Presentation connection kit

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Level 1

19 points

Presentation connection kit

My business office is considering buying an iPad Mini tablet. We currently also have an aging MacBook, which will eventually have to be replaced. (Probably with a MacBook Air)

We want to assemble a "Connection Kit", so that we can take the iPad (or possibly a future MacBook Air) on the road for business and personal presentations. Some meetings would be small, with one of us meeting with only one or two people. Other meetings may be a room-full. We already have an Epson EX7200 projector, but we can't always take it along.

The Kit should be able to connect to variety of presentation interfaces so we are prepared even when we don't have the Epson with us. We want to focus on having a Kit that will enable us to use an iPad to connect to HDTV's and also digital projectors.

We would appreciate pointers on what we should incorporate into our Kit so that we are not lacking any basic connectors. We already received the suggestion that an AppleTV box would be a helpful tool. But what about other connectors for the iPad? Any suggestions?

Thank you for your time and suggestions.

--WA

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8), late-2012 Core i5, 8GB RAM, 1 TB HD

Posted on Apr 7, 2014 3:41 PM

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Answer 1

Walt_Atwood Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 7, 2014 9:22 PM in response to Walt_Atwood

In a YouTube demonstration video on a business man's ("Scott") packing of a Tom Bihn backpack as a "mobile office" kit, at 1:45 into the presentation Scott mentions some items he keeps in his Tom Bihn "Snake Charmer" utility pouch. He mentions network cables, an HDMI cable, and some kind of adaptor that allows him to plug an AppleTV device into a digital projector. It sounds like he says "Connex" or "Kinnex" or "Connects", but I cannot be sure.

As I am considering the purchase of an iPad Mini for facilitating ultra-portable presentations on-the-road, I was very intrigued by this. Does anyone know what adaptor Scott is referring to, and where I can price/purchase one? (I sent a message to Scott, but I do not know when he will get back to me.) This prospect really intrigues me, as I have been thinking seriously about assembling a mobile presentation connectivity kit for this purpose.

So far, the "mobile office" backpack manifest seems to include these items:

Apple MacBook Air, with charger
Apple iPad Mini
AppleTV device
network cables (presumably pre-fab RJ45 / Ethernet)
HDMI cable
Scott's mystery adaptor for connecting an AppleTV to a projector
Lightning-to-USB cables
USB-to-microUSB cables
various chargers and other doodads

Can anyone help me figure out what the mystery adaptor is?

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Answer 2

Walt_Atwood Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 26, 2014 4:55 PM in response to Walt_Atwood

When I realized there were no replies to this thread, I started inquiring on other non-Apple forums. I looked up the original YouTube video linked above, and sought out the video-producer's respoonse. I received a prompt reply that the adaptor mentioned in a Kanex brand ATV Pro HDMI to VGA adaptor with audio support, which is sold by Apple as well as other vendors.

So, I found the answer to that question.

Are there any other items that members of this forum would recommend as technically useful for this kind of application?

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Answer 3

iToaster

Level 3

739 points

Apr 26, 2014 11:58 PM in response to Walt_Atwood

Are you considering setting up your own wireless network for these presentations so your completely independent

If so you'll need some sort of wireless router or wireless AP

You don't really need an Apple TV to mirror iOS devices

Have you considered software like airserver which mimics an Apple TV allows airplay and mirroring iOS devices to your laptop. The laptop with airserver installed can be connected to a projector as you would normally

Your iOS device can then wirelessly mirror to the laptop, providing they are both on the same wireless connection

http://www.airserver.com

Air parrot can mirror your laptop screen to an Apple TV

http://www.airsquirrels.com/airparrot/

Airparrot is really only required if your running and older version of osx and need to mirror your desktop wirelessly to a Apple TV which is connected to a projector or some other display

Newer versions of osx include desktop mirroring

If you are going to use an Apple TV I'd think you'd need hdmi to VGA to connect the Apple TV to standard VGA projector

Along with hdmi cable if the projector has hdmi input

VGA connection doesn't provide any audio connection

So you'll need an audio cable to connect the hdmi to VGA adaptor to whatever audio system you're using plus any adapters you might need 3.5mm to 6mm, RCA etc etc

The hdmi to VGA adapters I've used had a 3.5mm stereo connector on them for this reason

Sound isn't usually a problem if your mirroring to a laptop because you can usually configure the sound output to go were you want and most locations would be expecting a laptop to connect to their AV system not an Apple TV which may or may not be a problem. e.g the hdmi cable may go straight to the projector and no where near the audio system

I would say it's better to be repaired for both scenarios so you've got something to fall back on

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Answer 4

rccharles

Level 6

13,037 points

Apr 27, 2014 12:35 PM in response to Walt_Atwood

Keynote remote
Apple recently introduced Keynote remote -- the apple version of powerpoint. It lets you connect an ios device like your ipone to the projector and control the presentation from another ios device like your ipad.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6112

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