Kensington SlimBlade Presenter Mouse review

Giving presentations on the move?

23 May 2008 16:00 GMT / By Stephen Patrick

Kensington's SlimBlade range of accessories covers all aspects of computer peripherals and this mouse also doubles as a professional presentation tool.

It’s an attractive device finished in metallic blue plastic. The smooth design feels like a pebble in your hand and is comfortable. The two mouse buttons are a good size but the scroll wheel proved a little small.

It connects to your notebook or PC wirelessly and you'll find the USB dongle hidden away in the side of the mouse. As soon as you eject it, the mouse is switched on and only powers down when the dongle is returned. A small LED on the side of the mouse highlights how much juice is left in the batteries, with green being plenty, while red means replace.

Simply inserting the device into your computer is enough to load the drivers and we even found that it instantly worked on an Asus Eee PC loaded with Linux, so this is a good multi-purpose device. We found it to be rather sensitive and needed to recalibrate to make the most of it.

When it comes to being used for presentations you'll find it only works with Windows XP and Vista and you'll need to install the tools from the provided CD-ROM. A button below the scroll wheel switches into presentation mode and the mouse buttons allow you to move your slides forward and back.

Verdict

The Kensington SlimBlade Presenter Mouse is certainly something different and if you regularly use your notebook for giving presentations, this makes a great portable device to add to your kit.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Kensington
Price as reviewed: £32
Latest price: Compare prices
The good: Nice design, set-up is easy
The bad: Can't recharge batteries, overly sensitive
Quick verdict: Combining a notebook mouse and presentation tool in one is a novel and space-saving approach that works surprisingly well
Score