Customer Reviews

Kensington 72117 PocketMouse Pro Wireless Compact Travel USB Mouse (PC/Mac)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Kensington got this one right... I've owned several "travel" mice, both wired and wireless, but this one takes the cake. The first small travel mouse I bought was a wireless one from Targus. It had several problems, namely pitiful range, terrible battery life, and it was cumbersome.

1) The range issue was because the receiver was parallel to the table, and my USB port was on the opposite side of the computer from where I use my mouse. Kensington addressed this by making their receiver swivel 270 degrees to a vertical position.

2) The Targus had the mouse and receiver. This required me to keep up with both pieces. The Kensington mouse has a cool recess in the body of the mouse that holds the receiver when not in use. It also serves a very critical function described below next.

3) The battery life of the Targus was greatly reduced because it would NEVER TURN OFF. If the mouse did not detect motion in a few minutes, it would stand-by. There was no hardware on/off to conserve the battery. The problem is the mouse, when in my computer bag, would move around and the mouse would power up. This is a poor design. The Kensington mouse includes a switch that is automatically triggered when the receiver is stored in the body of the mouse. Very cool.

I also own the retractable cord Kinsington Mouse. This is a good mouse, but the retractor and the cord are very fragile and the scroll wheel is too jumpy. The wireless mouse eliminates the retractor and cable, and the scroll wheel is a much better design.

KUDOS TO KENSINGTON!!!

This is my second wireless mouse for use with my laptop on travel. The first was the Targus wireless mouse, which didn't work well and had a very rapid battery drain. Kensington makes good products overall, so I was optimistic about this one.

My first impression was that the mouse was quite large for a portable mouse. It fits well in the hand, but it is a little bulky for throwing into a laptop bag. One nice thing is that the wireless receiver has its own compartment for storage inside the mouse itself, which lessens the risk of losing it when traveling.

I agree with one of the previous reviews which stated that the mouse movement was a little faster than desirable. It makes it hard to make precise movements with this mouse, although the tracking itself is smooth. I haven't installed the driver software, since I've had problems with third party mouse drivers. Windows 2000 recognizes the mouse, so the driver software isn't necessary anyway.

Battery life seems to be fine so far. It runs on two AAA batteries, and it doesn't seem to drain quickly when not in use like the Targus mouse did. The battery cover needs a coin or key to get open, which is less convenient than those that can be opened with the fingers alone.

Overall the mouse works ok, but a few design decisions prevent me from rating it higher.

(Technical note: I am using this on a subnotebook with WinXP Home; I installed no drivers and this mouse is happily co-existing with the built-in keyboard "nipple" and touch screen)

I am not a big fan of mice in general (I prefer trackballs; this is the first mouse I have purchased since 1992), but have really enjoyed my new pocketmouse pro wireless. It isn't the most compact mouse, but it doesn't waste much space -- the tiny receiver stows inside the mouse in the neatest compartment I've seen in a while. The range is great -- they claim 3 feet, but right now I can get > 8 feet away and still get reception. At that distance, I can't read the screen! Of course, YMMV as the batteries wane and if your desk, etc is made of metal. One caveat: I haven't managed to wear my batteries down yet; if rapid battery becomes a problem, I'll change this review. (Apparently this is a major problem with many wireless mice.)

This is my first optical mouse and I am impressed -- it works on the carpet, the arm of a chair, my pants, my shirt -- wherever! If you are a serious gamer, of course, be cautious, though as wireless mice may not live up to your 1337 gaming requirements.

Otherwise, this is yet another quality input device from Kensington.

I wrote one of the initial reviews of this mouse about 6 months ago. At that time I wrote about the great properties of this mouse. After reading the reviews that proceeded mine, especially the later ones, I've noticed that alot of people are disappointed in this mouse. Most of these people are using the mouse as a replacement for their desktop mouse. Let me make this clear, this mouse is NOT designed for use 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. If you are looking for a desktop mouse replacement, get a different wireless mouse. This mouse is designed to be compact, portable, and convenient. I leave mine in my laptop bag for the times that I need a mouse instead of a touchpad. I use it about 2-3 times a week when I'm traveling, or I'm in a meeting with my laptop. I have had no problems with the mouse, but do realize that this is a "light duty" mouse.

I purchased this mouse to go with my Toshiba laptop and WinXP operating system. It has worked flawlessly! It works on all kinds of surfaces and travels extremely well. Storing the receiver in the mouse was a great idea for extended battery life and has the added benefit of extra compactability. It also has a nice feel to it. The curve of the mouse seems to be slightly higher and fits perfectly in the palm of my hand, allowing my fingers to rest straight across the buttons. I don't seem to experience as much fatigue in my hand as with other mice.

This mouse has positive and negative qualities. Compared to other wireless mice, such as the Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse, it is decent, but not too far above average.

