Brad's Twitter
RSS FeedMac vs. PC, ProPresenter vs. MediaShout vs. EasyWorship
Feb 27
At NewSong Lancaster, we use a pretty old but beefy Dell Precision and EasyWorship for displaying our lyrics. I really like EasyWorship because it is just that, EASY, to train volunteers to use. This works well for us most of the time but we are looking to possibly upgrade in the near future. Soooo, I’ve been doing some reading this morning about the Mac vs. PC debate, as well as trying to sift through some of the MediaShout vs. ProPresenter issues for the purpose of discerning whether purchasing an iMac is the way to go.
If you have any experience in the Mac vs. PC issue for the purpose of displaying lyrics, or if you know anything about ProPresenter or MediaShout, it would be great to hear your opinion.
Feb 27, 2009 @ 13:46:46
At Crossings, we’ve gone the cheap route so far. I prepare the slides in Keynote on my MacBook Pro, making sure they’re arranged in the order I need them. All our volunteers have to do is press the right arrow key (unless they go too far, in which case the left arrow key comes in handy, too). We definitely lose some flexibility if anything changes mid-service, but that hasn’t really been an issue in the four years I’ve been using it. Plus, Keynote slides just look so pretty.
Mar 14, 2009 @ 19:02:40
I have used EasyWorship as well as MediaShout. EasyWorship is just as you say “easy”. MediaShout is more involved but has it’s benefits. Such as: you can drop powerpoints and videos into the time line and everything is right there and organized, running from the click of a mouse in MediaShout. Not sure if you can do that in EasyWorship.
But, as per your question, ProPresenter vs. MediaShout: I have never used ProPresenter, but all these softwares essentially do the same thing. So, my preference is toward the Mac side of things. In the long run you’ll probably have alot less computer issues with a Mac. If you guys have it in your budget to get a Mac, I say go for it. You’ll love the OS, and it should not take long for your techs that are unfamiliar with Mac to learn their way around.
Dave
Apr 17, 2009 @ 07:22:07
we have several years of experience with media shout and it’s been buggy, sometimes doesn’t play well with various computer hardware configs… but we went ahead and got the unlimited site license and it comes in handy all over the place. youth, children, adult classes, quick easy slide shows, etc.
that said, I’m a new macbook pro owner and have found that there IS a difference and you get what you pay for. wow. so I think we’ll be running pro presenter on an imac about a year from now. if you’re starting from scratch I think the mac way is the way to go.
Jun 01, 2009 @ 13:31:32
Not sure if you have already upgraded your system yet but I thought I would throw out my 2 cents. I use MediaShout at our church and have found it to be a very powerfull and usefull tool. I have read the other comments and know that Mac VS PC should not really be a factor. Especially if the machine you want to buy is only for the use of your presentation software. I spent about $500-600 on a new Dell PC and MS works flawlessly…it’s all a matter of what kind of hardware you get in the machine (RAM..etc..). There are also a few other “tricks” to take out any latency issues with videos or slides or…whatever. I’ve always noticed it’s all about the settings and properties of certain media. email if you have any questions. michael@northsidenewberg.org