Product Description

The Kensington Mini Pilot Bluetooth Mouse gives you the ultimate in mobile freedom. It quickly and easily connects to your existing Bluetooth -enabled laptop without wires or an added receiver. Just turn on the mouse's battery-saving power switch and go. With the advanced optical technology, you navigate accurately and easily virtually anywhere. Even up to sixty-five feet away so you can remotely control your presentations. Add programmable buttons, scroll wheel, ergonomic shape, integrated grips, and unrivaled ease of use and the Mini Pilot Bluetooth sets a new standard for power and portability.

Product Details

• Brand: Kensington
• Model: 72414
• Platform: Mac OS X
• Format: CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 4.00" h x 6.00" w x 9.00" l, .53 pounds

Features

• DiamondEye optical technology responds to your fastest movements with accurate tracking on virtually any surface
• Provides secure, interference-free performance with any Bluetooth enabled laptop
• Has a wireless range of up to 65 feet for maximum freedom in presentation control
• Backed by a one-year manufacturer's warranty
• Programmable buttons, a scroll wheel, and an ergonomic shape with integrated grips for incredible ease of use

Amazon.com Product Description
The Kensington 72414 PilotMouse Bluetooth Mini Mouse offers the ultimate combination of comfort and wireless freedom. The Kensington 72414 features a compact size that is easy to carry and comfortable to use, as well as a battery-saving on/off switch that lets you conserve power for when you need it. This mouse provides secure, interference-free performance with any Bluetooth enabled laptop, within an amazing range of up to 65 feet for maximum freedom in presentation control. The speed and pinpoint accuracy of Kensington's DiamondEye optical technology allows it to respond to even your fastest movements with accurate tracking on virtually any surface. With a programmable buttons, a scroll wheel, and an ergonomic shape with integrated grips the Kensington 72414 is incredibly easy to use, and without having to use wires or an added receiver, it is one of the most convenient mouse you can buy. This Kensington optical mouse is guaranteed to work right out of the box on both PCs and Macs, with long-lasting reliability that is backed by a one-year manufacturer's warranty. The Kensington 72414 wireless mouse requires a Bluetooth enabled PC running Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP, or Macintosh running Mac OS 10.2.8 or later.

Customer Reviews

Convenient but overpriced
After I noticed my thumbs developing slight pain from using the cramped touchpad on my laptop, I looked around for a cordless mouse. I opted for the Kensington Pilot Mini for the following reasons, in order of importance:
1) Bluetooth technology (no infrared receiver to deal with)
2) Priced lower than other models such as the MSFT mouse
3) Compact size because I travel every couple of months

I'll cut to the chase and list my pros and cons.

Cons:
- First mouse arrived and within a few days, the rubber pad peeled away from the chassis. I firmly pressed it down so that the adhesive made contact again but it would only stay down for a few days. I returned the mouse for a replacement.
- About half the time, when I stop moving the mouse, the cursor drifted right to left. It's unclear whether this is due to the mouse or my Bluetooth card but the replacement does not seem to have this problem.
- The scroll wheel makes an annoying rattling sound when scrolling. Not a problem at home but this could get annoying if I'm in a meeting. Replacement mouse also has this problem.
- I bought this for $52.99 but I now see the price is $69.99. At $52.99, it was pricier than most IR mice but I thought I'd invest in the Bluetooth technology and use the mouse for a number of years. In retrospect, I find the quality shoddy for a product priced at this premium. Certainly at $69.99, the mouse is overpriced in my opinion. I recognize I'm paying the early adopter price for Bluetooth but if you can get by with an IR mouse, do that or wait until this device drops to $30 in a year.

Pros:
- Setup is incredibly easy (I'm using XP pro with the Kensington Bluetooth card).
- Not specific to this mouse, but the comfort of a cordless mouse is fantastic. I plan on keeping the replacement mouse, scroll wheel rattle and all.
- Mouse seems to work on a variety of surfaces.
- Priced lower than other Bluetooth mice. Kensington marketing did their homework; this mouse is priced lower than mose Bluetooth mice but still higher than IR mice so it captures a profit. However, at $69.99, I'm not sure this is still true.

All in all, I'm keeping the mouse but disappointed with the quality given the price. As a side note, I've shopped Amazon since they started business 10 years ago and this is the first return I've had to make. The make the process EXTREMELY painfree. They had a Returns web site that sends out a replacement immediately with no cost to me. Since the product is a defect, I do not incur shipping charges for sending the old one back.

Pretty Good, But Could Be Better
I've had this mouse for about 10 days now, so my experience is limited. However, I have a pretty good feel for how the device works. Let's consider the following areas:

Size - I like this mouse because it is an in between size. It is smaller than a desktop mouse, but it is bigger than most wireless and other laptop mice. I have bigger hands so something a little bigger was necessary. I have found it very comfortable to use for hours at a time.

Pairing - This is a little odd. You flip the mouse's on/off switch, and then a dedicated pairing button. After doing so, you search for a specific device from your bluetooth icon in the sytem tray. Select the device from the list and then click the mouse to confirm. However, the device doesn't show up in "My Bluetooth Places" or as a paired device. This is confusing because I thought that I would have to pair the device every time I shutdown/restarted my PC. To my surprise, after Windows boots, all you have to do is click the mouse one time, and it connects. It would still be nice for it to behave like other bluetooth devices.

Usage - I do not play games so I have not had the problems that others have described. For use with Microsoft Office and surfing, I have found nothing negative about it. Right and left clicks and scrollwheel work as expected.

Battery Life - I am still on the batteries that came with the device. However, I would have liked to have seen a rechargable device with a USB plug-in for charging purposes. Depending on how often the batteries run out, this might not be that big of an issue. Still, I would have liked to have seen more consideration given to this area. The dedicated on/off switch as well as standby mode should maximize battery life.

Range - I have not used it at a distance from my laptop so I can't really comment. I use a laptray for my laptop, and I have the mouse on the other side from my USB bluetooth adaptor with no issue. I don't really have a need for much more range than that.

Overall, it's a pretty good device. I prefer bluetooth over the wireless options because it is one less adaptor to have taking up a USB port. Perhaps a future edition will be rechargable.

Bargain bluetooth mouse
There is not much to say about this mouse, and it's a good thing: it just works. This is an ordinary 2 button/1 scroll wheel optical mouse, slightly smaller than the average desktop mouse but larger than the micro travel mice; that makes it just about right so that it's small enough to take along on trips and large enough to be comfortable to use even if you have large hands.
Pairing is quick, reliable and painless on OSX and Windows.
Unlike the tiny micro bluetooth mice I previously owned, this one uses a pair of AA batteries, not AAA. This explains the excellent battery life; good quality NiMH batteries will last weeks in there before you need to recharge them.
The bottom features a pairing button and a sliding power switch. If you forget to switch the mouse off, no problem: it goes into power save mode after a period of inactivity. To wake it up, you just click on a button.

Is your laptop bluetooth capable? Don't waste your money on a competing bluetooth mouse. This one does as good a job at half the price.