Presenter-to-Go for Clié Coming Next Month

Posted By: Ed Tuesday, September 24, 2002 8:55:58 AM

Margi Systems has announced that it will be releasing a version of its Presenter-to-Go presentation tool that connects to Sony handhelds via the Memory Stick slot. It will allow presentations created in PowerPoint or any printable Windows application to be transferred to a handheld and displayed in color at 1024 by 768. It will be compatible with the full Clié line. It will be available in October for $200.

Presenter-to-Go allows users to create presentations from multiple applications such as PowerPoint, HTML and Microsoft Word as well as display local handheld content via the Margi Mirror application. Users are also able to selectively hide and show slides, drag and drop slides, view slide text and presentation notes, continuously loop slide shows, view slide thumbnails, make on-screen annotations and navigate their presentation with a remote control.

It includes a Memory Stick slot-enabled interface cable, software for slide creation from PowerPoint and other printable PC applications, and MARGI Mirror software for displaying handheld screen shots. Also included is a 14-button infrared remote control, an A/C adapter, a projector adapter cable, and a carrying case.

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I was wondering when this would happen

big_raji @ 9/24/2002 10:35:52 AM #

This is great news. I was just starting to get curious about powerpoint presentation software for the Clie, since it seems I'm going to have to do a couple soon.

Is the 1024x768 the same resolution supported by other versions of Presenter-to-Go? Seems a little too good to be true.

---
George W. Bush at his best!
http://raj.phangureh.com/foolme.html

RE: I was wondering when this would happen

Altema @ 9/24/2002 11:06:36 AM #

"Is the 1024x768 the same resolution supported by other versions of Presenter-to-Go? Seems a little too good to be true."

Yes it's true. Had one for about 2 months now and love it.

No Room for Presentations

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/24/2002 10:38:50 AM #

All the devices that connect to the Memory Stick slot. GPS, cameras etc share the same drawback. They are devices that depend on large files and they tie up the ms slot so you have to use built in RAM.

RE: NO ROOM FOR PRESENTATIONS

big_raji @ 9/24/2002 10:43:46 AM #

Most Clie's come with 16mb RAM nowadays. Should be enough, especially if you can store the presentation file on the MS until you actually need it, then copy it over to RAM.

---
George W. Bush at his best!
http://raj.phangureh.com/foolme.html

RE: No Room for Presentations

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/24/2002 10:59:19 AM #

It is pretty annoying that Palm went to all this trouble to create the Universal Connector and now SDIO/MS devices are taking over. (Of course, Sony's not using the Universal Connector now are they?)

Personally I'd much rather have a Margi device that
connects to the UC port for this exact reason. Does the UC not have the bandwidth to support this design?

What is Margi's motivation for using SDIO and MS?

RE: No Room for Presentations

mcseym @ 9/24/2002 11:01:03 AM #

It is a fair point. However, I would expect anyone with the inclination to use this set up to show PowerPoint presentations, has the savvy to make them small enough to fit in the RAM. Size should not be a big issue unless the presentation includes many or large sized graphics. If this is the case then I wonder if the present range of Clie's would be powerful enough to cope.

RE: No Room for Presentations

Altema @ 9/24/2002 11:20:16 AM #

The presentations can reside on the expansion card. You just launch Presenter To Go with your memory card still in the slot, pick your presentation, let it load, then pop out the card and insert the Presenter module. Need to do more than one presentation? No problem.

When you get to the last slide, pop out the Presenter module, insert the memory card, pick your next presentation, let it load, then change out the card for the module again. Takes about 15 seconds. You can keep talking about the slide on the screen because the module keeps the last image in the buffer until you tell it to go ahead with the first slide of the second presentation.

Note that this works perfectly if you have the power adapter plugged into the module, but not if you are letting your handheld power the module for the obvious reasons. However, if you are doing multiple presentations, it's not likely that you will be doing it without the power adapter. You CAN if you have good battery life, but the projector screen will go blank when you remove the presenter module from the handheld.

RE: No Room for Presentations

Altema @ 9/24/2002 11:44:05 AM #

"Size should not be a big issue unless the presentation includes many or large sized graphics. If this is the case then I wonder if the present range of Clie's would be powerful enough to cope."

