TRENDnet YU-P1W 2.4GHz Wireless Presenter Review

If you are a mobile professional that uses their notebook computer to give presentations or if you give presentations in your office you probably don’t like being tied to the computer with a mouse to control your slides. Today we are going to have a look at a product from TRENDnet called the YU-P1W Wireless Presenter. Read on for all the details.

Gallery

7 images

Benchmarks

Features & Specifications
Anyone who’s been to college or worked in the business world has probably sat through a PowerPoint presentation at one point or another. Some of us have even had to give these presentations before. The common thread between many presenters is that they don’t want to have to stand at the computer for the duration of the presentation. The TRENDnet TU-P1W Wireless Presenter makes it so they don’t have to.

The TRENDnet TU-P1W Wireless Presenter is powered by a pair of AAA batteries and connects to the computer via a USB dongle that looks like a flash drive. Connectivity between the presenter and the USB dongle is 2.4Ghz and provides a workable distance of 49 feet from the computer.

The presenter could also double as a mouse for your media center computer. A large round knob controls the mouse pointer with sufficient accuracy to navigate the web and click links from across the room. On the presenter itself are buttons for the right and left mouse click (pushing the mouse cursor control button also activates left click), a play/pause/stop button for Windows Media Player (also acts as escape button in PowerPoint), scroll buttons are located on the side of the presenter, and a switch mode button for changing between media and PowerPoint modes. A round red button in the middle of all the keys is for the built-in laser pointer.

You can turn the laser pointer on and off by holding the mode key and the red button to keep from activating it accidentally. The presenter will also put itself into sleep mode when it’s inactive for ten minutes. No drivers are required to operate the TRENDnet TU-P1W Wireless Presenter and it is compatible with Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/2003 Server. Windows Vista and Mac users are out of luck. The laser pointer is a 1mW red laser that needs a dark room to be seen well. The presenter is compact measuring in at 2.6” x 0.8” x 0.4”.

Installation & Use
Connecting the TRENDnet TU-P1W Wireless Presenter to my PC was as easy as plugging in the USB receiver. My Windows XP Pro test machine recognized the presenter and it was ready to work in under a minute. The round mouse cursor control knob is fairly accurate, but I did often have to move the cursor back and forth a bit to get it where I wanted to close or minimize pages. I also felt the cursor movement was too slow. To liken the sensitivity of the cursor control with eth TRENDnet TU-P1W Wireless Presenter to a mouse I would put the sensitivity at about 400dpi.

The scroll buttons located on the side of the presenter make scrolling long pages easy. The laser pointer is a nice touch and can be turned off if you don’t need it. Pushing down the cursor button acts as the left click function and dedicated buttons for left and right click are located right under the cursor control knob. I often found that when trying to click on a small area, like closing or minimizing web pages that trying to push the cursor control knob resulting in accidental movement from the point I wanted to click. Using the mouse click buttons was the more accurate option in my testing.

In addition to using the TRENDnet TU-P1W Wireless Presenter for presentations, it also word decently as a mouse for your media center computer. The wireless range is sufficient and if you want to harass your cat or kids on the fly, the laser pointer comes in very handy. I noticed no signal interference with the presenter in my testing with WiFi signals in the area, remote controls or any appliances.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

• Great wireless range
• Built-in laser pointer
• Automatic sleep mode conserves battery life

Cons

• Could use more sensitivity

Verdict
If you give lots of presentations or are just looking for an easier way to control your media center computer the TRENDnet TU-P1W Wireless Presenter may be just right for you. It could use more sensitivity in the cursor movement, but overall it works well for its intended use.

What Others Say about This

Sony Z Series Walkman Player review

Since it was announced last August, we've anxiously been waiting for Sony's flagship Walkman Z (the first to feature Android) to hit US shores. (It made it here well after the holidays passed. Better late than never, right?) While Sony is billing the Z a ...
Full article at: Engadget  More like this  36 minutes ago

MONEY MARKETS-US sells 1-month bills at rate near one-year high

(Recasts with U.S. Treasury sale, adds strategists' quotes; changes byline, dateline) * U.S. sells 1-month bills at highest rate since last March * Bill rates rise in tandem with repurchase rates * Expectations rise for bank borrowing from ECB Chris Rees ...
Full article at: Reuters.co.uk  More like this  56 minutes ago

Erasing neuronal memories may help control chronic pain

Washington - Researchers are one step closer to find new solutions for those who are suffering from chronic pain. A team of researchers led by McGill neuroscientist Terence Coderre, who is also affiliated with the Research Institute of the McGill Univers ...
Full article at: IndiaVision  More like this  1 hour ago

Don't miss ...

shopping

 

Best Notebooks of 2011 (So Far)

Apr 19 2011

Ten of the coolest notebooks around

news

 

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: All The Coolest New Features

Feb 28 2011

You got your iOS in my OS X!

reviews

 

Gateway ID49C13U Notebook Review

Oct 29 2010

Good performance with a good price

reviews

 

First Impressions of the Zaurus SL-C3000 4GB Linux PDA

Jan 1 2010

 

• More Peripheral Stories
• I4U News Homepage