.KEYWORD presenter
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Presenter-to-Go puts PowerPoint presentations on your Palm OS handheld
.OTHER
.SUMMARY The missing piece of the puzzle for Vladimir Campos in turning his Palm handheld into the ultimate business tool was the ability to view and display PowerPoint presentations from the device. Now that’s possible, thanks to Presenter-to-Go from Margi Systems. Find out how it’s done in this review.
.AUTHOR Vladimir Campos
I remember when I bought my first Palm handheld. The must-have accessories at that time were modems, extra cradles or HotSync cables, and cases. Even if I wanted something else, I wasn’t able to buy any other sophisticated accessories. These were all they had available at that time. Suddenly the handheld market started growing and accessories like keyboards, digital cameras, and other add-ons became very common. Then, I remember a lot of people starting to question the real use for handhelds: "Should we consider them regular organizers or mini-notebooks?"
In my opinion, they are becoming more and more like mini-notebooks because of eyboards, modems, digital cameras, GPS, wireless connection, network connection, etc. What else would we need to agree that we have a real notebook in our pocket?
.CALLOUT Now I can tell you that my handheld has really replaced notebook.
An accessory to make PowerPoint presentations would be great, wouldn’t it? This is exactly what you get with Presenter-to-Go from Margi Systems(at http://www.margi.com/products/prod_ptg.htm). If you have a handheld equipped with a keyboard, Internet connection, and Presenter-to-Go, you’re all set to leave your notebook behind during small business trips or to attend business meetings.
.H1 Some history
The first version of Presenter-to-Go was created for the Visor community, and it was based on Springboard technology. A Visor user could create a presentation using PowerPoint on his or her desktop and, after synchronizing it to a handheld, connect the Visor to a projector using a cable and start the presentation, as you can see in Figure A.
.FIGPAIR A A Visor handheld is connected to a projector by Presenter-to-Go cables and a Springboard.
There’s even a very nice Case Study at the Margi Web site about a user who purchased his Visor handheld with Presenter-to-Go in mind. You can read it at http://www.margi.com/products/solutions/cs_tufts.html. The nice thing about the Visor version of Presenter-to-Go is that the Springboard also works as 2MB of extra memory to store presentations.
Nowadays, Presenter-to-Go is also available for Palm handheld users via an SD connector and for Pocket PC users via a Compact Flash connector. A new version for Sony Clie handhelds is about to be released, and it will be based on Memory Stick technology. Visit http://www.margi.com/pressroom/pr_sony_ms_ptg.htm for more details.
Presenter-to-Go has been adapted to each of the most popular handhelds available in the market, but the software is almost the same for all of them. So, let’s understand how it works.
.H1 How does it work?
The first step is the software installation. After running the CD, two plug-ins will be installed in the desktop and two applications in the handheld. The first plug-in is a new PowerPoint button that, once pressed, will convert the presentation you’re working on to the Presenter-to-Go format and start the process of synchronizing it to the handheld. The other plug-in is a printer driver also called Presenter-to-Go. This means that almost any software with a "Print" option can be converted and synchronized t o the handheld. All you need to do is press "Print" and select Presenter-to-Go as your printer. A Microsoft Word document or a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, for example, can be converted to one or more slides and be synchronized to the handheld. I tried a lot of formats, including an email message from Microsoft Outlook, and they all worked fine.
The two applications installed in the handheld are the Presenter-to-Go application, which will be used to run the presentation, and Margi Mirror that can be used to show to the audience the handheld screens and applications. Every move you make will go through the projector or VGA display. Margi Mirror is perfect for demonstration of corporate applications or even for teaching PDA lessons. It’s very nice software!
In terms of hardware, the Presenter-to-Go kit is composed of two cables (one for the VGA display and another for the projector), a remote control, a media card based connection to the handheld, and an AC adapter (not available for Pocket PC handhelds). All you have to do is connect the cable and media card combo to the handheld and to the projector or VGA display, start the software in the handheld, and use the hard buttons, touch screen, or remote control to run the presentation. Yes, it’s that simple.
The projection resolution can go up to 1024×768 and, in most cases, users can preview the slides on the handheld screen. Although it’s not possible to edit slides on the handheld, you’ll be able to reorder or exclude slides from the presentation list.
The 14-button remote control is very nice; it works with the handheld infrared port. With the remote you’ll be able to go through the slides using the REV, FWD, RETURN, or 1 to 0 buttons. During the tests that I did, it worked fine at 16 feet away. Of course, this will depend on the remote battery, handheld infrared power, and the conditions of the room. It’s also possible to start the auto run function using the remote.
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I’ve been using Presenter-to-Go for some months now, and I have to admit that I don’t miss my notebook at all. I use Presenter-to-Go for conferences and for business meetings. Since the very beginning, I brought my Palm handheld along with me during small business trips to use it not only as an organizer, but also as an email tool. When the first keyboards were released, I also got one. This was followed by lots of other accessories. But Presenter-to-Go was the missing piece I was looking for, since I’m always involved with presentations and conferences. Now I can tell you that my handheld has really replaced notebook.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Presenter-to-Go, visit http://www.margi.com/products/prod_ptg.htm.
For more information on Presenter-to-Go for Sony Clie handhelds, visit http://www.margi.com/pressroom/pr_sony_ms_ptg.htm.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee70307
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