Customer Reviews

Targus Bluetooth Presenter for Apple Mac AMP11US Wireless laser pointer Mouse

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I speak/teach for a living. I was looking for a replacement for my Kensington USB presenter. I was attracted by the the blue tooth interface.

Unfortunately, this device does not make the grade.

The presenter is large and heavy making it unwieldy for for use by a lecturer.

The Bluetooth connection looses sync regularly. It is difficult to reestablish connectivity.

The buttons are far too sensitive - causing PowerPoint slides to seemingly jump around on their own.

All in all this device seem unpractical and designed for people who want something that is "for the MAC" without concern for it's functionality.

I give presentations each week to a gathering of 150-300 people. Initially, I was using the Apple remote but found it very limited to line-of-sight function, so I opted for an RF signal presenter. Quickly another issue presented itself. We utilize wireless mics and other items driven by phantom power. In our application these mics and associated electronics "jammed" the RF presenter's signal. My options were now few, until I considered the Targus Mac Presenter which functions with Bluetooth technology.

I have been well pleased with this presenter. It works well, has good range and is unaffected by the confusion of RF signals in close proximity at the front of our building.

As to concerns expressed elsewhere regarding the heft and size of the unit, I can only say that it "grows on you". Now, I actually prefer the feel of it. I do wonder though, for those who take issue with the mass of it, if a standalone presenter (This one minus mouse function) could reduce the size and weight. I personally never use the mouse option anyhow.

The only semi issue I've had with this presenter is that on rare occasion it sometimes drops the Bluetooth signal. And maybe "drops" is too strong a word for what happens. It's more like the signal wavers a bit. I click again and it's back. It's so inconsequential that my audience never notices it, and, again, this very, very rarely occurs.

In conclusion, I have found the Targus Mac Presenter to be a great solution to a convoluted problem. I have also found it to be a quality built tool which I come to appreciate more and more with use.

Overall, I think this is a good product--I just got it a couple of days ago and have been playing around with it. Set-up is a snap--associate it with your laptop like any other bluetooth device. You can also download a system preferences pane which let you customize buttons and kick of scripts and the like.

From a button perspective, it is pretty complete. You can switch between mouse mode and presenter mode. I usually have a hard time controlling these kinds of mice (cursor flies all over the place) but the Targus was very useable--the button in the center acts as a mini trackpad in mouse mode--seems like it would be too small to be useful, but it actually works well.

What could be better:

1) Its a little on the big side

2) Some kind of status on the presenter itself wold be useful--low battery, BT connected, out of range

UPDATE: The BT connection seems a bit finicky - not all that great in the middle of a preso - knocking off one star

I specifically purchased this product to work with my new Macbook Pro. Guess what, it doesn't work with my MacBook Pro. When I called the seller, he said the product does not work with the new MacBook Pro. There was nothing on the product write up stating that. Very disappointing experience.

The device has two modes: one in which it acts like a mouse (left and right buttons act as clicks, the laser on/off button doubles as the trackpoint in the old IBM notebooks) and a presenter mode.

Windows Vista and XP did not need any extra drivers besides the Toshiba Bluetooth stack, to see it as a mouse. The presenter part is a bit troubling, because the device doesn't seem to send Windows keypresses. So before presentations, I launch this AutoHotkey script:

*SC148::Send {Left}

*SC150::Send {Right}

That makes it send the left and right arrow keys to Powerpoint.

I used it for a few hours and the batteries from the package are still working.

Its size makes one hold it like a TV remote control (although it is much shorter). I find that actually comfortable.

The first thing to note is that this presenter is discontinued AND not officially supported for 64bit systems though I am using it with a 64 bit MacBook just fine. If you plan on using this presenter for use with Keynote then it will most likely work well for you IF you download the latest driver from the Targus website. With the initial driver I had a re-occurring problem that multiple other people noted, which was frequent disconnects. Once I downloaded the new update the disconnects have been MUCH less frequent, though they still happen occasionally, lets say once 6-7 uses.

IF you plan on using the presenter for Powerpoint you will need to do a workaround. The presenter sends the default keypresses for Keynote, meaning instead of send a UP arrow or DOWN arrow signal, it sends a SHIFT UP or SHIFT DOWN signal. You can correct this by adding a keyboard shortcut in the system preferences / keyboard / keyboard shortcuts / application shortcuts menu, then adding a shortcut for Powerpoint. For the first shortcut type "Previous" as the menu title then put your cursor in the keyboard shortcut field and press the left arrow on your presenter. Repeat the steps for the next shortcut, but this time enter "Next" as the menu title and push the right button on the presenter.

Previously I had simply added a SHIFT UP and SHIFT DOWN in stead of pushing the presenter keys, this resulted in a huge headache when for some reason the keys would work for 10 minutes and then suddenly stop working. After I entered the keyboard shortcuts using button presses on the presenter itself that problem seems to have stopped.

I would not have good things to say if this was a $50 mouse, but for around $10 this can be a real bargin with a little work.

I bought this presenter and tried it the first day and the "Next" and "Previous" buttons were not working. I went to Targus website and found out that this buttons do not work with 64-bit OS machines, meaning that if you have a new Mac this is no better than a paperweight. Do not buy it.

I thought I had stumbled upon a great tool for giving lectures however the presenter keys don't work with 64-bit OS. Looks like this was a waste of money and if you have a newer operating system would not recommend.

I was particularly interested in the optical track ball funtionality as my primary purpose is controling a mac mini connected to a HDTV. That aspect works great, except the connection drops continually working for only 30 sec to 1+ hour before failing. It is unusual for this to work for more than 5 min. without dropping connection to the machine. If this worked properly, it would be nicer with up and down keys in addition to the left right buttons. I could not imagine trying to give a presentation with this because of the connection issues. This is a good concept, but the execution is terrible.

this device holds its signal for less than a minute before disconnecting from my laptop. have to constantly add and remove the device during presentations. even at a 3 foot distance it still loses connection. no wonder the price is dirt cheap.