone, that feature is currently available with the PromptSmart app.On a more positive note, importing scripts from dropbox works fine, which makes it easy to compose on a different device.

It's OK. I would like to be able to upload word files to it, rather than text. I use it for song lyrics and the scroll speed goes too fast. If you want to slow it down you have to add spaces between the lines of the lyrics. It's very time consuming.

the settings button is very touchy.Is hard to make any adjustments without a lot patience. There is no way upload an edited script back to the cloud to store on my PC.

I like the ability to size the text. I like that it is so easy to import scripts to the app. It could use a more positive way to control scrolling. I also like the ability to use mirror image in this app. I also noted that when I import scripts, they are all listed as untitled, and you can't save them as well as should be the case. This is a good app but there is lots more work to be done on it to make it a truly useful tool.

I have downloaded plenty of Teleprompter apps. I cannot begin to tell you how many of them are absolutely miserable to use. This particular app is very easy and would deserve five stars but needs a few fixes to get there . One of the main problems is that you cannot paste. You have to import the documents which it is very fickle about where it imports from.

Downloaded to Kindle Fire HD.Noticed the following problems right away:Limited range of adjustment to font size. Large to huge. I needed smaller.Kindle crashed while adjusting the teleprompter contrast/brightness setting. Screen went black leaving no access to carousel. Had to do a reset.Limited adjustment to scroll speed. I read faster than the teleprompter so I had to pause while waiting for the next lines to appear.All in all a nice concept, but I would recommend avoiding purchase until above issues are addressed. I removed the app from my carousel but will leave it in the cloud as a reminder of the 5 bucks I wasted.

The version with the remote is $50 more. The remote isn't worth $50. In fact it isn't worth anything to me because it doesn't work! I have an iPad Air 2 brand new as of yesterday. The remote connects up just fine but it doesn't work at all within the app or anywhere else for that matter. Yes. I'm using the correct app (which it requires). I've put so much time into the teleprompter adjustments that it isn't worth taking it apart and sending the whole thing back. The part I would like to send back is the worthless remote which I have to toss in the trash because it came with the package. Guys. Buy the remote separately so you can return the piece of trash when you find out it doesn't work and get your money back. Dear Ikan: When and if you get this piece working or you refund me $50, I will be happy to update these comments. Until then, buyer beware.

Does not have any pivoting options! This is critically important as the mirrored glass needed to be pitched up while I need to keep my camera in same position. Not good. I do like the construction quality but this pivot problem is critical.

This overpriced prompter came defective right out of the box..The screws required to mount the glass were stripped right out of the box. the paint was chipped. It honestly looked like a retuned used product. We were on a deadline with a client with a three day window and I am sent this garbage. I went against my better judgement and purchased this in a pinch... bad move. I've heard bad reviews about Ikan for awhile, not publicly but in the industry. Their stuff simply isn't production grade.It's shoddy construction of plastic and cheap metal was also not justifying the seven hundred dollars..Sorry Ikan, either you or Amazon blew it.

its awful, once downloaded all I got was advertising ads, after ads and more ads for other apps. could not even press start. I trusted Amazon.........Dont buy it !!!!

It says my internet is not strong enough for use whenever I try to open it, however my settings say my internet is "excellent"! I've tried restarting my tablet and internet, but the issue still remains. Can you help me? I'll give a better review once I am able to use it.Thanks

I wish I had learned from the other negative reviews and saved myself $4.99 and time. Can't import existing documents, Kindle crashes as soon as you create and try to use the app. LEARN FROM OTHERS AND DON'T BUY THIS APP! Your time is more valuable than the $4.99 and the frustration. It gets zero stars in my book. It shows 1 so that I can gain access to the "Submit" button.

Oh my God, 5 dollars for what? My kindle is keep crushing, I can't upload skript. Want my money back :(

This app would not work on my Toshiba tablet even though the version should have been compatible. Every time I tried to open it all I got was a message saying it had been forced to close.