iPad/laptop Slideshow Query

[Richard Wasserman]

I have been invited to make some slideshow presentations and am a bit flummoxed about what I need. I will be connecting to whatever kinds of projectors/screens the different venues will provide. Can I do this with an iPad, or is a laptop somehow a better choice—in terms of quality, ease of use, etc? I don't really feel the need for a portable computer, but I am willing to get what will do the best job. I have been thinking that an iPad would be good for sharing images and would allow me to email and search the web when I'm traveling. I live in the Mac world and would prefer to stay there—recommendations?

[polyglot]

Pretty sure an iPad has no VGA/HDMI/whatever output, so a slideshow with that could be pretty difficult since you have no way of connecting to a projector.

If you're a mac fanboy, the Air is a nice compromise between small and fully-functional, but of course not cheap. You can get secondhand ones easily that are quite good enough for these purposes.

[Frank Petronio]

The low-end Airs are only $999. The next generation of them should be interesting....

[Allen in Montreal]

Richard,

The new Macbook air is set for Thurnderbolt displays, unlikely where ever you are going, they will be able to work thru that just yet. They have been on the market for only 20 days or so here in Canada.

The Air is starting to get into the "real" area as far as being a working machine to edit and proof, but I am not sure it is enough to major shoots/projects on yet.

I just quoted on a 7 city 9 day road job. I will take a macbook air and a 1 Terra usb drive (no thunderbolts here yet) and just copy to a backup drive and delete the duds, burn a few disks in the hotel at night and ship DVDs every 2 days.

When I have to run thru a projector in a school type environment, I bring a Macbook Pro. Some projectors are hot swappable others are not and you have to start up plugged in to the unit. They are a pain in rear frankly. Make sure you have the right adapter with you before you head out. Some schools/offices are setup to present via wifi, not that many in my experience. If your target client is set for wifi, maybe you can run off the ipad, I have never seen a pad do it yet, but I am sure in the right environment it would work.

If you don't have a laptop now, and want one just for this type of task, you could buy a used macbook basic for cheap or a "refurb" before they are all gone and an Air or a Pro will be your only choice. The basic MacBook is going the way of the DoDo bird. The only laptop with an anti glare screen for Photoshop etc is the 15 inch MacBook Pro. And it is an option.

I hope that helps a little.

[Light Guru]

Pretty sure an iPad has no VGA/HDMI/whatever output

Incorect.

There is a VGA adapter for the iPad as well as componant and composit adapters, as well as HDMI adapter (iPad 2 only)

The iPad Photo app has built in slodeshow capabilities.

[Morten]

Incorect.

The iPad Photo app has built in slodeshow capabilities.

As well as KeyNote, i.e. Apples presentation program and "Powerpoint" equivalent.
KeyNote will happely import Powerpoint presentations for viewing on the IPad as well on a external projetor using the IPad connector.

[Richard Wasserman]

The salesman at the Apple Store was suggesting and Air. If the iPad will connect via adapters to VGA and HDMI devices, and will run Keynote is there a compelling reason to use something else? Or is it a matter of spending a bit more for much greater capability? Are the Macbooks or Airs going to be better in some way—more compatibility, higher quality images, easier to navigate? I don't need to be able to do serious work on whatever machine I get, it will be for these presentations, and email and web surfing. I don't mind spending more if it will get me the best solution.

[Allen in Montreal]

The Apple store now shows a good line of Thunderbolt adapter cables that they did not have in the early days. As a shooter, imho, I would go Air (new air, don't touch the old Air).

Once thunderbolt backup drives hit, they should be lighting fast, it will be a great combo and not that much bigger than a pad.

[Light Guru]

The Apple store now shows a good line of Thunderbolt adapter cables that they did not have in the early days. As a shooter, imho, I would go Air (new air, don't touch the old Air).

Once thunderbolt backup drives hit, they should be lighting fast, it will be a great combo and not that much bigger than a pad.

Thew new airs are sweet, the one downside is that with the thunderbolt display port you cannot go to componant or composit like you can with the iPad.

Other then that the Air is deffinitly more capable when it comes to software as it has a regual OS instead of a mobol OS.

[Robert Brummitt]

Now you have me interested! I have an iPad would love to use for presentations. What do I have to do for that?

[Morten]

try this.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC552ZM/B?fnode=MTc0MjU4NjE&mco=MjM2MDgwMzc

and then the keynote app.

[polyglot]

try this.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC552ZM/B?fnode=MTc0MjU4NjE&mco=MjM2MDgwMzc

and then the keynote app.

Ah, that's news to me! Note that it doesn't mirror on all devices and you may need a specific app to get anything to appear on the VGA.

I would still recommend a MacBook or Air because it has a real operating system (with an accessible filesystem etc) and real connectivity, backup and authoring options.

[Morten]

I would still recommend a MacBook or Air because it has a real operating system (with an accessible filesystem etc) and real connectivity, backup and authoring options.

To be that really depends on the OP's need, and from what I read he seems to be fine with presentations, web and email.

I fully agree with you regarding that the Air and Macbook Pro, are better in terms of filesystem, authoring options etc. Howeever the KeyNote app on the Ipad is fine for adding new slides, editing of slides, insterting pictures etc.

I boils down to need and bulk while out on the road for this user.:)

[Greg Miller]

Be prepared for projectors that largely are out of calibration. Contrast and color rendition will be all over the place. I always use my own projector and laptop wherever possible so the audience can see my photos the way I want them to see them. There are few things worse than getting excited about presenting your work, only to have the images appearing remarkably different than intended (way to bright or dark or with whacked out colors).