Boogie711

Hey folks - I hope this is a good place for this thread. I travel because I make presentations.

Originally, I had a Dell Laptop and a series of cords and cables. About 5-6 years ago I smartened up and went to a Macbook Air.

I love that machine. It's incredibly light, it takes up no room in my bag, and importantly, it just works, every - single - time.

Unfortunately, it's getting long in the tooth, and Apple is being dumb when it comes to a single port and a Macbook. I really do want to minimize space and weight... what Apple wants for the 13" Pro is just cheesing me off, and for what I need to do, I'd need dongles anyway.

Here's my thinking - I originally avoided presenting off an iPad because a) I couldn't charge it while presenting during an all day workshop, and b) I didn't have remote capabilities (I use an Android phone and I'm married to it. I'm not going iPhone.)

So here's my question - have things evolved?

If Apple is going to force me into a future of dongles and hanging bits, wouldn't an iPad make more sense?

Is it possible to get a dongle/tool combo that a) charges my iPad b) allows me to display off of my iPad, and c) allows me to walk around the room while advancing slides, while I'm viewing the NEXT slide in presenter mode on the iPad?

(I love my Air for Presenter mode so I can see the next slide, while my audience sees the current slide. It allows me to set up the next segment quite seamlessly. I'm not too keen to give that up.)

So maybe it's a dumb question, but - does this exist? How can I make this happen?

DeafFlyer

If you had an iPhone it is really easy, but I'm not sure if there are apps on Android that will work with a Mac. I'm actually in a similar situation in trying to find something for someone to present with since I will not be available this week. We may try to use an old iPod touch device if there is nothing we could get in a day or two.

Boogie711

I concede the iPhone -> making life easier point when it comes to iPad, but considering you can't even plug an iPhone into a Mac these days, Apple is not endearing itself to me (and countless others.)

tkey75

The HDMI dongle for the iPad has a lightning plug on the same dongle so it can charge while outputting video. Unfortunately, now you're tethered with two cables.

Stick with a MBA. Don't try to be fancy and do it all wireless. Too much risk of failure and it's nearly impossible to recover from while in a presentation and not have you look like a dope.

KevinSFO

It seems risky replace your laptop with an iPad. I would probably go with the 12" MacBook. I love the screen and the small size. I hate that they stripped it down to one USB-C port, but I would just bite the bullet and use a dongle that gives you charging, USB 3 and video-out.

PFSHero

I agree with tkey75 's comment on the HDMI dongle. If there is a dongle tool for everything on your list, I think that'll be awesome. I guess you really have to put in multiple hardware peripherals for that especially for the displaying purposes.

haa

c) You can show Keynote presentation from an iPad while using an iPhone as remote control. The Keynote remote iPhone app shows the next slide on the iPhone screen. Keynote's importing of Powerpoint presentations works pretty well.

You can also do presentations from iPhone while using Apple watch as remote. This also works with Microsoft Powerpoint in addition to Keynote. The watch only shows forward/backward controls, not the next slide, though. One more "small reason" which combine to make the Apple watch so useful.

a,b) For dongles, I gues there is no way to avoid carrying several, at least for both VGA and HDMI (which one has simultaneous charging). With 10 hour battery life, I don't worry much about charging while presenting (if not full day event).

Boogie711

Folks - I get it. Use an iPhone. I hear you loud and clear. But I'm rather invested in the Android infrastructure.

For any other device - including a Macbook - you can use a bluetooth or USB remote presentation clicker. The only workaround alternative to this for an iPad is the universal call "Get an iPhone (which is a $900 solution to a $50 problem) or using a bluetooth remote in something called "accessibility mode."

Is that it? Are those my only alternatives?

(And LOL at the poster suggesting I go to Microsoft. Have you used Keynote?)

DeafFlyer

You can present power point or keynote directly from an iPad. It's possible to so wirelessly. One way I have done it is with an Apple TV ($99) connected to the projection system. I understand that there are now projectors that you can wirelessly connect to with various tablets, including an iPad. The iPad can be connected to power while you do it. I have seen dongles that may or may not do what you want, but I have never tried one.

dajdavies

I use Keynote (for conference talks) and Powerpoint (for workshops and other slidedecks that I need to share with coworkers).

I prefer Keynote but can wrangle PowerPoint to a get decent slides and it even has some advantages for example control of movies is much better as you can have pause points.

One thing to watch if you go iPad is that iOS and OSX Keynote are not quite the same. Can't quite remember which features are missing but custom fonts is one and there were others last time I tried.

I'd stick with a Mac of some sort and use remote - I've never really like the iPhone as a presenter remote as someone needs to look at the screen, and use a Logitech one.

Long Train Runnin

Maybe have a look at the Office Remote App for Android?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...e.officeremote

GadgetFreak

I have more or less gone completely to Keynote and an iPad for presentations. On occasions I have had to export as a PDF if I needed to give a Mac-less site a presentation in advance. But keynote let's me do the presentation on my iMac and share it with people in my group who are helping with the preparation. They can edit either on a Mac or with a PC, the latter using the iCloud site with a web browser. The latest version then uploads to my iPAd, Mac or for that matter iPhone. I've used the phone a few times for presentations but prefer the larger screen of the iPad for the presentation. I can of course also edit the presentation with the iPad. I don't use a remote typically.