Customer Reviews

Kensington SlimBlade Presenter Media Mouse with Mouse, Presenter and Media Controller in One (Pewter) K72280US

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Kensington Slimblade Presenter Media Mouse is two useful tools in one svelte package. It's a comfortable and capable Bluetooth laser mouse; but flip it over and find an ipod-like control pad for giving Keynote or Powerpoint presentations. The remote is also compatible with iTunes and FrontRow.

Now to the details. To use the SlimBlade, simply remove the USB transeiver from the battery compartment, plug it in and you're ready to go. There are Mac drivers to install before the first use. It seemed to work fine with the current version of Leopard.

I really have to compliment Kensington on the comfortable, sleek lines. The SlimBlade is easy to pack and comfortable for hours of use. The mouse-side of the unit features a two-button design with a 360-degree trackball, similar to that on an Apple Mighty-mouse. Unlike the Apple mouse, this ball is not rubberized, but also didn't seem to 'clog' the way my Mighty-mouse does. The mouse tracking is accurate with no noticeable latency. One warning : The SlimBlade USB bit MUST NOT BE PLUGGED IN BEFORE LOGGING INTO YOUR MAC USER ACCOUNT OR YOUR MAC WILL KERNAL PANIC. This seemed to be a consistent pattern. Log into your account FIRST, then plug-in the Kensington USB attachment. The batteries (two AAA's) are supposed to last six months and the SlimBlade has a low-battery light when it's time to swap them. Needless to say, with a 25-day review window, the batteries were still going strong with regular use.

Now for the other half of the SlimBlade. Flip the mouse over and you'll find a circular, rubberized control pad and a recessed toggle switch. Flip the switch and the 'presenter' controls are activated. The controls will advance your slideshow, and the top button on the pad activates a laser pointer built into the leading edge of the mouse. The presenter functions worked as promised. When the toggle is in 'media mode', the rubber control pad is still active, but will only work for iTunes and FrontRow and the like. One problem that I noticed is when the toggle is in media mode, the mouse buttons (now under your hand) are still active. So if I'm using the presenter side of the mouse for, say, iTunes, I find my fingers underneath the mouse constantly clicking the mouse buttons and affecting whatever is on my desktop! I can think of a couple of fixes to this in future SlimBlade releases. One would be to reverse the location of the media control wheel and battery compartment. So the media wheel is underneath the non-mouse button side of the mouse. Or, just install a mercury switch to sense the orientation of the mouse and disable the mouse-side controls accordingly. This may be problematic for space shuttle astronauts trying to give a Keynote slideshow, but would work for the rest of us.

On the whole, I liked the Kensington SlimBlade and do feel it's a quality product worth eighty bucks. I give it four out of five.

Kensington SlimBlade Presenter Media Mouse with Mouse, Presenter and Media Controller in One (Pewter) K72280US


A very good mouse and presenting device in one. I like all of its features and it only has three small things that I can find fault with. First, the omni-directional scroll wheel tends to interpret side scrolling easier than I would like when I sloppily scroll downwards. Second, as I have large hands, it is a bit thin, though I think this will be more of a positive feature for others and is a shortcoming to me only because of my size. Finally, the hinges on the underside of the mouse, where the Bluetooth plug in is stored, are a bit flimsy and have a tendency to get caught when trying to close the cover. The media presenting mode works flawlessly and did not even require an install on my Macbook. Overall, I give this a 4 out of 5 and have no problem recommending it to others who want a multi-function, wireless laser mouse.

This is a very clever device that works great for either Mac or Pc. The drivers load quickly and the size is great. I like this one better than the K72283 Slimblade presenter because the storage of the receiver and the unit is not as clumsy during a presentation. We are a Conferencing & Event Center and things must be easy to use for our presenters or else they spend all their time fumbling with the device and things do not flow well. If I can make my Presenters look good then I look good. Most of my Presenters still prefer the Kensington model 33374 wireless presenter because of its simplicity.

It is nice looking, compact and mobile. The problem is for some design professional, the absence of wheel click functional is not convenient, also the scroll ball can't be used without intalling the driver (again, not convenient if you are not doing a presentation on your own computer). But over all, it is a nice and solid design. it works.

it's a good mouse. the click sound is a little loud and the battery compartment is cheaply made but it has not broken and has nice features. i would recommend.

This mouse is neat in that whatever screen you are on, you can scroll without clicking on it first. With most other mice, I have to click, then scroll. It's also very touchy, so you don't have to use your wrist as much to move it. I don't use it for presentations, just my desk at work.

Small, light-weight presenter and wireless mouse that works well with all programs and presentation modes.

It's a very good mouse efficient as a mouse as well a laser pointer.

It could be enhanced the receiver size (most mouses have today almost invisible receiver) and the cover of the battery and receiver compartment which seems to be ligther for an intensive use.

BTW I'm very satisfied.

Michelangelo, Rome, Italy

I only purchased this mouse about 3 weeks ago. While, pricey it is an excellent device and serves the purpose well. It is very well designed and the ergonomics are well thought off.
Perhaps the only critisism would be to better deign the holder for the USB receiver which plugs into the PC's USB port.

I'm not using the mouse for any kind of presentations or anything like that, I just thought it was cool with some nice added features IE, the media controls and laser pointer. The media controller works real well for me with Foobar2000. Surely it's compatible with iTunes and various other big name MP3 players. I haven't found a video player that it works with though. The tiny receiver, while not the smallest in the business, is still pretty small and shouldn't bother the casual user. Well built, and I'd suggest it to anyone.