PowerPoint Presentations

numsquat · 01-08-03, 11:04 AM

First, hello to all. This is my first post although I have been lurking for a few days. Currently using a Sony NR70V but we're getting Dell's here at work by the end of the month. Haven't used a PPC since a iPaq3650 so am re-learning some things about PPC's :D .

To my question, one reason for getting PPC's is to do PowerPoint presentations, ditching the laptops, at least in my case. I have been researching the various 3rd-party vendors and have narrowed it down to three.

My main goal is to find one that you can directly plug into a TV/VCR with RCA plugs, 95%+ of my presentations are done in the community (church's, etc.) and none of these places have projectors but all have TV's. My organization, which covers 6 counties, has a total of 2 projectors, both based in another county, and the checking out/transportation/checking in is a real pain and unreliable.

One issues with the Dell's is that I have heard of the CF not being compatable with some CF attachments. I have emailed the three companies to confirm they work the Dell PPC's but haven't heard back yet. Below are the links to the companies and the products I'm looking at. If anyone has used their Dell with any of the three, I would much appreciate your feedback on how(or if) it worked out with the Dell, even a description of the overall experience with the product.

Thanks in advance for any opinions :) .

FlyPresenter-CF from Lifeview

Voyager VGA CF from Colorgraphic

PocketPresenter from iBiz.

Osiris · 01-08-03, 12:47 PM

What does something like this cost anyway? What a useful item....I'm impressed.

01-08-03, 03:48 PM

I have ordered a FlyPresenter-CF from Lifeview. Should get it in a couple of days. Total cost will be $119 plus shipping.

I talked to their rep, who said, yes, it is compatible with the Axim.
I was unable to find any reviews online for this unit, so I may have to send it back if it doesn't perform as expected.

I am in a similar situation (I also work with churches, in a three county area) regarding the need for TV output. Articles that I have read suggest that TV output in general will not be as good as LCD output. But time will tell!

I will post more info when I have had a chance to review the unit.

numsquat · 01-08-03, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by webbahboy@Jan 8 2003, 02:48 PM
I have ordered a FlyPresenter-CF from Lifeview. Should get it in a couple of days. Total cost will be $119 plus shipping.

I talked to their rep, who said, yes, it is compatible with the Axim.
I was unable to find any reviews online for this unit, so I may have to send it back if it doesn't perform as expected.

I am in a similar situation (I also work with churches, in a three county area) regarding the need for TV output. Articles that I have read suggest that TV output in general will not be as good as LCD output.  But time will tell!

I will post more info when I have had a chance to review the unit.

I'll be very interested in your impressions. I know the resolution on TV's won't be as good as projectors/monitors but have to deal with what is available. Did you happen to get a remote? It's an option but couldn't find it to buy.

Quote:

Osiris Posted on Jan 8 2003, 11:47 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What does something like this cost anyway? What a useful item....I'm impressed.  

Prices run from $119 for the FlyPresenter (w/o remote) to $199 for Margi Systems (which wasn't listed because it's only for projectors/monitors) and everywhere in between.

01-08-03, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Did you happen to get a remote? It's an option but couldn't find it to buy.

When I talked to their sales rep, they said it comes with the remote.
The Lifeview site is not the best, so time and delivery will tell.
Should get it by end of this week.

01-16-03, 09:07 AM

Here's an update on the FlyPresenter-CF: It's very good!

The unit comes with a remote, the CF card itself, a VGA/TV interface cable, and IA Style's IA Presenter, IA Album, and IA Screen Mirror, which all work pretty well with the FlyPresenter. The software package also includes a program from easily converting PowerPoint presentations to the right PocketPC format.

I am both surprised and impressed by the output quality. I have done extensive work with TV output, and will next week give it a great run on an LCD projector, as I am going to use it to teach a three hour undergraduate course.

I have been delaying posting because I have been experimenting with saving and projecting the presentations in various formats. The output to TV is absolutely as good as I could have possible expected, and that is without using the S-Video option. The Axim seems to have plenty of power to keep the presentation moving, although next week I will really run it through its paces with a 1 MB file. So far, it has not blinked at presentations with a lot of graphics and photos.

IA Presenter runs very well on the Axim, and does fine with the FlyPresenter. The software has more features than can be used with the FlyPresenter. For instance, the software supports slide transitions on the Axim's acreen, but you cannot do transitions when running the presentation through the FlyPresenter. At the same time, enough of the builds that you set up in PowerPoint come through to make it a very acceptable presentation.

The remote seems to have great range and accuracy, with options for forward and reverse. The other side of the pen-sized remote has a laser pointer. You can set it up so that the Axim sounds a chime to tell you that you successfully sent the signal to advance.

