
Given that I do a lot of presentations both internally and externally I've been looking for a device that would allow me to not be physically tied to my laptop to control my presentation slides. Being able to walk away from the podium or stage and advance my slides is important and I didn't want a solution that would be to complex or involved.

So 2 weeks ago I was given the
Kensington Si600 Wireless Presenter with laser pointer to use while in Asia and I must say that it's fantastic. It's small and fits comfortably in the palm of my hand. Smaller the better since I travel often. There's a soft rubber covering on the back of the device and is powered by 2 AAA batteries.


To connect to your computer you remove this very small USB receiver that conveniently stores in the base of the device. When it's inserted into the device it turns it off, when you remove it then it automatically turns the device on and you can then use any of the four buttons.

There are four buttons: next slide, previous slide, blank screen and laser pointer. The laser pointer function is useful for drawing attention to specific areas of a slide while talking.
I've only used it with Powerpoint 2003 but assume it will work with any version of Powerpoint as well as Apple Keynote. So if you do a lot of presenting you may want to take a look at a wireless device like the Kensington Si600. There are other wireless presentation options out there and while I haven't had a chance to try them out I'm very happy with this Kensington device. Post any questions you have about the device and I'll answer them.
Labels: conferences, misc, presentations