Pocket PC Presenter
Spectec SDV-841 Video-Out SDIO Card
May 1, 2006
Review by: Stephen Skarlatos , Contributing Editor
The ability to use the Pocket PC for presentations is part of mobility's Holy Grail. Dell and HP have included video capabilities in some of their Pocket PCs with the appropriate external adapter. Spectec has developed the SDV-841, a video-out card that is SDIO/mini SDIO compliant and provides VGA, composite, and S-Video outputs. Does this mean you can finally leave behind your laptop? Let's see how well it works!
WHAT'S HOT
Here's a list of specifications:
- 640 x 480 resolution
- Infrared remote control included for presentation control
- NTSC/PAL composite video output
- NTSC/PAL S-Video output
- VGA RGB 640 x 480 60Hz output
- Presentation can be created with any Windows XP/2000 printer enabled application
- Compatible with Windows Mobile 2003 and 5.0
- Mini SDIO to SDIO adapter included
The retail package for the Spectec SDV-841 Video-out card.
The Spectec SDV-841 with included softare CD and accessories.
The mini CD loads the Spectec installation menu. This CD also contains the drivers for the Spectec WIFI SDIO card. The VIDEO-OUT Drivers and Tool option must be selected for the SDV-841.
There are two parts to the setup process. The Transfer JPEG Method to install a virtual printer for the conversion of presentation material and the Windows Mobile 2002/2003 or 5.0 driver installation.
The Transfer JPEG Method provides a PDF set of instructions which describe the manual installation of a virtual printer. This virtual printer is used to create the special JPEG files required by the Spectec Windows Mobile presentation software. The printer's .inf installation file is found on the installation CD.
The virtual printer requires the creation of a local port.
The Windows Mobile installation is performed via ActiveSync. The Video-Out cab package must then be executed on the Pocket PC to complete the installation of the VotG presentation application.
PRODUCT FEATURES
Once all the components are installed, the Spectec SDV-841 is very simple to use.
The Spectec SDV-841 dongles provides a 15 pin female VGA connection on the end and the side contains an S-Video connection, an IR sensor, and a power plug.
The other side of the dongle provides a composite video output connection.
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The other end of the dongle has the mini SDIO connector. A mini SDIO to SDIO adapter is included (which allowed me to use this product with my HTC Wizard's mini SDIO slot).
The Spectec SDV-841 requires an AC power adapter to function.
A remote control is included. Despite the number of buttons, the only enabled functions are power, next, previous, beginning and end.
A Microsoft PowerPoint presentation is converted by printing to the virtual printer.
The virtual printer creates a JPEG file for each image in the presentation. The selected name is used as a prefix for each jpeg file. The virtual printer places all of the converted files in the selected location.
Once the files have been transferred to the Pocket PC, the VotG presentation application is executed. The applications provides VCR style buttons to navigate the presentation.
The options menu provides a selection for the type of video output being used.
The VotG application previews the selected slides.
A PowerPoint slide displayed via an VGA RGB connection on a Samsung LCD monitor appears fuzzy. This is due to the low 640 x 480 resolution.
The same slide using the output of a Lenovo X41 tablet PC is much sharper.
The display of a picture using the Spectec SDV-841 was much better.
That same picture using the output of the Lenovo X41 Tablet PC.
The Spectec SDV-841 Video-out card is designed as a combination television and computer monitor video adapter. To accomplish this, Spectec uses the lowest common denominator resolution of 640 x 480. This is fine for the display of pictures, but it is very limiting for displaying text.
HELP SUPPORT
Spectec provide a pdf virtual printer installation manual and a user's manual on the installation cd. Both manuals provide screen prints and basic descriptions on how to install and use the SDV-841.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The virtual printer requires Windows 2000 or XP. The Pocket PC application and drivers can be installed on Windows Mobile 2002, 2003 and 5.0. The VotG driver and application require 97.5KB of storage memory in Windows Mobile.
BUGS AND WISHES
The only major inconvenience I found when I tested the SDV-841 with a T-Mobile MDA (a.k.a. HTC Wizard) was the need to soft boot every time I wanted to connect to an external monitor. The conversion process using the Windows virtual printer worked as advertised and the VotG presentation application on the Pocket PC was very simple to use. However this method of generating and displaying presentations is very limiting since you cannot generate or modify presentations on the Pocket PC. I was unable to use native JPEG file without converting them using the virtual printer. In order to make this product truly useful Spectec needs to implement the following:
- Eliminate the conversion process
- Provide the ability to output the Pocket PC screen video
- Provide the ability to display higher resolutions on a computer monitor
PROS
- Mini SDIO and SDIO compatibility
- Presentations can be created from any printer enabled Windows applications
- Included remote control
CONS
- VGA max resolution
- Can only be used for static presentations
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