Combo Laser Pointer/Presenter/Mouse - Do you use them?
 

Surprisingly I couldn't find any threads about this class of device.

I'm looking for recommendations and opinions on these combination laser pointers / presentation flippers / mice. In general I find myself in situations where I show presentations and demos. For presentations it would be easy enough to stand at the computer and click when I want to move to the next slide. When demonstrating I find that I need to sit in front of the computer since there are more clicks than can comfortably be accomplished while standing in front of the computer. I feel that I'd be more effective and quite frankly more respectful of my audience if I could stand and get out from behind the computer.

Does anyone have any suggestions about these devices?

I use one from Kensington. It's a combo lasar pointer/clicker, but no mouse. I just don't have much need for a mouse when I'm making a presentation, but the ability to walk around the room and click through PowerPoint slides is great. The transmitter/receiver just plugs into a USB port and you're off and running.

I have the full combo which I use for presentations. What I have found is it is great for slideware and freeing you up from your PC. But GUI based demos it gets a bit confusing with the mouse. Then again I seem not to be the most spacially aware of people...

Another vote for Kensington
 

I give many seminars every year, and I use a Kensington laser pointer/presenter that is a few years old and has more than a few miles on it. It is very simple, no bells and whistles (no mouse). I tend to walk around the room as I talk, and I've never been out of range with it.

If you only need to click through slides and use a laser pointer, I'd recommend going for a simple device. I learned from using various devices at conferences that some of them are confusing and you end up doing unintentional things with your presentation (at least I do, I'm a KISS person!).

drsusan

For me, I think the mouse/trackpad/kitty nose part is pretty important because I'm doing demonstrations of a GUI. I need to be able to move the arrow around and click on things.

Just a heads-up: if you already have an advanced/smartphone with Bluetooth, if you grab a copy of Salling Clicker you can use it as a remote for PowerPoint. Even better, if it's a PDA/smartphone with a decent size screen and you're using PowerPoint, it can display the notes for each slide on the PDA screen. Versions for both Mac and Windows.

http://www.salling.com/

Does anyone know of similar software for the BlackBerry 8800?

Logitech Cordless Presenter
 

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mi...nter/&cl=au,en

I do around 50-60 presentations a year, and have tried a number of cordless presentation devices. I particularly like the "countdown" feature, so it vibrates 5 minutes prior to the preset time, then every minute after that.

How many presentations have you done - or been to - where the speaker has gone over time?

With regard to using a mobile device - I would feel a bit silly wandering around a room with a ruddy great E61 in my hand :)

My wife uses the Microsoft Presenter mouse 8000, and loves it:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mo...s.aspx?pid=085

I actually have one of these Logitechs ordered from Amazon for about $56 or 43% off the price on their website. But I won't get it for my trip next week so wondered if there was some software for the BB that would do the trick.

I have an older Targus Wireless Presenter.

It's fantastic for paging through presentations, and useless as a mouse. I can't see any of these devices being useful for mouse applications.

Audrey

I have a few:

MiniCue Light

The Kingston as a back up along with another one that is RF, I think it was from Tigerdirect.com. Just has advance/back/laser. THe MiniCue works the best and has great range. The one from Tigerdirect is my second choice as it doesn't have a Blank Button on it. The Kingston is my last choice.

As a public service, here are some tips if you're stuck without a remote clicker...

--<Enter> or the right arrow key will move your presentation forward one slide.

--<backspace> or the left arrow key will move your presentation backward one slide.

--If you know your slide numbers, you can get to them immediately by entering the slide number and <Enter>. Go immediately to slide 23, for instance, by pressing <2><3><Enter>.

--Press the <B> key to blank/black out the presentation and <B> again to restore it.

--Press the <W> key to white the presentation and <W> again to restore it.

I've been presenting Powerpoints for 15 years and I'm always amazed how many people don't know these shortcuts.

I've used numerous of these over the years, but for presentations I always come back to the Kensingtons. There's two I used regularly - this one, and the older version of the same one that uses a "watch battery" rather than AAA. The watch battery version is better because it's smaller and fits in your hand better, but has the disadvantage that the battery is difficult to replace when it goes flat, whereas the new ones are AAA's which last longer and very easy to replace.

Both of these store the dongle inside the device, and the remote powers on or off when the dongle is removed/reinserted.

For a mouse, I do have a Targus wireless presenter with "cursor control" (ie, one of these, but it's really only good for very basic control over the mouse as it's slow and inaccurate to do anything meaningful. There are multiple newer versions that might be better, but I doubt it.

If I need to use a mouse I'll normally just use a real mouse (Logitech or MS wireless travel mice), or just use the computer directly.

Personally I'd avoid bluetooth, or things like phone-based remotes unless you know that you're only going to be using it on your own computer. I can plug any of my devices into any computer, and know that within a few seconds they are going to be working, without me even needing to touch the OS - that's not going to be the case for Bluetooth based devices!

I used on of those kensington's today. I prefer the form factor of the Logitech. It feels better in my hand. That said, I didn't realize that the Kensington turned off the power when you reinsert the dongle. That's awesome!