Customer Reviews: Read 54 more reviews...
 Outstanding December 10, 2007
R. Firoozye (San Francisco, CA USA)
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
Was using a standard USB trackball on my MacBook Pro while working at my desk, but it wasn't very portable. Most wireless trackballs out there were all pretty bulky. Finally broke down and got the Apple bluetooth wireless mouse, but could never get used to the strange right-click and the squeeze side-buttons.
Saw the Kensington bluetooth combo trackball mouse. Absolute dead-on fit for what I needed. Paired easily with Mac OS-X Leopard. No extra software needed. The trackball and mouse-click action is smooth but you may want to change the mouse tracking to slow it down a bit. You double-click the flush top button and it switches from laser-tracking mouse to regular trackball. Very clever. The trackball is a bit small and pretty sensitive so probably not for painting free-hand use. But the small size keeps the overall bulk down. Also nice that it uses two AA batteries--easy to replace on the road.
In mouse-mode, trackball acts like a scroll-wheel (except you can also track side-to-side). The only improvement that comes to mind is some sort of indicator so you can tell if you've left it in mouse or trackball mode. However, I suspect most people will pick one mode and stick with it.
So far, very happy with it.
 Poor doc, build quality, connectivity, software, and trackball is too small March 26, 2008
Julien Pierre (Santa Clara, California)
17 out of 26 found this review helpful
I got this trackball on saturday from a local store. I was looking for a wireless trackball for use with my home theater PC. The 2 main requirements were :
- at least 12 ft of range
- must be usable by the left hand as a trackball
My experience with this device the last 3 days has been very frustrating. If I used it one more day I would be headed for an injury.
I ran into a number of issues :
1) Poor documentation
The technical instructions are indecipherable. You get 36 consecutive sentences, every 12th one being in a different language. And 3 pictures.
The instructions don't even spell out that one needs to *double* click the mode button to switch between trackball and mouse mode. It's really not obvious at all. I actually had to go online and read the much better doc written in english to figure it out. This is completely unacceptable.
2) Poor build quality
The unit I got was flaky. While I had no problem pairing it to my PC running Vista x64, I couldn't get the pointer to move at all. Only the buttons worked. The ball didn't work either as trackball or as scroll wheel. I had the sensor opened and it didn't work as a mouse either.
I was about to give up and thought of switching batteries. I just removed them and put them back in. And then it started working more completely - not just the buttons, but the pointer also. The software showed the battery charge at 96% in both cases.
3) Poor software
When I ran into the button problem above, I downloaded some software drivers from Kensington. They didn't help - only the battery removal/replacement did. After the trackball started working, I noticed that every time I logged in to Windows, it forgot about my left-handed button option (switch primary and secondary buttons). This was very annoying. And it affected not just the Slimblade, but also the other PS/2 mouse in the systeme. I traced the issue to a bug in the Kensington driver. I just uninstalled, it and the problem went away. Fortunately, the Slimblade does not require any special software besides the Bluetooth stack.
4) Poor connectivity
Over the 3 days that I tried to use this device, as a trackball only, I saw it lose connectivity many times. Sometimes the pointer just became very unresponsive. Other times it made giant leaps. Other times it lost the connectivity altogether. I don't know what to make of it. It might be because the unit I bought was flaky. But with all the other issues, I don't think I will try a 2nd unit when I return mine.
5) Poor trackball
I don't know how good of a mouse this is, but as a trackball, it has many shortcomings :
a) the ball is just too small for the trackball to be precise. Even with my very small hands and fingers, it is tedious to point on a high resolution screen (I have a 1920x1080 HDTV screen), and even more tedious to drag
b) when using the trackball, there is no scrollwheel available
c) there are only 2 buttons available. I like to have a 3rd one to program as a double-click to reduce stress
I'm normally a big Kensington fan. I have been using their desktop trackballs - Expert Mouse - for over a decade. They are great. I tried this because I needed a wireless device for my HTPC. Unfortunately I was disappointed.
I wish Kensington would just produce a real trackball like the Expert Mouse, and make a wireless version of it with good range (say, using RF 2.4 GHZ).
