My New Elmo EV-400AF Visual Presenter!
W00t! My new Elmo just arrived! Yay!
Yes, I know, this is something only a mobile-geek could lust for. I've been wanting one of these things since I first saw them in use at DEMO 2003. But they're SUPER expensive. We're talking at least $1000 and normally much more. I've been looking around for a cheap one online at some of the office supply places, but then it dawned on me the other day to try eBay. Low and behold an Elmo EV-400AF was up, the bidding was going to end in a day and it was only at $100. So I put down a max of $250 and waited. Sure enough, 24 hours later I ended up paying $225, plus shipping means I got a $2,000 professional Elmo for $around $250. W00t.
I just tried it out and it's going to work *perfectly* for Mobile Monday gatherings and other mobile presentations I do. It's not exactly light and portable (though it does have a handle!) so it'll be something I reserve for special occasions, but this thing totally rocks. It has one downside - it's only has analog outputs. I knew this before I bought it, so the other day in Fry's I tracked down an analog to VGA converter in case I run into a projector that only accepts VGA input. This is actually pretty handy to have around in general in case I want to watch DVDs or play video games on my 20" flat-screen monitor as well. ;-)
This thing is very cool. Now I have to figure out how record from it. My Mac mini doesn't have any slots for expansion, so I'll have to find some RCA to USB box of some sort so I can record demos of apps to post online.
Oh boy!
-Russ