Wireless presentation

[TomF]

I posted this in another forum and then realized that this forum might be more appropriate.

A client of mine was at a meeting recently at another company and was impressed by a presentation that he was shown in their conference room. He wants to have me set up something similar in their conference room. I was able to get the name of the company and a contact and was somewhat unimpressed by what I was told.

Apparently, the head guy in this other office is somewhat of a home theater buff and basically tried to duplicate some of that in his conference room. They used a B&O 70" plasma HDTV as the display device. The source was a PC with a high end graphics card connected via HDMI to the monitor. What apparently made this so impressive to my client was just the fact that the PC was hidden in the corner (he apparently didn't see it), the HDMI cable went up through the wall, across the ceiling, and out of the wall to connect to the HDTV, and the whole thing was run with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. To him, it looked like magic.

I'd rather do something with a LCD monitor on the wall (no burn-in), with a laptop as the source and stream that out wirelessly to a device that's connected to the HDTV. Using an existing laptop would eliminate the need for a dedicated PC and additional software licenses. I'd probably also use a wireless presentation mouse so that the presenter wouldn't be tied to his/her laptop. The presentations would probably only consist of PowerPoint Word, Excel, etc., and probably wouldn't be used to stream video from the Internet, but possibly local video on the lapotop.

The only device I've found so far is by Addlogix. They have two models, the IV2020 with a DVI output and 1280x720 resolution and the EV2100 with component video output and 1024x768 resolution. Reviews of both on both newegg.com and Amazon are mixed.

Anybody done anything like this? What equipment did you use? Any other suggestions?

[houskamp]

here's what I use: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A0095385&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=39715&lid=1003774

has great range 35'+

[sum_random_dork]

What about using a Slingcatcher and the software Slingprojector? We did this in my office last week, worked great. You can show an entire desktop or just a single portion of it if you choose. I sat at the table with my laptop going then wirelessly had the Slingcatcher going on a larger monitor via HDMI. The side benefit is the customer could set up a Slingbox at their home and watch TV if they so choose (which is what our Slingcatcher is mostly used for).

[Grentz]

The problem is resolution, most player solutions I have seen have very low resolutions for a large display. To get nice crisp graphics you really need a higher resolution on a 1080p display device (1080p as 1080p has a higher native resolution) or a good projector as most projectors look better with a lower resolution than a monitor/TV with a lower resolution.

If you could do a projector, there are some really nice solutions out there such as network projectors (both wired and wireless) that would be perfect. Plus you can have a really sleek looking install if done right. For example, the Epson PowerLite 1735W would be an awesome one to use:
http://www.aboutprojectors.com/Epson-PowerLite-1735W-projector.html

Using the EasyMP software you can show content or the computers screen from any computer on the network. I have never used it personally but it seems like an great solution.

[TomF]

houskamp - thanks for that info and the link. The three Dell laptops that I've purchased for them lately both have built-in Bluetooth capability and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse so I'm set there. I'll just have to add a USB presentation mouse.

sum-random-dork - I'd thought about using a Slingbox but wasn't aware of the Slingprojector software. I'll look into that.

Grentz - I agree that a projector is definitely the most obvious and most-used solution, but the client has never even talked about a projector before. I would normally use a projector in a conference room setup and I've set up a few of those. I think he was blown away by the 70" plasma and the lack of any visible wires. However, the cost goes up exponentially with the size of the display and you can get a much larger image with a projector for a lot less. Projector technology has definitely come a long way with both Wi-Fi and networked projectors.

[sum_random_dork]

sum-random-dork - I'd thought about using a Slingbox but wasn't aware of the Slingprojector software. I'll look into that.



The great thing about the projector software is it's FREE when you purchase the Catcher. I have it loaded on a couple of computers and have had good success. You could even run a document that's on a computer in another room/office within the same LAN.

[phat78boy]

Why wouldn't you just run an HDMI cable to where the presenter spot is? Yes its a cable, but the video will be much crisper and smoother. Plus, you won't have to worry about any break ups or troubleshooting should there be wireless issues when your not around. It will also carry sound for you if you plan on needing that.

I would recommend something like below for a keyboard and mouse setup. Reason being is the keyboard has a joystick pad on it so the mouse can be moved from there.

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=081

I would also get something like this for when presentations are going to happen. It has a built in timer, laser pointer, and can control power point.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/presenter/&cl=us,en

Lastly, a projector at the rear of the room with a in ceiling drop down electronic screen is usually what I find to be the best option for display. The brightness level on higher end projectors is very good and can even be used in full day light or with lights now days. LCD is a very good option as well, but anything above 55" is really expensive and not very practical in an LCD format. People just don't know how to treat Plasmas and are not a good choice IMHO.

[Grentz]

Grentz - I agree that a projector is definitely the most obvious and most-used solution, but the client has never even talked about a projector before. I would normally use a projector in a conference room setup and I've set up a few of those. I think he was blown away by the 70" plasma and the lack of any visible wires. However, the cost goes up exponentially with the size of the display and you can get a much larger image with a projector for a lot less. Projector technology has definitely come a long way with both Wi-Fi and networked projectors.

Yup, still might be something to bring up to him as it will probably end up being cheaper, simpler (less wires), and a bigger image. If done right, you would see no wires with the projector setup and when not in use would only see the projector on the ceiling (if you could do a drop down screen in the ceiling).

But I know it is not for all situations, and if he wants a TV he wants a TV ;)