Kensington PresentAir Bluetooth Wireless Presenter with Red Laser Pointer (K39524US)

There is a lot to like about this presentation controller, and a few things that will drive you nuts! Let's deal with the positives first.It's a nice, sleek little unit, and it fits nicely in the hand while giving a presentation. It isn't burdened down with a bunch of buttons--just a four-way rocker for next slide (right), previous slide (left), laser pointer on (top), and blacken screen (down). I like that simplicity. On my Mac and Windows laptops, it works from 10 to 15 feet away, which is all I need. It comes with a nice carrying case and a recharging cable. And left to just that, I'd give the unit five stars. Here's why I knocked off a star:A few reviewers have complained that the unit won't hold power--that you have to charge the unit just before you use it or it will be dead when you start your presentation. That's not really the case, but I understand how they came to that conclusion. The unit does not have an LED to let you know it is turned on. There is a small LED that flashes when you turn the unit on, and again, more quickly, when you turn the unit off. Until you get the hang of the flashing frequencies, you might very well think you had turned the unit off when you hadn't. That's a bit of a pain.The second problem is with pairing. I had no real problem with my Windows laptop, but my Mac (running OS 10.10 'Yosemite'), paired it as an 'unknown keyboard'. A search through Kensington's FAQs uncovered a note to restart the Mac after pairing, at which time it would reappear in the Bluetooth device list as a mouse, and that turned out to be the case. But, that's another pain.So, when I travel with this controller, I bring along a little cheat sheet with the details on pairing to both Mac and Windows, in case I end up using someone else's laptop for my presentation, and how to verify that the unit has been turned off. Perhaps Apple has spoiled me, but I don't feel like I should have to do that.One final minor annoyance: The recharging port for the unit, a micro USB port, is in the midsection of the unit, and the top and bottom sections slide together while presenting and cover up the port. That's nice when it comes to protecting the port from dirt and grime, but if you forget that you have to slide the top and bottom apart a bit to expose the port, it can take a few minutes to find it.Even with all that said, I think this is still a better Bluetooth presenter than most of the other units out there, and it is a good value for the money. Note that it does not include a Bluetooth dongle for the laptop on which it is used, so the laptop will either have to support Bluetooth natively, or you will need to buy a Bluetooth dongle separately and install its drivers on your laptop. And note that the controller won't work with phones or tablets, since it has to emulate a mouse. Subject to the hassles noted above, I can recommend it for Windows and Mac use.

I bought this because I didn't want to have something that I had to remember to have plugged into my computer for presentation purposes, nor did I want to take up a precious USB port. Overall this product functions exactly as it should. There is no lag associated with button presses and I find the range to be excellent. The carrying case provided is also very nice.That said, I have a few gripes:1) I wish this had Bluetooth LE as I'm sure that would greatly extend the battery life. I teach computer science and my lectures are 1hr and 15 minutes long. I find that I can make it through about 1.5 lectures before it dies on me (obviously very annoying), so I've just gotten in the habit of changing it after every lecture.2) Along with the first point, it's hard to tell when the product is off and when it's on. The status light on it isn't really all that helpful. What I've come to doing is to power it off (hold the button on the back) and then test to see if it is off by trying the laser pointer which does not work unless the unit is "on". Of course, I could go into the setting on my computer and check the Bluetooth connection status, but it seems like it should be simpler than that. If this product does have an inactivity period to off functionality, it's not apparent to me.3) I can't think of anyone who is truly excited about the nipple at the bottom for use on smart things. I would have preferred they just whacked that off and made the end flat. This is a pretty minor gripe, though.4) The laser pointer isn't all that bright. I use white backgrounded slides, so it has the best chance of success, but it's still not super easy to pick up.Overall, if you're set on Bluetooth for the connection of a presentation tool and your computer, I can say that I would recommend this product. That said, I haven't tried any of the other offerings out there, so I'm fully willing to believe this is not the overall best option.

Sometimes the folks at Apple don't make the best decisions - and forget to consult their users first. Take for instance, the elimination of IrDA on the Macbook Air rendering the slim and elegant Apple Remote useless. Sure, many would say "who is still using infrared?" ... well I say "so give me a wireless presentation mouse!". With only 2 USB ports available and no built in Ethernet connectivity on the MBA, I did not want to have to have a USB dongle installed while giving presentations. The folks at the Apple Store will tell you that the iOS app is an acceptable replacement, but who wants to hold an iPhone or iPad Touch during a presentation???!!! Then, what do you do about a laser pointer???This device works perfectly and has been confirmed against my Apple Macbook Pro, Macbook Air and Asus VivoTab RT for giving presentations in PowerPoint and Keynote. Be advised, that this is technically installed as a mouse, and since the iPad does not support any mouse functions, it will NOT be recognized by an iPad (at least as of iOS 6.1). To be honest, the iPad has fallen short on many occasions as a platform for presenting PowerPoint material, which is why I have shifted to the Windows RT platform with true, native PowerPoint capability. So, the PresentAir and my VivoTab RT provides a truly portable, stylish, and functional package.