Customer Reviews

Targus AMP02US 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Presentation Remote (Black)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My experience with this Targus presenter is that it was decent. It did do all that it was supposed to. Decent range and a handy well placed knob for moving your mouse. Laser worked and buttons worked.

But I couldn't help but be irritated by the stiff button tension. Too much effort was needed to push the four buttons on the presenter. And the laser button (though it may be safer this way) is very uncomfortable to use as it is a VERY small button that digs into your finger when you push it.

Lastly, I must agree that having to switch back and forth between mouse mode and presenter is tiresome when you need to use both in the same presentation.

For a little extra money you can do ALOT better. For an extra $15 I bought the Keyspan Presentation Remote Pro off Amazon and got a MUCH better piece of equipment. Plug and Play works equally well on both, but the Keyspan has several more features, a more solid overall feel, better and more buttons (all well placed), no switching modes, volume control, scrolling, and an ingenious compartment inside the presenter for the receiver.

If you absolutely cannot spend the extra $15, it is not a bad presenter. But do yourself a favor and spend the extra $15...

I am a scholar/lecturer who relies regularly on this device to provide remote control over power point lectures. The problem? Often the computer is in one part of the room, while access to the screen or podium is several feet away. This device is an elegant solution to the vexing problem of logistics in the classroom. I have run lectures from up to 40-50 feet away with no problems at all.

This very small and lightweight unit easily stows away in a shoulder bag or computer case. I carry mine everywhere--and generally forget I have it until I need it. It is ideal for classroom use, or when you have to rely on a laptop or --worse--someone else's computer at a presentation. It seems to work on any Windows-based machine, including VISTA. And it resolves the musical chairs problem generally associated with seminars with multiple presentations: with this device, the speaker can remain at his or her seat, and run the entire presentation remotely. Very efficient.

The device works in two modes: either as a power point device: not just forward and back, but also keys that toggle full screen versus small screen, as well as screen on and off. There is also a handy laser pointer, allowing the lecturer to use the same device for control and pointing.

The second mode converts the remote into a wireless mouse. I don't really have much use for this capability, and having used full-featured wireless remotes that enable full control over multimedia operations like showing dvds or playing music, I would propose getting the full-featured remote. This device is meant to be a reliable device for power point controls on windows-based machines. Nothing more. The wireless mouse adds the ability to browse the internet remotely--but without a keyboard that seems to be a fairly limited feature.

I strongly disagree with the two negative reviewers that precede this review. First, this is specifically marked as a Windows-only device, so why criticize it for not working well on a Mac? Second, the only time functionality declines is when the battery power is low. No surprise there.

All in all, this is a very solidly made and reliable piece of equipment.

One of my roles is an audio/visual assistant that helps many executive and doctor types with presentations, many including slides. The Targus AMP02US works well in distance, and dependability. We purchased two of these, upgrading from the fisher price version "Targus Wireless Presenter/laser Point". I can plug these into any of my laptops XP or Vista and within seconds, they are ready to go advancing. However, these presenter folks I work with need one thing: an advance button and a rewind button and don't fluster them with mouse moving and a `stop the entire show button ever so shiny to please click me on the top.

A slide advancer should not require much thought to operate. After numerous presentations working with different speakers, the last thing someone needs before making a presentation is to memorize which, of 4 identical buttons will actually make the next slide advance. I say identical because someone will never read the minuscule markings etched on the advancer before the presentation. It's not intuitive to click the right button. I would think it is, but I've had half of the last 10 speakers mess up. I just had my most experienced speaker hit the "Stop" button - the top button instead of advancing the slide last week at the beginning of his presentation. It's a nice slide advancer for the owner, but a horrible presentation crasher for everyone else. Remember, hardware and software is supposed to work -for- us. We do not exist for them. There are so many other features that complicate this device and render it disabled. Make it simpler with bigger arrows and user friendly, please!

The reception is hit and miss. It does not work unless you are at the right angle and within range (about 10 feet). Spend the extra money and get one of better quality.

This is an awful product. It is the most useless laser pointer+mouse combination I have ever attempted to use.

For one, the mouse operation is choppy at best on a Mac. The sensitivity is far too high and is not easily adjusted. Its operation is adequate on a PC (running XP).

More importantly, the laser pointer can only be used when the switch in the middle of the device is switched into laser mode. When that happens, the mouse buttons don't work. To use the mouse button, the switch has to be put into mouse mode, which turns off the laser pointer. This makes no sense to me because:

*) There is an off button on the side of the laser pointer, so this clearly isn't meant to prevent accidental laser presses while in the pocket.

*) The laser button is DIFFERENT than the mouse buttons, so this clearly is not a way to minimize the number of buttons on the device.

Avoid this product. There are much better products elsewhere. I returned this product the day I received it.

I work in a university where our conference rooms are constantly used for educational and powerpoint presentations. Since we have meetings and lectures where equipment is used each and every working day, it is IMPERATIVE that we have reliable and dependable tools to facilitate seamless presentations. We purchased two of these Targus AMP02us remotes for a couple of meeting rooms and they worked okay for a good year. Then after that, things got spotty; even after changing batteries, the remotes sometimes would work, then not. We would get calls all the time for the faultiness of these remotes. Presenters would be calling us at the last minute, breathing down our necks in order to get the remote to work for their presentations! Finally, we junked them. If you want a remote that lasts only one year, is totally disposable and totally unreliable, buy this piece of junk. Other than that, do yourself a favor and spend a little more for a better remote from a better company.

This was the second remote I bought from Targus and this was cheaper in quality than the first one that I bought. The USB connector literally fell apart in my hands after 3 months of use. I taped it together and it lasted a bit longer. I wish I had spent more for a higher quality product.

I have been using this particular presenter for a few years (borrowed from a friend) and decided to purchase one for myself. It's simple to use - just plug in the USB and turn it on. I like that it has an on/off switch but it's easy to forget to turn it off. My favorite feature is that it has mouse-capability. I can click through slide shows or use the middle button to move my mouse and click on links from anywhere in my classroom. It's worth every penny! I've looked at and used some of the cheaper ones but this one does exactly what I need and works great! And it only takes 1 AAA battery!

Battery life has been excellent, never a problem with having a windows computer detect it, never needs drivers (huge plus for me because my work computers are all locked down from adding any software). Button are large enought to manage without fumbling through. Small enough to stick in my pocket while walking around and doing my presentation.

What I did like about this unit was the laser pointer and the mouse function. The laser pointer which I really thought I wouldn't need came in handy, didn't know what I was missing till I used it. The mouse function is great when doing a presentation because let's say the computer acts up and you need to control your computer, well your pointer works as a mouse and you can correct the problem in the middle of your presentation (ie accidentally showing the wrong presentation and need to load a different presentation, but the computer is in an area where you can't get to it). Now the mouse isn't some "gaming" mouse, it works just enough in a pinch to move about on your screen, it works identially to the old eraser head mouse the ibm lap tops used to have (think of a thumb joystick).

This device works great. I only use it as a remote mouse when using my PC to watch Hulu, Netflix, etc. The mouse pointer control is very precise, if a little slow, and the left/right click buttons are very responsive. The range is very good. Battery life seems fine, though I am sure if you use the laser pointer it would eat up more juice. The setup is non-existent, plug in the USB dongle and you're set. Build quality is great, feels very solid while in use, I've dropped it a lot with no damage. I've had it for about a year with no problems. Highly reccomended.