It works as advertised. I checked with Vista SP2 (OpenOffice Impress 3.1.1), MacPro (sold earlier this year) MS Office Powerpoint, and Ubuntu 9.04 OpenOffice Impress. Vista and Ubuntu worked all buttons perfectly but slide show start button did not work in Mac OS X (manually start then other buttons worked - previous/next and blank buttons).
The reason for 4 stars is that the laser power is not that strong (around 3 mW power) that I wish for higher (around 5 mW) powered green laser. Legal issue with 5 mW class lasers? Logitech Professional Presenter R800 with Green Laser Pointer
I own the Logitech 2.4 GHz Cordless Presenter and loved the USB receiver storage, timer function, and volume control. Blackout was nice, too. It was plug-n-play on my Powerbook and MacBook Pro. I used it heavily and it held up great.
Alas, I dropped it once and while still usable, it was cracked and the on/off switch got funky to operate.
When I saw the R800, I was delighted. Finally, a usable laser pointer built in. And a more flexible timer.
But when I got the product and put it to use, a stream of disappointments began to flow.
1. The computer thought I was connecting a new keyboard and wanted to go through a setup procedure. This never happened with the old model, so I blame Logitech, not Apple.
2. No volume control? Why are we moving backward on the feature set, Logitech?
3. The blackout button forces Keynote presos to stop/exit. The blackout button on the old model worked fine.
4. The Start button doesn't work in Keynote. It didn't on the old model, either.
5. The laser is, yet again, a weakened version of what it ought to be. Sorry, I use real green laser pointers all the time. They throw a bright, robust beam. By comparison, the R800's green beam is a tepid trickle. The red laser on the old model was completely useless, but I had real hopes for the green laser on the R800.
If you've never used a wireless remote for presentation control, and use a PC to show PowerPoint presos (exclusively), this product may be acceptable. Otherwise keep looking.
I had to return this to the manufacturer for a refund. Why? There is a button called "start presentation" that alternately generates an ESC and F5.the ESC takes you out of presentation mode, the F5 restarts the presentation from the beginning. This button is very near the "back" button and I accidentally push it approximately once an hour. This completely messes up my presentation - and there is no way to disable the button. Thus I cannot use this during a professional presentation - it is just about guaranteed to create an unprofessional event for me, and I do presentations for a living. So as much as I love every other part of this device, I had returned it to Logitec and ask my money back.
I use MAC OS X, Snow Leopard 10.6.6. By default , all buttons worked correctly on Microsoft Powerpoint and Keynote except the Play button (start button) which didn't work on Keynote.
To fix this, you need to open System Preferences, select the Keyboard & Mouse panel, and then select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. Click the Plus button to assign a new shortcut and a new panel appears. Add Keynote as the application (you'll have to scroll to the bottom of the list, select Other... and then find where Keynote is installed). In the Menu Title section, type "Play Slideshow" and then assign this to the keyboard shortcut of F5. When you then restart Keynote, you can click on the View menu and you will see that "Play slideshow" is now linked to the F5 shortcut (instead of the default Command-Option-P).
Now all the buttons of Logitech Professional Presenter R800 ( I think also R400), work perfectly and without any problem on Keynote too. Hence, this presenter device will completely work on MAC OS X, if you apply the above trick.
I purchased the Logitech R800 Presenter to replace an earlier Logitech presenter I owned (I'm a goofy geek who occasionally replaces more "legacy" units with the newer and sexier ones, despite the fact that the one being replaced is still entirely functional), and, true to form, they do not disappoint.
After seeing some variable reviews regarding the green laser pointer being anything from "great" to "barely visible," I was almost swayed away from taking the leap, but I decided to go for it, anyway. Frankly, I am not sure what the folks who rate the laser pointer as "barely visible" are talking about, because they most certainly are not talking about this unit. The green laser is bright as anything -- certainly brighter than the more traditional red laser. While it is true that the green laser may not appear as a "pinpoint," it is most certainly a laser, and I believe that the infinitesimal divergent appearance of the laser point is solely because OF its brightness. It's not like the point is the size of a dime or anything! It is still unmistakably recognizable as a laser point.
Some people have also (albeit mildly) bemoaned this unit's lack of backlighting for the LCD on this device. In my opinion, this would be the reason for the vibrating alerts that, if you set them, will notify you that you're approaching the end of the time frame you programmed into the presenter at the outset. I do not see this as a material flaw on any level.
And, just a point about the timer, it is programmable in one-minute increments unlike its predecessors, which could only be programmed in five-minute increments.
Ergonomically, it fits very well in the hand and the buttons are well-placed. Some have mentioned the "odd" placement of the blank screen and F5/escape buttons underneath the Slide Forward/Slide Back buttons (which are, in fact, equivalent to the "Page Up"/"Page Down" buttons on your keyboard), but this is something that takes all but about 8 seconds to acknowledge, get used to, and function around. If people are really having trouble with that, it's either because their thumb is the size of a meat tenderizer, or they suffer from some dyskinetic disorder of the upper extremities.
I'm glad I made this purchase, and would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone in need. I absolutely love mine! - Presenter - Presentation Remotes - Powerpoint - Laser Pointer'
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