I've converted some pretty sloppy ppt's, and in a worst case scenario, an 11.5Mb ppt was only 4.5Mb after conversion. Pretty much any Clie out there should be fine.

The only potential problem related to model, is the difference in slot I/O between the S series, and the T or NR series. Slower slot I/O means longer waits between slides. I don't know what kind of impact this difference will have, but I can post some actual numbers once it comes out. A friend of mine is a doctor who has dying to get her hands on the Clie version...

RE: No Room for Presentations

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/24/2002 11:48:52 AM #

Is it really possible for the presenter-to-go SD card/MS to drive a projector without plugging in the power adapter? Will it drain your batteries extremely quickly? It would certainly be nice to not have to lug the power adapter around with you (not very mobile to have to carry so many accessories everywhere you go...might as well just carry a laptop then)

RE: No Room for Presentations

IanJD @ 9/24/2002 11:51:34 AM #

"It is pretty annoying that Palm went to all this trouble to create the Universal Connector and now SDIO/MS devices are taking over. (Of course, Sony's not using the Universal Connector now are they?)"

The UC is proprietary to Palm, so Sony can't use it. The "trouble" that Palm went to was just to adapt to a USB interface. Plus, peripherals connected to the UC tend to be a bit bulkier because of the need to hook into the locating holes in the back of the Palm and fix the peripheral in place. The only thing I've seen that connects to the UC without this sort of set up is the travel charger, and that's a really wobbly, loose fit. I find it easier to use peripherals in the SD/MS slot - pop in, pop out. Presumably there's also a data rate reason both versions of Presenter went this way.

RE: No Room for Presentations

Altema @ 9/24/2002 11:54:48 AM #

"Is it really possible for the presenter-to-go SD card/MS to drive a projector without plugging in the power adapter?"

Yes. The power adapter is optional. Margi Systems states that it will run a little more than an hour if it is pulling power from the handheld slot. I was using one on a M515 for about 20 minutes last night, and it pulled the battery down to 84%. That much loss would certainly be ok, but not if you were away on a trip with a longer presentation. You could extend the time by turning the handheld screen sidelights off... you would not need to see the screen anyway if you are using the remote control (unless you have notes). The adapter is small and light, but won't fit in the pouch they give you.

RE: No Room for Presentations

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/24/2002 12:49:03 PM #

For those who prefer to use a UC version, Portsmith has one:

http://www.portsmith.com/pspda.shtml

And as always a number of the shortcomings of the Margi PTG if you're using many, or large presentations, for long periods of time, are helped when using the CF version in a HE330. You can access the presentations on the SD slot, and you have a DC power port on the side of the 330 if using for very long periods of time. Though I think I've left mine for at least a couple hours. The Visor version has/had some huge operating time like 4-6 hours if I recall correctly from the docs.

I also used the CF version on a TRGPro for 30 mins without much movement in the battery level.

RE: No Room for Presentations

Altema @ 9/24/2002 1:28:51 PM #

"The Visor version has/had some huge operating time like 4-6 hours if I recall correctly from the docs."

Is that without external power, using only the Visor and the module? If only using power from the Visor itself (without any battery in the module), that's an amazing runtime.

RE: No Room for Presentations

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/24/2002 5:37:17 PM #

There *is* no support for external power on the Margi Springboard version. Margi's docs quoted that for pure battery life.

RE: No Room for Presentations

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/24/2002 7:44:20 PM #

NOOOOO!! You mean I won't be able to use my GPS to tell where I am while doing a powerpoint presentation?!

****! Im going to get utterly lost!

RE: No Room for Presentations

Altema @ 9/25/2002 11:20:41 AM #

"There *is* no support for external power on the Margi Springboard version. Margi's docs quoted that for pure battery life."

Are you sure it was the Margi version? Their docs state that the AC adapter for the Springboard version is included.

http://www.margi.com/pdfs/specsheet.pdf

"No slide transitions supported"

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/26/2002 11:08:30 PM #

Guys, I was reading the FAQ and it says that Powerpoint slide transitions are not supported.

OK, so I get that I can't do fancy fly-ins and dissolves and all that. That's fine. But what about bulleted lists or other slides where objects come in piece by piece? Are these supported in any way (even if they just pop into place instead of flying in)?

I kinda need this feature. I suppose one could emulate it by creating several identical slides each adding on to the previous, but that would take up more space.