Targus 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Presentation Remote, Range up to 30 Feet AMP03US (Black)

by Targus

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.8 x 3.5 x 0.9 inches ; 1.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000F004RO
• Item model number: AMP03US
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (180 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #21 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Accessories > Keyboards, Mice & Input Devices > Presentation Pointers > Presentation Remotes
  • #55 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Accessories > Keyboards, Mice & Input Devices > Presentation Pointers > Laser Pointers
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 13, 2006

Product Description

Targus 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Presentation Remote, Range up to 30 Feet AMP03US (Black)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

102 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works great - Some tips for use, October 23, 2007

By 

T. Stilwell (Fayetteville, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Targus 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Presentation Remote, Range up to 30 Feet AMP03US (Black) (Personal Computers)

Plug it in and go. Used weekly with Windows XP for four months so far no problems. Range is at least 30 feet, very reliable. Note that a slide switch on the side turns it off to conserve the battery.

How it works: it talks to the computer as if it's a keyboard. But the only keystrokes it can send are: PageUp (the left button), PageDown (the right button), B (the bottom button), and Alt+Esc (the top button). (The red middle button is the laser pointer.)

The bottom button is like hitting the B key, which in a PowerPoint slideshow toggles a black screen, useful for momentarily hiding a slide. (By the way, W goes to a white screen if you're using a full keyboard; the remote doesn't have a button for that.)

IF YOU HAVE OTHER PROGRAMS OPEN: This remote doesn't have any magical connection to PowerPoint; it's just a mini keyboard. So it won't affect PowerPoint unless the PowerPoint slideshow window is the "active" window. If another program is running and is selected, you'll just scroll it up and down and type a lot of "B"s, same as if you pressed PageDown and B on your regular keyboard.

That's where the top button comes in. In Windows XP, pressing Alt+Esc cycles focus between all open applications in the taskbar. (It cycles through in the order they were last "active", not necessarily the order they appear on the task bar.) In other words, the top button on the remote is basically a "switch between open programs" button. So if your "next slide" button isn't working, it may be bcause a different window is selected. Don't panic and don't immediately assume the battery is dead. First make sure the power switch on the side is on. Then just alternately press the "next window" (top) and "next slide" (right) buttons until the slide changes.

IF YOU USE DUAL-DISPLAY "PRESENTER VIEW":
Presenter view opens in another window, separate from the slideshow (and separate from the main PowerPoint window where the file can be editted). The left and right arrow keys function as previous and next slide when either of those windows (Presenter view or slideshow itself) is active. But PageUp and PageDown (which is what the remote's buttons are) only work on the slideshow window, not the Presenter window (in Presenter, PageUp and PageDown scroll through notes for the current slide). That means that if you have clicked the Presenter window then it will be the active window, and the previous and next slide buttons on the remote will not work until you re-select the slideshow window (which you can do using the top button as described above).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you're not afraid to delve a bit deeper into Windows, you can eliminate the chance for any confusion or delay the Presenter/PageDown issue might cause by remapping your keyboard's PageDown and PageUp keys to functions as right and left arrows. The simple and free way to do this without installing any software is a quick modification to Windows' registry:

1 - Create a new text file and open it.
2 - Copy and Paste into the text file the following three lines:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,4b,e0,49,e0,4d,e0,51,e0,00,00,00,00

3 - Save and close the text file.
4 - Change the .txt extension at the end of the filename to .reg (To do this you must have Windows Explorer's option set NOT to "Hide extensions of known file types")
5 - Right click the file and select "Merge"
6 - Reboot (or just log off and back on)

Both the keyboard and the remote are now remapped. The PageUp and PageDown keys (left and right buttons on the remote) work like left and right arrow keys now. Thus the remote will advance and reverse slides whether the active windows is the Presenter view window or the slideshow window itself.

By the way, you can still page up and down if you need to. Just turn off Number Lock, then use the 9 and 3 keys on the numeric keypad. With NumLock off the 9 and 3 work like PageUp and PageDown, even while the regular PageUp and PageDown are remapped to function as arrow keys.

Not graceful, but it gets the job done.

To undo it:
1 - Press Winkey+R (or click "Start" then "Run...")
2 - Enter "regedit"
3 - In the left column, by expanding the folders, navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout
4 - Right Click on "Scancode Map" and delete.
5 - Reboot (or just log off and back on)

Registry editor is not a toy, and you can incapacitate your computer if you mess around in there.

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works very well, burns batteries, September 2, 2006

By 

JT (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Targus 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Presentation Remote, Range up to 30 Feet AMP03US (Black) (Personal Computers)

If you want a simple, straightforward presenter to click through Powerpoint slides, this one works very well. I bought it at Staples after my old presenter died. Installation is very simple, completely plug and play, and it worked right away. Buttons for advancing slides, for going backward, blanking screen, for the laser pointer, and another I haven't used so I can't remember what it is for. I have not tried to use it for anything besides Powerpoint, on a Windows XP laptop. I use it for large lecture classes, where I want to control when I change the slide, so it doesn't matter that there is no timer. Laser works fine. Takes 1 AAA battery, so it's easy to replace. The big problem, though, is that you'll be replacing the battery a lot. One week after classes started, I've replaced the battery once already, and I'm about to replace it again. Part of the problem is that I keep forgetting to turn off the on/off switch at the side, which is very inconspicuous; but also there is no battery indicator, and, really, it just burns batteries pretty fast. If you want a simple presenter for occasional use, this may be it. But I will eventually replace it for one that doesn't use batteries so fast.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does just what it says it will do, February 11, 2007

By 

D. J. (Iowa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Targus 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Presentation Remote, Range up to 30 Feet AMP03US (Black) (Personal Computers)

I'm a Community College instructor and have found this to be an invaluable tool. The newer projection system we use doesn't allow remote advancement of slides. This inexpensive tool does just what it says and works perectly and without fail. It was as easy to install as a flash drive. I'm now able to interact with my classes instead of being held hostage behind the lecturn in order to advance slides. I also really like the darken feature and use it anytime I think a class is copying power points instead of interacting with each other on the subject. Rate 5 stars because I can't give it 6.