I hate that all of these threads turn into "get more money and buy and
ION." He has a budget. Suggesting a
console that is more than 3 times his budget is not helpful. Even the
Element costs twice the high end of his budget. How is this helping the OP?
$2k is a tight budget for a fully functioning, "real world," theater
desk. I'd say that SmartfadeML is an ok choice, but, as has been noted, will not prepare students for the professional theater world. Smartfades are pretty unanimously regarded as infinitely easier to use with a PC running Smartsoft attached. And that adds to the cost. But of course can also be something added at a later date when more money is available. Another option you could look at is a very simple board that still has at it's heart the
preset philosophy, but can store cues. I'm thinking of the
Leprecon and Lightronics style desks here. They are not the fanciest or greatest consoles, but they still have all the necessary functionality to perform what you need. Something like the Lightronics TL-2448 has a
softpatch, a moving light function,
cue stack. It's quite similar to the
Express 24/48 in it's functionality. It's a different syntax, obviously, but once learned, it's not difficult.
Everybody has to start somewhere. And not everybody can afford
ETC or
Strand. There are other options, though. Maybe you can get by with your
current system for a while longer until you have the money for something like an
Element or Basic
Palette?
And, as I think only one person so far has mentioned, GET A DEMO. A
console is a big deal. Get demos of anything that you are considering buying before you make any
purchase. If your dealer or manufacturer is not willing to demo a
unit for you, then you don't want to be buying from them anyway because they clearly don't have your best interests in mind.
My $.02,
-Tim