There are three different views available: slide text, the actual slide (both the whole slide and detail views) and note view. As you can see below, you really can carry an entire PowerPoint presentation on your Palm handheld. Let's first take a look at the slide text, as shown in Figure E.

FIGURE E

The outline view lets you quickly review all of the text on your PowerPoint slides.

Of course, you're going to want to be able to look at the slide itself, as shown in Figure F.

FIGURE F

You can view each slide in its entirety.

There will be times when it's better to see more detail. This, too, is possible with Slideshow To Go, as Figure G so ably demonstrates.

FIGURE G

You can tap on the plus sign at the bottom of the screen in order to get a more detailed view.

Even the best pitchman needs a good script. If you've created notes in your PowerPoint presentation, you'll be able to see them on your Palm handheld, as shown in Figure H.

FIGURE H

The Notes view allows you to review the speaker's notes you have attached to each slide.

Even if your presentation is very large, with complicated graphics, Slideshow to Go sports excellent compression. My test presentation was 941K on the desktop, but only 410K on the Palm.

The missing feature I'd like to see is a time delay slideshow function, so that I can quickly review an entire presentation or show it to a colleague without having to press the scroll buttons on my handheld.

Final thoughts
Documents To Go is, in my opinion, the most fully featured "Office" suite available for the Palm OS platform, and even rivals the Pocket Office applications on the Pocket PC platform.

While WordSmith may be a better word processing option for those who make extensive use of a Stowaway keyboard due to its stronger implementation of keyboard shortcuts, Word To Go is certainly a strong competitor. If you need to view and edit tables or need exceptional color support, Word To Go is most likely your best option. Both Sheet To Go and Slideshow To Go are exceptional products, and would certainly make excellent additions to your handheld arsenal. While there are several other spreadsheet options available, there is nothing else that rivals the functionality of SlideShow To Go. And the advantage to using Documents To Go for everything is the fact that it is an integrated solution. One conduit and one very easy to use desktop solution can help you keep all of your business documents organized and synchronized.

Documents To Go Professional is available from Dataviz for $69.95, though there are several special offers available. If you have recently purchased a Palm m500 series device, it is possible to upgrade to the Professional version for free or up to $29.95, depending on how long ago you purchased the device. Documents To Go Professional is one of the best and most reasonably-priced reasons yet to leave that laptop at home on your next business trip.

Steve Niles is Senior Editor for ZATZ Publishing. He is also an independent filmmaker and freelance writer. For more information, visit http://www.sn-films.com.