Logitech Bluetooth Cordless Presenter Review

securitas writes "Many Bluetooth devices have (deservedly) received dismal reviews and we were prepared for the phaser-like Bluetooth Logitech Cordless Presenter to be another toy headed for the trash-heap of history. Instead we were surprised (some might say stunned :) ) at how well it performed. The Presenter combines a laser pointer, an electronic presentation remote control and a wireless optical mouse in one elegantly designed package."

Hmmm...

[MarcoAtWork]

for a second I thought that this device was able to function as a mouse while being held by the presenter (via some sort of inertial sensor presumably) but it seems that the mouse function is just a standard 'put it on the desk and move it' type of thing...

Pity, because if you're in the middle of a stage giving a presentation, I doubt you'd want to have to trek to the sides if/when you have to move the mouse pointer on the screen.

Re:Hmmm...

[JUSTONEMORELATTE]

But it's an optical, so you can move the mouse on any surface around (pants leg, lecturn, your other hand, forhead of audience member, you get the idea)
--

Missing one cool feature...

[autopr0n]

The ability to use it as a mouse by pointing it at a screen. For $200 I figured they ought to be able to do it, I mean how much did the NES Zapper cost back in the day? $25?

Multiple Presenters?

[fisgreen]

I work in a training facility that may have several different powerpoint presentations going at the same time, sometimes 4-5 classrooms in use on the same floor alone!

I love the idea, but what if several are in use within range on one another? Is there any provision for channel selection?

Joy. Another "custom" blue tooth adapter.

[blowdart]

So, this little toy comes with a blue tooth adapter to plug into the USB port. The Microsoft bluetooh keyboard and mouse also have their own adapter.... except some of us have laptops with bluetooth built in, or seperate cards. Why are we ending up with a seperate USB adapter for every piece of hardware?

Please...

[Palshife]

Can someone honestly tell me why this is a significant product? I mean, as far as I can tell this is a cordless mouse with a laser pointer attached. Why is the use of bluetooth so necessary?

in a related news...

[u19925]

Toyota has come out with a car CD player which doubles as a coffee cup holder.

Frankly, what is the advantage of combining mouse with a laser pointer? I can get laser pointer as cheap as USD-10 and size of a small key-chain. Besides, during presentation, I don't run the risk of draining mouse battery power, which if exhausted would put me in more trouble.

It would have been great, if they had come out with two separate devices but with some mechanical coupling, so that they can be held together as if it is 1.

Re:Missing one cool feature...

[kaphka]

How the fuck did that thing work? No one has been able to tell me to this day

It had a little camera in it that looked at the screen and determined what object it was pointed at.

It's just that simple.

Okay, it so happens that I just came back from a seminar on computer vision, so I know that a certain contingent of Slashdot's audience may be... uncomfortable with that explanation. :-) Relax. I left out one important trick: When you pull the trigger on the gun, the screen very briefly changes to a much simpler image -- probably just a white box on a black background. That way, all the gun really has to do is detect white light. If you think about it, that also explains why Zapper games never had many targets on the screen at the same time. (Although they did sometimes have more than one... I'm not sure how they did that. Perhaps they used more than one frame.)

Re:Joy. Another "custom" blue tooth adapter.

[Yokaze]

It is not custom. Otherwise it would not be a Bluetooth adaptor. It would be just a device using the ISM-band.

This one and the Microsoft devices have a Bluetooth adaptor of their own, because most people don't have one. Not because they need their own.

It's just a matter of marketing. No technical reasons.

I guess they had to make a choice:
Either the disaproval of those few people who have already a bluetooth adaptor and have to pay for the unwanted extra.
Or the disaproval of the people who buy the device and discover that they have to buy another device to make it work.

Or maybe they just thought that there may be people with integrated Bluetooth. Or maybe they didn't think at all.

Re:Multiple Presenters?

[Hayzeus]

Yes -- it will also add inches to your penis and bring instant riches.

My point is merely that two devices shouldn't interfere with one another. And -- assuming that the two devices have different addresses -- yes, each mouse should talk to its designated node, although this may depend on how Logitech actually implements the device and drivers.

Against Powerpoint

[hopbine]

This seems a neat toy, but as I'm getting fed up with powerpoint presentations, I hope I never see one. Most presenters come loaded with far too complicated presentations, each slide with too much data (that's why they need the laser pointer) and they spend all there time driving the computer not telling the story.CBC [cbc.ca] had a story on Monday about this, andTom Creed [ntlf.com] from Saint John's University has some more insite.