The Kensington mouse is easy enough to hook up to the computer, just plug the reciever into the USB port. The more difficult part is getting reception from the mouse to the reciever. To get reception, a button on the reciever is pushed and held in for few seconds. Sometimes this does not work and must be repeated until it does. The Logitech mouse did not have this problem and usually worked right away.

Mouse movement of the Kensington is somewhat difficult to master. It moves too quickly and jerkily. The Logitech mouse was easier to manuever. It also moved very smoothly.

The size of both the Kensington and Logitech mice are similar. Both were a little bulky and difficult to carry around in a laptop case.

Battery life is another key to a excellent wireless mouse. The Kensington mouse has exceptional battery life. It seems to last forever. The Logitech battery life, although still very good, doesn't compare to that of the Kensington.

Most wireless mice have their drawbacks. The Kensington is a decent mouse, and it serves it's purpose well enough.

I've owned both the Targus optical wireless minimouse and this new Kensington Pocketpro. I had the Targus when I had a Titanium G4, but decided to "upgrade" to the Kensington with my new 12" G4. The good news is that the Kensington corrects the shortfalls of the Targus: 1) compartment to hide the USB receiver so you don't lose it [ The main trade off here is that in order to accomplish this the Kensington is a full-sized mouse (almost twice the size of the Targus)] and 2) shut-off feature when receiver is stowed to save batteries.

The bad news is threefold: First, the optics in the Kensington are inferior to the Targus. There wasn't a surface the Targus couldn't handle...even very low-contrast formica like on my desk at work and the tables at Starbucks. However, the Kensington does not reliably work on formica or any surface with low-contrast patterns or a slight sheen. I am forced to use a piece of paper with printing on it as a mouse pad which is REALLY poor. Second, the Kensington folks made the receiver 270 degree swivel-able...however, this is not really necessary in my opinion (for laptop use) and feels VERY flimsy.... Finally, like the receiver, the construction of the mouse itself ain't that great. Within a couple weeks of use I had problems with the batteries popping up spontaneously. Flimsy, springs. I had to resolve this with tape! Then, soon after, the plastic latch that keeps the battery compartment sealed broke...probably because of the battery thing. The mouse still works, but the back end of the mouse "hood" is permanently ajar.

In conclusion, better optics/smaller package/sturdier construction...definitely go Targus (or if you have the cash...Apple Pro!!!)

I think I've finally found my dream mouse. Although I never before saw the need for a wireless mouse, after buying a new 17" PowerBook I decided it would be nice not to have to deal with cables. After hearing about this mouse I found it on Amazon for less than anyone else was selling. The mouse works beautifully. Smooth and very solid feeling in the hand, perhaps due to the 2 AAA batteries inside. If you have small-ish hands (Iike me) this mouse makes a perfect fit. Even the scroll wheel feels more substantial than others I've used. Great product; I'm thinking about buying another.

I purchased this unit to use with my forthcoming Mac Powerbook 17". I liked the idea of having a 'self-contained' storage unit for the receiver and the small size of the mouse itself. I've used it with my Win XP desktop unit as well.

Overall, the style and craftsmanship are good. It looks sharp and it feels pretty solid in your hand. I've found that the button to access the USB receiver compartment is a bit difficult to press at times. It works, but the door covering the removable receiver doesn't open automatically.

The receiver swivels once place into an open USB port, thus making it a bit more 'directional' in design. The mouse itself tends to be a bit fast. I've had to use the included software/driver to 'slow the track rate' down a bit. I've noticed that the mouse can be at almost 3 feet away before it loses signal, but I have found at times that it has lost signal only inches from the receiver. I'm in a completely wireless office and sit closely to another machine with a wireless mouse/receiver so I cannot be certain that this not due to interference.

Overall, I plan on using this mainly when I'm mobile and want more than just a trackpad.

I really like this mouse. If you're within a few feet of the receiver, the mouse has good responsiveness and a pretty decent feel. Where this mouse really shines, though, is with its features. Once you download the software from the maker's web site, the scroll wheels works well in OSX. In addition, you can assign a specific function for the right click, center click, and a function when both left and right clicks are depressed simultaneously. For example, I have mine set so that when both the left and right button are pressed together, a window pops up that shows open programs and allows you to quickly switch between applications. It really is a nice replacement for the standard Mac mouse with one button, especially if you're accustomed to using Windows systems.

There are a few flaws with this mouse. I had a problem with it working on a surface that was only slightly reflective. However, it works fine on most other surfaces, including wood, cloth, and pretty much any other non reflective surface. The other slight negative for this mouse is that to use the features I mentioned above you'll have to download the software, as it's not included. For anyone with an internet connection, and you're reading this now, it's not a problem. Finally, the mouse doesn't have an off button, which is strange. To turn off the mouse, you place the USB receiver into it's storage space in the mouse. Kensington's web site claims batteries should last 3 months under average conditions. I've only had my mouse a week, so I cannot gauge this claim.