PowerPoints On The Go!!!!
by Gary Woods

As someone who has been known to give a PowerPoint demonstration or two I've been looking at ways to stop schlepping around my laptop computer and still have the show go on. It turns out, all you really need is a VGA connector to attach your PDA to a projector or monitor, some software to convert the show, and away you go.

The company that's been around the longest is Margi's, Presenter-to-Go http://www.margi.com. You can get versions of the program for virtually any PDA on the market as well as ones that will work with CompactFlash Type I or II and also a PCA Card edition for various Pocket PCs.

All of these options work pretty much the same way. You just plug the device into your PDA and connect a cable to the VGA port on a computer monitor or LCD projector. Though you don’t get fancy transitions, sound, or in-slide animations, Margi lets you deliver basic PowerPoint slides from the palm of your hand.

Another alternative is the iGo Pitch http://www.igo.com. Pitch is a PDA-sized gadget that at one end plugs into your projector and has a second connector to attach to your Palm's cradle or USB sync cable. Pitch is unique in a few ways in that it has its own memory, which means you can connect your Palm OS PDA, transfer the presentation to Pitch, and then disconnect it to return the PDA to your pocket.

If you have any suggestions or questions for me please drop me a note at garyandlaury@santabarbaraproperties.com or see my column on the Internet at http://www.santabarbaraproperties.com or call me at (805) 729-0910