Customer Reviews

Targus PAWM30U 10-Channel Wireless Mini Optical Mouse - Silver

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

I'll just hit the highlights. I didn't have it long before I exchanged it, so I can't address the battery issue. But some other negative features include:

* The on/off button is incredibly tiny so if you're inclined to stubby fingernails, forget it.

* The battery cover is suprisingly flimsy and feels like the tabs that click and hold it in place could break easily. It's hard to open, too, so I doubt the cover would last long.

* The overall size is larger than most products of this kind and surprisingly heavy. If you're going to go with this much bulk and weight, you might as well carry a full-sized mouse.

* Surprisingly, this is NOT PLUG-AND-PLAY! To use this mouse, you have to plug it in before you turn on your PC. If you unplug the receiver while your PC's running, you have to plug it in again and reboot.

* Also, mine did not come with the carrying pouch that's listed on the packaging.

There's absolutely no good reason to buy this mouse when there are better, comparably-priced, plug-and-play ones available online and in stores.

Targus was one of the first to release the wirelss optical mouse without the huge base to lug around. Kensington has released one recently but it's pricey. I placed my NiMh batteries in here (highly recommended) and it works great so far! It's small and compact but a bit heavier than most mice because of batteries. I wouldn't say movement is perfect, but satisfactory. The scroll wheel is fine.

The mouse I had before was Logitech's popular blue optical wheel mouse. Targus's mini optical wireless mouse is great for laptop users but it isn't the smoothest mouse in the world. It's smooth normally but if you leave it alone for a few minutes and pick it up again it has to adjust and gets jerky but goes smooth again. If you find it for less than $ I'd get it.

I bought one of these to use with my two Compaq notebooks, both at work and at home, where it shows one of it's major drawbacks, (if one is as consevative as I, in wanting to conserve batteries when not in use) the mouse, powered by two AA batteries, has NO ON/OFF SWITCH, so, when transporting between work stations, one must remove one or both batteries to shut down the unit, which otherwise remains on when not connected to the computer. This may be different when used in conjunction with the charging station (sold seperately) which I have not purchased yet. Disconnecting the receiver and/or removal & replacement of batteries in lieu of a power switch requires resetting the frequency each time the mouse is moved.
Another drawback is that the transmitter will not work through the chassis of a metal framed laptop, where the USB ports are either in the rear or on the left side, a problem Targus attempts to solve by including an extention cord (about 6" long, half the lenght really needed).
If the transmitter and receiver are not in direct line-of-sight, the advertised three foot range falls off dramatically, causing hesitations and missed or partial click actions. Also, the receiver contains a BRIGHT blue light that FLASHES CONTINUOUSLY with movement of the mouse AND clicking any of the controls, which is HIGHLY distracting when one is trying to concentrate on one's work.
Some may complain that the control switches are somewhat stiff, but I prefer a more crisp click action on my controls, which this unit provides. With internal power provided by the two AA batteries, the mouse does suffer somewhat from overweight (a 3V camera battery may have been a better choice), but the loss of that annoying cable drag more than makes up for this.
For a fixed station home or office PC, this medium priced optical wireless could be a welcome addition, but it's not the best choice for use with a notebook, especially in portable mode.
NOTE:

Either Targus has come out with an advanced model(I recently purchased a replacement for the original damaged unit), or I failed to read the fine print in the owner's brochure. The unit DOES have an ON/OFF switch, operated by pressing the "Sync-Up" button on the bottom of the unit for three seconds, which will put the unit in "sleep" mode until the button is pressed again to re-activate it.

I just got this mouse as part of a "notebook essentials" kit, and it's proven to be a fine value for the money. A few things:

**The size is great for travel... maybe it's too small if you have large fingers, or too heavy if you're a 98 lb. weakling... for everyone else, it's fine.

**The movement is as smooth as my corded infrared mouse at home (granted, I've never used it further away from my laptop than about 2 feet).

**The blinking blue light on the USB part is a little annoying.

**The sleep mode is great... if you click on a button, it comes to life immediately. My guess is the earlier reviewer with the problem had an older laptop.

**The earlier reviewer was incorrent... this mouse is totally plug-and-play and you can plug it in whenever you like... before powering up, in the middle of working on something... whatever.

**The buttons and scroll wheel work perfectly.

Here's the bottom line: upon seeing it in action and finding out the price, two of my friends went out and bought one. It's not perfect, but it's great for the price.

