EOSPete

As ever Lin your information is valuable. Many thanks Peter

and also found Acer CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T5870 CPU Speed: 2.0 GHz Screen Size: 12.1" Resolution: 1280x1024 Memory: 2GB Memory Type: DDR2 Memory Speed: DDR2 - 800 Graphics Chipset: Intel GMA 4500MHD p

Thanks for those wise words. I am running my compiled shows on a small and light laptop with Core Solo 1.2MHz in 1Gb of RAM and some of the smaller simpler shows work fine. As the evening goes on the following shows seem delayed in starting and my finale shows tend to be the ones with greater numbers of images, music and transitions and can run to 25mins. The laptop is a Phillips one and the battery is jut goosed! It literally lasts 5 mins and Phillips claim never to have even made this model so getting spares has proved fruitless. The number of times my laptop power has bee pulled by mistake as someone walks past the table/stand!!!! I used to understand about processors when all you needs to know was the speed but since Intel started to use different names for each performance type I am confused. Since posting the question I found a very useful guide to buying laptops in Staples though it was not specific to running software just generric business or multi media. I think my best solution is going to be to take a more advanced show on a pendrive and ask them to run it on my intended purchase. I have found an HP model with the following specs I am going to check out Memory Size 2GB Processor Type AMD Athlon Neo Processor MV40 Memory Type DDR2 Graphics Card Type ATI Radeon HD3410 Graphics Memory 512 MB Thanks again for your input it helps to fill some of the gaps in my knowledge. regards Peter

I need to replace my presentation laptop and I am wondering if the Intel atom based netbooks are up to the job particularly with regard to smooth transitions and pans. Thanks for any guidance you can give. Peter

Doesn't the click exist to indicate the compile process is completed? All my PTE versions have done this. P

Solves my DVD problem as far as I can see. Certainly built an MPG properly with images and sound intact. Thanks for the update. P

i get strange gradations instead of images when using DVD builder beta 2 v5.0 is fine P

I must also add my thanks I have been using PTE for 4 years now and it has been a huge asset to my work. It is so refreshing to have a listening and acting team work to continually develop their product. Enjoy the rewards and the glowing feedback folks, you deserve it. Regards P

Thanks for that Alan. backing two slides up together is a smart idea (and an obvious one I had missed) - I often have to leave half and hour an hour or even longer as my lessons often move in other directions and there are intermittent activities, discussions, extended writing activities etc. Guess I can use the pause feature in the new version to sort out the really long breaks Cheers for the prompt reply P

Think this is an area where Proshow unfortunately has the edge on PTE. I have tried using movies in Powerpoint which do work well but then I miss the features of PTE If there was a way to package a movie into an EXE file this could be called from PTE using run external file P

Personally speaking I would like to see that little check box back to remove any slide timings and so such 'work arounds' would not be necessary. 5000 seconds just isn't enough for me as sometimes I may leave half an hour between slides. It was one of the best features of v4.48 to give complete control. When I you load up 4.48 shows for amending it would avoid having the need to rebuild this aspect of the presentation and to go back to 4.48 means I miss out on the great new features. I must be honest I have had to go back to Powerpoint for these type of shows cos the new PTE just doesn't do manual control as elegantly. Sorry but in this case I feel it's a real backwards step. P

Thanks Ronnie I will follow that up In carrying on my research I came across a 9 band graphic equaliser that show intensities for the various frequencies to help with trouble spotting. The spec say this can be driven by a sound card and feed an Hi-Fi so I am guessing my powered speakers. Looks pretty good value for money as well. http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/fl...product_id/5984 If I get some definitive answers I will report back of course Regards P

Long time since I have posted. I have just done a whole batch of shows in various locations and one issue has emerged. The sound on my PTE presentations varies from venue to venue according to the acoustics. Obviously I am not in a position to set up separate EQ for every venue in advance by altering the sounds trak for each show, so I wondered if there is a way or some plugin I can use to equalise the output from my soundcard before it goes to the speaker system. My soundcard is an Intel Integrated Audio card and I am using Cyber Acoustics A3640 Speakers 2.1 110W which does have a bass control on the handset but still tends to produce rather a woolly sound in some venues. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Peter

Why not use a silent sound file of the necessary length and add this to the music list at the top. This avoids the need to edit the music. Works a dream and is very easy to change afterwards. P

Lovve the ability to see thumbnails now - very many thanks and the ability to start a presentation from any given point to preview. Thanks P

This truly is a great forum!!!. Thanks for all the replies - I can now edit all my music files just as I need. Peter

Thanks for that. I really do appreciate the help I am getting from the folks on this forum as a real newbie to PTE. I can work with wav and MP3 as an alternative to wma. Are there advantages to the various formats for size or compatibility at all? Cheers P

One thing I need to be able to do is edit a wma or mp3 music file to fade out after a particular time rather than its full run time. I haven't found anything yet which can do this. Would it be possible to convert wma or mp3 to wav then back again to achieve this and what would you recommend Thanks Peter

Thanks. Will revisit tonight and try what you suggested. Cheers P

My suggested improvement would be a better file manager The ability to right click and delete an image from the source folder would be great for keeping tabs on the pics you know you no longer need. To be able to import images from other folders might also be good unless I have missed something you need to use a file manager to transfer additional files which were not initially selected. I do recall DOS program which compressed exe files making them roughly half the size. Something like this for windows either external or built in might be helpful for users wanting to email or upload their work. Cheers P

Thanks for the advice and links. Really helpful Cheers P

Is anyone using PTE as a electronic business card creator? I wondered if it is possible to buy the burnable business card shaped CDs as I have never seen these for sale. cheers P

I have only just started with PTE but I have found it useful to create separate exe for each section of the show and link them using a separate menu system. This way I can work on each smaller section discretely and keep a better track of where I am. Each section could also then be distributed separately or as a group for the full show. The menu exe can then simply be amended and resaved to tailor the show to its intended audience giving access to some areas and not to others. I am on dialup so its not possible to share at the moment. It seems to be working at the moment but as I say I only registered on Thursday and I am already working on my 3rd show. I will follow the DVD thread with interest. P

Apologies if this question has been asked previously but I am new here and my searches didn't find the answer. If I am projecting a PTE show via a digitial projector (assuming project res of 1024x768) is this also the optimum res. for images in PTE? Thanks P