Computers and Projectors

[TARPSBird]

A friend of mine conducts walking tours and gives presentations on Colonial Williamsburg and Virginia history. She wants to set up her presentations to use a laptop or notebook interfaced with a projector unit. Granted I've built my computer myself but I don't know much about computer-generated presentations. Do any of our SOH crewmembers have experience in this area? Since she needs to purchase both the laptop/notebook and the projector unit, what should she buy first and what features to look for?

 

[WarHorse47]

Not much rocket science to it.

All my presentations were done on a laptop before groups of 5 to 30. Each laptop has configuration (like Shift - F5) to change display between the laptop screen, a projector, or both - each having advantages and disadvantages based on how the presentation is made. Always nice to use a mouse instead of the finger pad when doing a group presentation.

Any projector for a computer has various ways to connect such as with a 9-pin video connection or USB. Once powered up they will seek a signal and find the computer. I guess its a matter of how big a projection she expects - small screen or large room, the larger the image and more required of the projector to get a clear image. Some projectors now use a remote, but I never used one except in rooms with a permanent projector.

Only other consideration is a laser pointer. Comes in handy when pointing to something on the projection screen when the presenter is across the room.

Cheers

 

[BurningBeard]

The one I use (a much older model) recognizes the projector as an additional monitor. This gives you all your mouse inputs on the projected image. I use it basically for projecting Corel Draw images for sign layouts. I suppose you could use it for a slide show using this set up, or even a power point presentation, as long as what you want is on that "monitor".

Beard