My primary reason for buying this (I paid $119 +$8 shipping) was for output to TVs, as I work with churches who do not have laptops or LCD projectors. I would highly recommend it. For this purpose, I give the product a B+. I hope that Lifeview considers driver updates to unlock more of the features built into the IA software. I have a feeling that I am going to be equally satisfied with the LCD results.

Former_HPB · 01-16-03, 09:11 AM

Wow, that sounds pretty slick. I don't really have a need for it, but what a great idea. Taking the Axim around instead of a Laptop seems just a bit easier...

numsquat · 01-16-03, 09:32 AM

Good review. And webbahboy, thanks for the email. :)

Going to order it today, will probably get here before my Dell. ;)

01-23-03, 10:59 PM

I have been messing around with the FlyPresenter a bit more, and have, overall, been pleased with it. I have had some trouble getting it to output reliably to Monitors and LCD projectors. However, the Lifeview support person was very helpful. I seem to have remedied the situation by reloading the FlyPresenter driver that came with the unit -- I had downloaded the updated driver from the Lifeview Website, but the tech told me that was probably my problem!

He seems to have been right!

Some other things that I noticed: When setting the VGA output, 800x600 doesn't work. The best setting, regardless of the resolution of my file, seems to be 1024. I am going to be using the unit regularly, and will soon have a better idea of the functionality in VGA mode.

However, so far, so good.

numsquat · 01-24-03, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by webbahboy@Jan 23 2003, 09:59 PM
I have been messing around with the FlyPresenter a bit more, and have, overall, been pleased with it. I have had some trouble getting it to output reliably to Monitors and LCD projectors. However, the Lifeview support person was very helpful. I seem to have remedied the situation by reloading the FlyPresenter driver that came with the unit -- I had downloaded the updated driver from the Lifeview Website, but the tech told me that was probably my problem!

He seems to have been right!

Some other things that I noticed: When setting the VGA output, 800x600 doesn't work. The best setting, regardless of the resolution of my file, seems to be 1024. I am going to be using the unit regularly, and will soon have a better idea of the functionality in VGA mode.

However, so far, so good.

Thanks for the update :) .

Keep us informed (still waiting on the Dell)

homer76 · 02-17-03, 06:25 AM

I'd like to know if it's possible to see film storaged in my sd card, using FlyPresenter-CF, on my Tv.
It is possible to see my pda screen in landscape position (expecially for divx file)?
Thank you

04-04-03, 04:28 PM

Viewing the contents of your SD card (jpg files in particular) is easy with the FlyPresenter. I haven't used the card to view video files on the TV - I didn't buy it for that purpose. I would think that Landscape mode on the PDA would depend upon the software, not the hardware.

Pam · 04-08-03, 10:46 AM

I use a product called Presenter-to-go by Margi............ It is has everything you need to connect to a projector and a remote...... Cost is about $150.00

oymd · 04-10-03, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by numsquat
First, hello to all. This is my first post although I have been lurking for a few days. Currently using a Sony NR70V but we're getting Dell's here at work by the end of the month. Haven't used a PPC since a iPaq3650 so am re-learning some things about PPC's :D .

To my question, one reason for getting PPC's is to do PowerPoint presentations, ditching the laptops, at least in my case. I have been researching the various 3rd-party vendors and have narrowed it down to three.

My main goal is to find one that you can directly plug into a TV/VCR with RCA plugs, 95%+ of my presentations are done in the community (church's, etc.) and none of these places have projectors but all have TV's. My organization, which covers 6 counties, has a total of 2 projectors, both based in another county, and the checking out/transportation/checking in is a real pain and unreliable.

One issues with the Dell's is that I have heard of the CF not being compatable with some CF attachments. I have emailed the three companies to confirm they work the Dell PPC's but haven't heard back yet. Below are the links to the companies and the products I'm looking at. If anyone has used their Dell with any of the three, I would much appreciate your feedback on how(or if) it worked out with the Dell, even a description of the overall experience with the product.

Thanks in advance for any opinions :) .

FlyPresenter-CF from Lifeview

Voyager VGA CF from Colorgraphic

PocketPresenter from iBiz.

aloha to all!!!
This is my first post here...
My question is: what will i need besides the Axim5 to do POWERPOINT presentations on a projector directly??

numsquat · 04-10-03, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by oymd
aloha to all!!!
This is my first post here...
My question is: what will i need besides the Axim5 to do POWERPOINT presentations on a projector directly??

A hardware device w/software, like those listed above.

Hold on a few days and you might get some questions answered;)