I did a thorough research about the device which combines the laser pointer and page-up and down functions for the Power-Pointer presentation. Using this kind of device you don't have to interrupt your talk to step forward to your notebook and move to the next or previous slide anymore. Finally I chose this one because so far it is the only one which uses AAA batteries, therefore I always have backup and don't have to worry about the power issue. I got this wireless remote presenter (PAUM30U) from Amazon.com for $... with free shipping, which is the best price I can find on the internet and local stores. After $... coupon, it's $... only. At this price I can't complain too much. Unfortunately, it's a disaster when I use it. Sometimes it works normally, and everything is perfect in that case. But sometimes when I click the button to move to the next or previous slide, it will move continuously through many slides until I click the button again to stop it. Imagine how humiliating it is that when you are doing the presentation and it occurs, you have to move it back and find where you got screwed in front of your audiance. I asked Amazon for a replacement and there is no problem getting another one without any shipping (Thanks, Amazon). Unfortunately there is the same problem with the second remote presenter. I also try it on the other computers, and the same phenomenon happens. This product is made in China, so it's possible that the quality control is not good and maybe these two happen to be the ones with defect. To sum up, I don't recommend this presenter unless you don't care the situation I described above.

This mouse is great for anyone with a laptop!! It has some great features that others are lacking:

-On/Off switch...no more batteries running out
-USB "extention cord" just in case the usb unit is a little too big or your plug is in the back...just a handy accessory
-functional scroll wheel
-travel bag

The only con is that the right/left click buttons feel a bit flimsy. (Hence four stars instead of five) Other than that i am very happy.

This mouse has poor accuracy and short battery duration. Sometimes it works fine, but most of the time the tracking is inaccurate, worst than a pad track. Also, throwing the mouse in a bag makes it transmit continuously (buttons pressed), and the batteries run empty soon (few days). I'd return it, but I let more than 30 days pass. I recommend you look for another solution. Finally, the transmitter sticks out of the USB port, and this makes it likely to break.

I'm a college student working exclusively off my laptop, so a separate mouse was almost a requisite for me, and I'm quite happy with this one. First, it's wireless, and second, it's got a recharger, which were the biggest sellers for me. It's range is actually well under-estimated. While giving presentations, I was able to stand at least 15 feet away (not the measly 6 advertised) and use the mouse to advance slides and such. Additionally, it is quite responsive, and the only delay occurs after the mouse has gone to 'sleep', which a simple mouse-click will fix. The recharger is great. It comes with a 1600 mAh battery which lasts a LONG time, even being a wireless optical mouse. It's never died on me, and I've gone over a week of consistent use without having any indication of it needing a charge, although because the charger doubles as a handy way to get it out of the way, I store it on the charger. I've just got the charging station sitting on my desk next to my laptop, and it takes up very little space.

The one downfall of this mouse is the fact that while carrying it around in my backpack (or for you businessmen, while in your briefcase or something), it will occasionally get bumped and click itself, bringing it out of its 'sleep' mode, which takes another few minutes to go back into, all the while draining the battery. A power switch would be nice. However, even with this, as I said, it's never died on me. Oh, and one other little annoyance... the side buttons, although they work great, are a little backwards with their default functions of 'back/forward page'. Oddly, 'forward' is the left button, and 'back' is the right one. Not a big deal, but I haven't figured out how to reverse this yet...

Overall, it's a well-performing and extremely convenient mouse. The rechargable battery and charging station guarantee battery power, and it's wireless/optical features make it extremely handy.

When I first thought about buying this mouse, I wasn't impressed by the reviews. Most of them spoke bad about it and pointed a lot of weaknesses. But I decided to buy it anyway, since I had a friend at work who had one and was very pleased with it. The one I bought came with the cradle and I must admit that it's very useful, since you can charge the batteries when the mouse is not in use and also you can plug the receiver and keep working.
The mouse is very accurate and precise, the blue led from the receiver is nice to look at and, to tell you the truth,it doesn't bother me at all or distract me, like some people said it would.
My recomendation is: if you want a wireless pointing solution for your laptop, go for this one. It works fine and it's a lot smaller than some from other brands.
I paied 54.90€ for the whole pack and must say that I'm very happy with my purchase! Great value for money!
The pack comes with:
- Mouse unit
- RF Receiver (USB)
- Rechargeable batteries
- Battery charger cradle
- USB cable extension

We bought this remote to use at our montly membership meetings, where 4-6 members make PowerPoint presentations. It's a different set of speakers each time, so we're getting a pretty random sample, and I can tell you that we have never had a day where at least one speaker didn't have problems. Either the slides fail to advance or they come in a rush. We rarely experienced these problems with our old IR remote.

I use the remote myself and rarely have a problem, because I'm used to it. For others, though, the fact that the buttons are right next to each other and backward (push the left one to advance the slides, the right one to go back) and very sensitive seems to guarantee problems. Range and setup are terrific, however.

Bottom line: it's about a third the price of other quality RF remotes, so if you're going to be the only user, you might be able to learn to use it smoothly and pocket the difference. If the remote is for the use of a wide range of people, you're asking for trouble.