Free Powerpoint Viewer?

[straysheepie]

Just wondering if there is a free program somewhere that will allow me to view Powerpoint files?

I was in lecture today and the prof didn't e-mail his powerpoint notes until just before class, and he said anyone with wifi can download the notes via e-mail and view them during lecture. So I go and download the e-mail, and when I try to open the .ppt file it says there's no program associated with it.

I checked in my iPAQ 4355's programs list and I only see Pocket Word and Excel, and searched in the PPCT forums to no avail. I know it costs money for programs that allow .ppt file revision, but I'm hoping somebody can point me to a free program that will allow me to merely view the presentation. I am a starving student after all Thanks in advance to any help you guys can give!

[straysheepie]

Just wondering if there is a free program somewhere that will allow me to view Powerpoint files?

I was in lecture today and the prof didn't e-mail his powerpoint notes until just before class, and he said anyone with wifi can download the notes via e-mail and view them during lecture. So I go and download the e-mail, and when I try to open the .ppt file it says there's no program associated with it.

I checked in my iPAQ 4355's programs list and I only see Pocket Word and Excel, and searched in the PPCT forums to no avail. I know it costs money for programs that allow .ppt file revision, but I'm hoping somebody can point me to a free program that will allow me to merely view the presentation. I am a starving student after all Thanks in advance to any help you guys can give!

[Darius Wey]

I'm not 100% sure what software is bundled with your iPAQ but in the newer ones, they bundle software called ClearVue. This has a Word, Excel and PowerPoint viewer. If you don't have it, head over to HP and download HP Mobile Printing where after installation, it gives you the option to install the ClearVue office suite.

Usually ClearVue requires a purchase but HP have bundled it with their Mobile Printing suite. I'm pretty sure it only works on the HP iPAQs.

Otherwise, you can also give RepliGo a try but that would require conversion of the .ppt to .rgo format but that requires the PC version of RepliGo.

[ianbennett]

The HP Mobile Printing software just includes trial version of the ClearVue viewers. You can get the same trial versions at Handango or www.westtek.com. There are various 'suite' bundles of ClearVue viewers for different document types, but if you just want the PowerPoint viewer it will cost you USD 8.95. As DJ Apod said, some OEMs include these viewers as a bonus, so check before you get out your credit card. I am not aware of any free viewers for PowerPoint, unfortunately, apart from the OEM versions of ClearVue.

Incidentally, HP Mobile Printing works on pretty much any PPC 2002/2003 device, AFAICR. It works fine on my Toshiba e570.

[Darius Wey]

Originally Posted by ianbennett

The HP Mobile Printing software just includes trial version of the ClearVue viewers.

Oh I didn't know that. I was under the assumption that it was the full version. Perhaps it detects which iPAQ you have before installing the trial or full version. My iPAQ h1940 came bundled with ClearVue and so when I installed the version from HP Mobile Printing, it automatically installed a non-trial version onto my machine.

[Sven]

Incidentally, ClearVue is the only option I am aware of that allows you to view .ppt files. Every other solution requires some sort of conversion either on the PC or during the transfer (i.e. on the PC). For this scenario, downloading, or retrieving, the PowerPoint presentation directly to the PPC, Clearvue is the only viewing option.

[Jorgen]

Clearvue is well worth the money - fast and relatively bugfree. Sven has pointed out the most important issue: no conversion - you know you will change something in the last minute so it is important to be able to just copy the presentation to a card or the PPC. I have used it for my two hour lectures (I am retired now) on a hp-568 (it ran nicely even on my hp-548) connecting up to a projector via a CF card from MARGI (www.presentertogo.com). (The software coming with this card is also good but demands a s-l-o-w conversion and makes a much, much larger file.)

Jorgen

[Dinan]

I tried the ClearVue trial and I like it... but the powerpoint shows for the course I'm taking right now has greek symbols like alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc., and ClearVue doesn't display them correctly and it's not really readable... is there any way to fix this?

[Darius Wey]

Originally Posted by Dinan

I tried the ClearVue trial and I like it... but the powerpoint shows for the course I'm taking right now has greek symbols like alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc., and ClearVue doesn't display them correctly and it's not really readable... is there any way to fix this?

You probably need a Greek font installed. Give that a go and see if it works.

[Dinan]

Originally Posted by DJ Apod

You probably need a Greek font installed. Give that a go and see if it works.

Well when I open the Powerpoint shows on my computer, I noticed that the slides with symbols are pictures, not actual text. So I'm not sure if installing the fonts will work... but I'll give it a try if I can find some.

[Sven]

Originally Posted by Dinan

Well when I open the Powerpoint shows on my computer, I noticed that the slides with symbols are pictures, not actual text. So I'm not sure if installing the fonts will work... but I'll give it a try if I can find some.

Lets think about this. If these things are pictures then it would have to be an inability of Clearvue to display that picture format embedded in a .ppt. If that is the case then the whole picture should be screwy. Is that the case, or are the greek letters the only things messed up on those slides and the 'normal' characters, in the picture, displayed correctly? Or are the greek symbols, just individual little pictures pasted in?