 Smooth, light and well designed March 7, 2008
Aram R. Vartian (Washington, DC)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
When I first picked up my Macbook Pro, I really didn't understand Bluetooth, and instinctually went for a Kensington Si750m Wireless Notebook mouse. And while it is a fine product, filling up one of my USB ports was not ideal (nor was having a long chunk of easily snapped-off plastic sticking out of the side of my laptop).
So I went shopping for a Bluetooth mouse, even though I was weary after a frustrating experience with my Macbook Pro and wireless headphones. I am thrilled I made the switch.
CONNECTION: EXCELLENT
Synching the SlimBlade with my Macbook was easy. You activate the mouse, you tell the Macbook to find it, and you are done. That simple. No software to install, and full functionality right out of the box. And to preserve battery life, when your Macbook Pro goes to sleep, so does the mouse (yet it still reacts instantly, and wakes up the Macbook, the second you touch it). I have plugged my Macbook to my television and jumped through the desktop with ease and no loss of connection from twenty feet away. Simply wonderful.
FUNCTIONALITY: EXCELENT
As a mouse, the SlimBlade glides smooth and even over any surface I have tried (mousepad, notebook cover, wood desk top). As as a trackball, it is not quite as good; the smooth, rapid clicking of the ball is reassuring and completely accurate, and I find I can flick easily up and down, but sideways motion is slightly more difficult and seems to put more strain on my wrist. But this is a minor complaint, and when in mouse mode, the trackball allows for quick scrolling with a flick of the finger through longer documents. Very helpful.
DESIGN: GOOD
The narrow profile of the SlimBlade makes for excellent portability, as does the weight. The plastic casing is sleek and elegant; smooth, dark gray plastic along the top with a rubberized, textured edge that supplies a firm grip and easy mousing surface. The left and right click buttons are perfectly proportioned and intuitive, and the trackball is just large enough to be effective.
BATTERY: DECENT
So far, the battery life has proven to be very good, and inline with what they company claims. I use the mouse for several hours a day and have gone nearly a month so far with the battery indicator still showing a full charge. The only reason why I give this a decent rating is because I think, in 2008, it is not unreasonable to expect any wireless mouse to be fully rechargeable. The fact that it came with a pair of disposable Energizer batteries was highly disappointing (at least it came with batteries, though).
RECOMMENDED: ABSOLUTELY
In all, this is a fantastic, smooth, and easily portable mouse that will find a very happy home inside your laptop case.
Technically excellent, slightly too slim for some hands May 15, 2008
Michael A. Alderete (San Francisco)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a great mouse, and has become my preferred travel mouse. The laser optics work on my blonde wood desk, which my older Logitech optical mouse does not, and seems to work well on virtually any surface. The scroller ball is really terrific; it's interesting how quickly this becomes a "necessity" and working with mice that have mere scroll wheels (up/down only, instead of omni-directional) becomes a chore. And the Bluetooth connection works perfectly with my MacBook Pro, coming alive quite quickly, shutting off automatically when not in use.
The only downside is one specific to my hands, which are larger than average. The slim mouse is actually a little small for me to use full-time, and so I still use my Logitech mouse when my laptop is docked at my desk.
If you have normal or (esp.) smaller hands, this won't be an issue, and you'll probably find this mouse to be nearly flawless. If you have large hands, it's still a good mouse, but be prepared to take breaks, or adopt a different grip, or otherwise do something to accommodate the slim profile of this device.
Fatally flawed - gets dirty inside and can never be cleaned December 12, 2007
Bob (Mountain View, CA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
For almost five months, I've had a FIVE STAR review posted. I am now (mid April 2008) DELETING that, because what good is a manual device that dies when it gets a little dirty and can't possibly be serviced?
I really liked this mouse for five months (just about exactly to the day). But the trackball is dirty inside, and Kensington insists that replacement is the ONLY option. They insist there's no way to open it to blow out the crud. It's obvious to me that the replacement will do the same thing in time, and only if it's still within the warranty period will there be any hope. This was WAY too expensive to accept a useful life of, at MOST, a few months beyond the warranty.
