Over the years I have tried around 10 wireless presentation controls. Three of them are quite notable.
All devices I tried are all Radio Frequency based, so there is no line-of-sight requirement as in Infra-Red devices. (Contrast Wavelan with your TV remote.)
My criteria for a good control is very simple: if the control is within 50 feet of the receiver with no obstruction in-between, then all clicks must be received properly. Not a single missed click is allowed. (50 feet is about the width of the largest projection screen here at CMU.)
To achieve this level of guarantee, there must be (i) tactile click feedback, or else you can’t tell if you really clicked or not, and (ii) a weak battery indicator, or else you can’t tell if it’s a battery problem or a radio problem.
The ones that I like include:
- Gyration Ultra
This is by far the champion in terms of operation distance. It comes with two rechargeable battery packs and a battery pack adaptor that allows you to use 3 AAA batteries.
It’s a gyroscopic mouse, meaning that if you hold onto a special button, then moving your hand in the air will move the mouse cursor. With this feature, I can point to an object with my mouse cursor. I prefer it to a laser pointer (which Ultra doesn’t have) since the mouse cursor can stay at a fixed location (no shaking red dot) and I cannot make the mistake of shooting laser into the audience. It also has a mouse wheel that acts as the third button and lets you flip through slides if you need to.
I do have two small complaints about the current design: (i) There is a sensor at the bottom of the mouse to sense whether the mouse is in the air or not. The light generated by this sensor can be distracting to the audience. So I try to point the mouse down while giving talks. (ii) There is no way to turn off the mouse. You have to remove the battery pack.
- Logitech Bluetooth Cordless Presenter
It’s a bit bigger than Gyration Ultra and it also has great radio performance. It uses 2 AA battery.
The most important advantage of this device is its click handling. Once you made a click, the device will try its best to get the signal across. In my testing, some clicks will be received several seconds after clicking and that makes me think there is retransmission going on. There is even a indicator light that tells you whether the transmission is successful or not. I really like this approach.
My complaint about this one is that it is too easy to hit the laser pointer button by mistake. The button is large and soft and is positioned right at the bottom for you to easily make that mistake. Also, while it’s Bluetooth, I have not been able to pair it with my ThinkPad X30’s Bluetooth receiver. The mini-receiver that Logitech provides work well though. Overall a worthy competitor to the Ultra.
- Honeywell Power Presenter
I would guess that this uses exactly the same radio circuitry they use for their garage door remote. The size of the control is similar to the size of the garage door remote, so it’s quite a bit smaller and lighter than the previous two. It also features a laser pointer. It uses CR2032, so always carry an extra with you.
It works well if you know this trick: move your hand while you are holding down a button. Somehow this movement is necessary to ensure the click goes through. Once the click has been received, you can release the button. This can take up to about half a second.
The complaint I have is the awkward click handling (which admittedly I have already gotten used to). I prefer the retransmission approach and it matters since this one does not have as good a range as the previous two.
The one thing I did not test is security proofness. I can imagine that at a conference, there can be multiple identical products being used in close distance. Well, if the speaker in the next room can also advance your slides… 
P.S. I also note that these days some Bluetooth-enabled cellphones can be used as a presentation control. Check out floAt’s Mobile Agent if you have a Sony Ericsson phone. I also remember there is a commercial software that does similar things using the volume keys on Bluetooth cellphones.
P.P.S. If you are at CMU, Luis has the Logitech and I have the Gyration and the Honeywell. Adam also has the Gyration.
