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Making Mobile Presentations Without a Laptop?

Posted by timothy on from the mail-a-PDF-of-presentation-in-advance dept.

eggled writes "My boss makes mobile presentations fairly frequently, but is sick of lugging around his gargantuan laptop (a Toshiba A25-S207). It's fallen to me to see if I can solve this for him. I began looking at netbooks and such, but many of them are slightly high for our price bracket (being that he already owns a fully functional laptop; this will be a presentations-only machine). His current cell phone, a Motorola RAZR, is getting decrepit and the contract is up, so I figured I'd look at smartphone-style replacement, and let AT&T subsidize the cost of the new phone. What I'm hoping to find is a phone that can be attached to a VGA-input projector, and play Powerpoint presentations (PDF would work, too). Web access is a must, but I think I'd be hard pressed to buy a high end phone that won't have internet access, so I'm unconcerned on that topic. Anybody out there have experience with this sort of thing or have suggestions on what route to take?"

18 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. iPhone's not a bad idea by Bananatree3 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    You can convert powerpoint to run on your iphone, and it's not a bad idea considering the portability. Wifi is there, internet browsing is there, and you can an iPhone to a TV with proper cables.

    Its not going to be drag and drop, but it is pretty straight forward

  2. Get him a pad of D size paper... by John+Hasler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...an easel, and some Magic Markers.

    Or, if you want to go high-tech, have make transparencies and arrange for an overhead projector at each site. I hear you can even make transparencies with a computer these days.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  3. Real men... by whoever57 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Real men don't need a computer or even a projector. Real men just memorise the presentation and then just wave a laser pointer around fast enough to draw pictures (using vision persistence).

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    1. Re:Real men... by orasio · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, real men actually use two pointers, and cross the beams for 3d presentations.

    2. Re:Real men... by HomerJ · · Score: 5, Funny

      You shouldn't cross the beams.

      Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

  4. Re:iPhone by mini+me · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well of course. Everything blends (Except Chuck Norris).

  5. Re:Low-tech alternative by clang_jangle · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, GIR! Take me to the equipment room, NOW!

    --
    Caveat Utilitor
  6. What's wrong with a... by sohp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Chalkboard or Whiteboard?

    I mean really -- is Edward Tufte fighting a losing battle with his Criticism of PowerPoint, and we're already seeing people incapable of thinking outside of bullet points?

    1. Re:What's wrong with a... by daeg · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have to present new features at my company's annual meeting this fall. The company marketing directors were shocked when I stated I had no powerpoint to provide them. I was then told PowerPoint slides are mandatory, so I will be presenting from a white slide with our company name in black text.

      Unfortunately, I think that will only work for one year. :(

    2. Re:What's wrong with a... by Lost+Engineer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He was wrong to begin with. Powerpoint merely enables people with either marginal skills or marginal effort to create a presentation. There's no reason to believe that presentation would be any more insightful on a chalkboard. It would, however, last longer. So bring on the slides, I say.

    3. Re:What's wrong with a... by Jason+Smith · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Agreed. I frequently get compliments on my Keynote presentations along the lines of "How the hell did you DO that?!?". Last week I gave a 104 slide talk in 90 minutes, with questions, and it was a huge hit.

      If I have more than a dozen words on a slide, I consider it a bad slide, and break it up... or replace it with an illustration while I just, y'know... talk.

    4. Re:What's wrong with a... by LargeWu · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think the difference in quality of presentations between Keynote and PowerPoint has very little to do with the software itself. They're both just slideware, and PowerPoint is every bit as capable of making good presentations as Keynote is of making bad ones. Bullet points in Keynote are equally ineffective as those in PP.

      Rather, it has everything to do with the person giving the presentation. Perhaps those using Macs just tend to be a little more receptive to the "tell a story" method of presenting, rather than the "data dump" method that is the hallmark of bullet point riddled slides.

  7. iPod, Treo, Blackberry by NevermindPhreak · · Score: 3, Interesting

    http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;625432195;pp;2;fp;;fpid;

    You could also just convert the PowerPoint file into a movie file, then use an iPhone to play it, pausing on each frame. Looks liek that;s exactly what this guy did:

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=366966

  8. Simple by Turiacus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Any phone/pda with windows mobile and a usb/cf port will do.

    You just need:
    - A USB/CF VGA card
    - Microsoft Office PowerPoint Mobile

  9. Look into a windows based device by TheCastro · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have T-mobile dash and it has the ability to view and edit Word, Excel, and Power Point. I'm not sure if it can connect to projector, but I can use the EDGE network and connect my laptop through it, so I mean heck if you have a cord that connects to a mini usb port it might be what you need.

    Or I could be totally wrong. (And I'm going to the iPhone so I don't want everyone getting their anti-Microsoft panties in a bunch, Android isn't out yet and I don't want the first iteration of it when it comes out; while being the coolest guy for being first, I get burned on that too)

  10. EEE laptop by Zerth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They're relatively cheap and even the 701 has sufficient oomph to run XP+Powerpoint, assuming you don't go crazy with transitions and movies. I have a 4 gig 701, it does up to 1600x1280 externally. Combined with a bluetooth presentation mouse, it makes a great presentation kit that you can fit in an overcoat pocket.

    Though I left it with the default linux install on the SSD(I mostly use it to remote in while abroad), as the open office version of powerpoint is sufficient for my needs.

  11. How much do you make? by spinkham · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How much do you make, and how important are these presentations?
    If he's flying about the world, he's paying large sums of money for the presentation time he has.
    Even if his time and travel isn't valuable, the people who he's making the presentations to must be, or he wouldn't be making presentations.
    $500 for a netbook is chump change.
    Assuming you make any decent salary, you've probably already spent more then that on research for this scheme already.
    I recommend a MSI Wind(~$500) if money is really that tight, or a Lenovo X61(~$1000) if you've got a little more change.
    The lowend EEE PC's at ~$300 are a bargain, but in my opinion they have an unusably small screen and keyboard.

    --
    Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups.
  12. Think portable Media Players or PDAs... by TheNetAvenger · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ouch, nobody should be carting around any laptop just for presentations anymore. This is 2008.

    There are a ton of Portable Media players that have Video out capabilities and can do either slide shows via pictures (exported from presentation software) or Video (exported from presentation software). This is also a cheap way to go.

    I have an old Creative Zen:M Vision, and it outputs DVD resolution, even though the built in screen is 320x240, and I use it for things like this all the time. RCA cables and any projector or TV and viola an instant presentation, movie fest, etc...

    Just check the Video output specs and then size and video/photo format he is comfortable working with.

    If you need MORE than just a picture viewer or video player...

    UMPC if you have $$ to burn, there are several tiny PCs (smaller than Airbooks) that are full XP or Vista based computers or even older Windows CE/Mobile based computers. Think checkbook size..

    Assuming $500-1000 isn't an option...

    Pick up (even an old) Windows PDA or Windows Mobile Phone that has Video out (Pocket PC, Windows CE) - they are all the same thing, and can do Powerpoint with annotations and other 'presentation' like functions.

    Again, just make sure the device has a Video out connector that works for typical senerios.

    (This is not a time to hate MS and Windows, as you can get Windows Mobile PDAs very cheap, especially an older model that will do everything but shine your shoes, and you can even use freaking VB to write an application for him if you want it to do more.)

    Good Luck...