Update (August 2008) it can be opened, and it can be cleaned, but the plastic tabs to unlock the case are nearly impossible to locate, and the required tiny size Torx driver isn't much easier to find. I still like the mouse WHEN IT WORKS so maybe next cleaning cycle I will take photos or even video the process. Still TOO EXPENSIVE for the period of a few months when it might work right.
= = = here's the text of my prior review, all still true except the rating = = =
* * * * * * * * * * * *
UPDATE:
I am seriously considering deleting this review and reposting the same information *with updates* and a lot fewer stars. The trackball has become seriously unreliable. It is really obvious that it just has a little bit of crud inside. Human fingers have traces of oil, and computer environments have dust. Therefore, a buildup over time is inevitable. Which is why most such products UNTIL NOW have been serviceable - to clean the crud out. But NO. Technical support has promised to send me a replacement, because there's NO WAY, they say, to open it. That means that, if you're human, and if you use this product in any reasonable environment, you can expect AT MOST a few months of life past the end of the warranty. For me it has been slightly less than five months. And I have been "blowing the dust out" periodically with compressed air, but that doesn't seem to do any good any more.
re-update: Two days later, the trackball is completely, utterly, irretrievably dead.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
After three weeks, the battery level meter still hasn't dropped. I put in a pair of Energizers, and they really are "still going". While I've only remembered to turn it off overnight about half of the time.
I would have preferred a full sized mouse with a middle button and a couple of thumb buttons. But this didn't promise any of those features. And those are still my only disappointments - so that's about me, not the product.
It's a simple, two button, Bluetooth mouse, with a trackball in place of a scroll wheel. Or it's a two button trackball. Switching between is a simple double-click of the function button. I'm not much of a trackball fan, so I have only used that mode a little, but it seems fine. Bluetooth connectivity (with my Acer Ferrari) has been flawless. No drivers or other software to install, and I like the moderately high resolution - it means less movement across my limited desk.
It's very portable - I've almost lost it in my notebook bag a time or two. And even in my big hands, so far it has not been uncomfortable - unlike other "notebook" or "portable" mouses I've tried.
I hope they add a full sized counterpart version, with additional buttons (there's room for a true middle button) but until they do, this one's keeping me pretty happy.
Shortly after posting my review, I decided to take out the Energizers (still going!) and see how it would do with rechargeables. And I've been even less concerned about turning it off overnight. It clearly has a 'sleep mode' of its own even when I disabled my computer's power management; I've noticed it may take a fraction of a second to wake. It's been over ten days on 1.2V NiMH cells (freshly charged just before I put them in), and finally the gauge is showing one less segment than the max. And that's with 1800 mAh Duracells which have "been around the block" a few dozen times already. Impressive battery life.
UPDATE: the trackball, like any such mechanical device, eventually gets crud built up inside it. A blast from an ordinary compressed-gas duster cleared it for me this time, but I see no provisions for opening the body to actually let the junk OUT. This worries me, and I plan to investigate with Kensington support the next time I notice the trackball gets sluggish.
UPDATE: (26 Jan 08) Today the mouse rather suddenly just quit. I then realized it's been over a week since I manually turned it off. Meaning I didn't turn it on, either - which is the only time the battery meter lights up. I also realized that over the past two or three days there had been moments when it behaved like it had "fallen asleep" too quickly - now I know about what to watch for. The Energizers were indeed depleted. I dropped in some new Duracells, and saw the pairing light come on ... and go out. All done! I thought I would have to re-pair Bluetooth to my computer again, but it just took care of it. If I could add a bonus star to this review I'd consider it.
Further update on battery life (16mar08) - since my one positive experience (almost two weeks) with NiMH cells, I have not been able to get them to last more than a few days without recharging. It might be my cells, they've been around the block a few times. Rechargeables might work for you, but I'll stick with alkalines. I'll try to remember to revisit this next time I buy /new/ NiMH cells.
Another update - now the compressed air just can't do the trick. Apparently crud has build up inside around the trackball sensor, and it now works less than half of the time, even though it makes the little "clicky" sound more than that. I really can't accomplish what I need without the scroll feature. I've put in a support request via their webform, but the form itself did not inspire any confidence. All I really want is to learn how to open it up. I'll probably try their phone support tomorrow.
============
|
