Wireless remotes let you roam freely and switch slide while you ’re give presentations on your Mac , but you still have to put your work force on the computing machine if you need to deepen the volume or darken the screen . Not anymore : Keyspan ’s Easy Presenter lets you do both of those functions remotely . away from a venial ergonomic flaw , Easy Presenter is a good solution for anyone who desire to avoid handling the figurer when they ’re speaking , and it works well with Microsoft ’s PowerPoint ( , August 2004 ) and Apple ’s Keynote 2 ( , April 2005 ) .
The Easy Presenter ’s flimsy metallic element case is slight and orthogonal , so it slips easily into a shirt pouch . In addition to controls that permit you go to the next or former slides , the Easy Presenter gambol six button arrange in two columns : audio control on the left hand lease you raise , lower , or mute the computer ’s book ; three buttons on the correct start out or stop the display or make the screen go coloured . Another clitoris , locate near the bottom , become on the Easy Presenter ’s built - in laser cursor . A sunken slide switch on the back turn the remote on and off , but you have to expend a fingernail or other penetrating object to move it .
All but one of the Easy Presenter ’s control work decent out of the box . To turn on the Start Slideshow feature film , you have to set up number one wood software program , which you may download from Keyspan ’s entanglement website , and your presentation must be heart-to-heart and in the foreground to start the show with the remote .
The Easy Presenter use radio waves to communicate with the Mac through a flash parkway - sized liquidator that chaw into the Mac ’s USB interface , and I had no trouble controlling slideshows on my PowerBook beyond Keyspan ’s claimed 60 - foot reception cooking stove .
My only kick is the placement of the laser Spanish pointer button . For one - handed operation , you have to use your quarter round to operate on the controls . Because the swoop control condition and laser buttons are locate at opposite last of the remote , it ’s awkward to alternate between them . I also had problems hold the remote control still while fight the laser button with my thumb .
Macworld’s buying advice
The Easy Presenter is almost $ 20 less than Keyspan ’s Presentation Remote , my current favorite . If you do n’t use the optical maser often — or if your hands are rock’n’roll - unshakable — the Easy Presenter is worth considering .
[ Franklin Tessler is a frequentMacworldcontributor who has drop a line and lectured about presentation for more than 10 years . ]
