A Dispatch from the Road: Margi Presenter-to-Go
Pages: 1, 2
The Good
The biggest strengths of the Presenter-to-Go come from the underlying PDA platform. PDAs are attractive because they start instantly, and eliminate a fair amount of waiting that is generally required while setting up a presentation. I can pull out my iPAQ, put the card in the expansion slot, and be off and running in less than a minute. (Try doing that if booting a laptop is required!)
The obvious plus with the Presenter-to-Go is the ease with which it integrates with PowerPoint. After a painless initial software installation, I was able to convert my slides from PowerPoint into the Margi format in seconds, and transfer them to the iPAQ. The procedure is simple. Margi adds a plug-in to PowerPoint, so all you need to do is click on the plug-in to generate the compressed slide show. Margi also adds a "printer" to the system that can create a slide as output from any Windows application. Once a presentation is created in the iPAQ presenter application, everything you would expect to see in the slides is there. My animated slide describing the WEP frame processing stayed intact and worked exactly as it would on a laptop. The only sign that the slides were not being presented off a laptop was the iPAQ sitting on top of the projector.
The Presenter-to-Go card is a second video controller that is independent of the primary system video controller. It is capable of displaying the presentation externally at resolutions up to 1024-by-768 with 256 colors, even though the iPAQ screen is much smaller and may not even support color. While you are displaying the presentation to the external video port using the controller on the card, the iPAQ video controller is free to display something else. You can use it to display a compressed bitmap of the slide currently being projected, or you may also use it to display the speaker's notes. While I appreciate the theory behind this feature, I have been unable to use it while standing in front of a crowd without a podium, since I tend to walk around a fair amount when I talk.
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| Figure 2. Presenter-to-Go in action on the iPAQ. |
Plus, the Presenter-to-Go software is much easier to control than a general-purpose laptop. Unlike the increasingly complicated video drivers packed into today's laptops, which can display on multiple monitors at different resolutions and refresh rates, controlling the external video signal is easy. You go to the settings, and pick the resolution and refresh rate. You can even let the Presenter-to-Go card detect the monitor's settings and adapt appropriately. The cleaner handling of video signals alone saves me a great deal of hassle before presentations.
Some people may note that the Presenter-to-Go requires a supporting expansion pack on the iPAQ, and call that a disadvantage. I consider it to be an advantage because it preserves the flexibility of the computing platform. Frequently, I need to show off an application running on the iPAQ, which may require a supporting card. At the time I purchased it, only the Margi card was able to coexist with a second PC Card supporting a second application during the presentation. As a result, I can use the included Margi Mirror application to display the PocketPC screen on an external monitor, while using a second card to support the application I am displaying.
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| Figure 3. Presenter-to-Go in mirror mode. |
The remote control is a great idea, especially for a presenter that wanders around the stage a lot. I tend to move around a lot when I talk, so it's relatively common for me to be advancing a slide when I'm nowhere near the projector or my laptop. Many LCD projectors attempt to address this by including a wireless "mouse" that passes through the projector and into the PS/2 port on the presentation machine. I've always had poor luck with them. Different laptops behave in different ways when an external mouse is connected. In the best-case scenario, both mice work. In the most common scenario, one or both do not work. In many cases, I've found that it just isn't worth the effort to attempt to figure out the mouse control. Bundling an integrated remote that just works with the software is an excellent idea. It's a second way that Presenter-to-Go cuts way down on presentation set-up time.
The Bad
My biggest complaint is with the remote. By relying on the PDA's IR port, the remote is subject to trade-offs made by the PDA vendor. As a result, the range of the remote with my iPAQ is short and limited to a very narrow line of sight. In my presentations, I've found that the remote is limited to a few feet. If I'm within one step of the PDA, it generally works well. At a range of two steps, I can generally get the command recognized in a few tries. At three steps, I generally need to move closer. The vertical sensitivity is also quite limited. At one presentation I gave where the iPAQ rested flat, I resorted to pushing buttons on the iPAQ to advance slides. At times, there can be quite a lag between commands that are received and the desired action. Fortunately, the software places a small red dot in the corner of the screen when an IR command is received, which helps minimize sending duplicate signals. The red dot also tells you when you're just not pointing the remote correctly.
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| Figure 4. The remote control is a good idea, but unfortunately, it doesn't have much range. |
I've hated dongles since they first showed up on Ethernet cards. Dongles are fragile and easily broken. I'm especially conscious of the Presenter-to-Go VGA dongle because of its size and the weight placed on the dongle by the hanging video cable. In most cases, you'll be able to support the weight of the cable by placing the PDA on the projector or on a table so the cable rests on something solid, but that can make it hard to demonstrate software to the audience. Whenever I need to use the Margi Mirror to demonstrate software on the iPAQ, I have to remember to support the dongle with my hand, which can be awkward for long periods of time. Some reinforcement would be much appreciated.
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| Figure 5. The expansion pack on the iPAQ. |
The dongle also keeps the PDA stationary. More than anything else, I'd like to use the PDA as my own crib sheet during the presentation. If the PDA has a dongle and must remain attached to the projector, I need to keep looking over my shoulder at the screen, and the ability to read speakers notes on the PDA while projecting the presentation loses a great deal of its luster. It would be much better for me to keep the PDA, and thus the slides and speakers notes, in my hand at all times, and use the PDA to control something closer to the projector.
In theory, the card supports VESA DDC (display data channel) communications to automagically discover the maximum resolution and refresh rate and adjust accordingly, but I found it to be problematic, especially when switching between the Presenter-to-Go application and the Mirror application.
What Next? (Some Suggestions)
I'm hoping to see some improvement in the remote control in the next iteration of the product. Clearly, the factory-default IR port makes unacceptable trade-offs for a presentation remote receiver. One obvious suggestion would be to include an "IR dongle" in addition to the video port, so Margi's engineers can build a remote that is far less persnickety about aim. While they're messing around with the remote, I'd like to request a second change. I tend to use a laser pointer for explanations of complex technical slides. It's yet another thing for me to forget. I'm hoping it would be possible to integrate a laser pointer into the remote control so it's the only thing I need in my hands.
As an alternative to building a better remote, give me wireless display capability, so that I can use my iPAQ as the remote, controlling a base station that sends video into the projector. (That would also make the speaker's notes more useful, since I'd have them in front of me, and I wouldn't need to glance over my shoulder to look at the slides.) As it is, I get a large number of questions simply because the solution is so out of the ordinary for a presentation. If there was a solution that could send the screens to the projector wirelessly, well, that would make a vendor the talk of the conference, right?
The Bottom Line
This is an excellent product for anybody who presents frequently. I use both a laptop and an iPAQ, and as I learn more about the iPAQ, it becomes my first choice for more tasks. It is instantly available when I want it, far more portable and less demanding of my shoulder, and it provides nearly all of the mobile functionality that I previously relied on a laptop to provide. The iPAQ doesn't provide the full power of a laptop, but it provides much quicker access to the set of functionality I need when I'm away from my desk. Margi's Presenter-to-Go gives me one more reason to leave the laptop behind.
Matthew Gast works in the Office of the CTO at Trapeze Networks, where he works on product architecture and industry standards. He is a voting member of the IEEE 802.11 working group, and serves as chair of 802.11 Task Group M. At the Wi-Fi Alliance, he chairs the Wireless Network Management marketing task group and the Security technical task group. In 2007, Matthew was a founder of the OpenSEA Alliance, a group which supports the development of open-source network security solutions. He currently serves on the engineering steering committee and on the organization's board of directors.
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