A Review: The Kennsington Slimblade Bluetooth Mouse

Recently I purchased a new mouse for my netbook computer. I really like a trackball mouse. Using the touch pad is sometimes a little frustrating. I use a trackball mouse on my desktop computer, but it's a bit on the large side, and not really portable.

As the name of the Slimblade mouse implies it has a nice slim style. This allows it to easily fit into the small bags that are usually used to carry a netbook computer and its accessories.

I have a netbook computer that also has Bluetooth capabilities. The Slimblade Mouse was really perfect for me. The setup of the mouse was very easy. There are two ways that you can load the drivers on your computer. Since netbooks don't have a CD drive you either have to load the drivers by attaching an external CD drive or download them from the Kennsington internet site.

Once the drivers are loaded it's a simple matter to connect the mouse. Turn on the Bluetooth functions of your computer. Press the button on the bottom of your mouse to make it discoverable to your computer. If the mouse doesn't start to work you may need to go to My Bluetooth Places and add the device.

The Slimblade mouse can actually be used as either a regular laser mouse or a trackball. To change the mode on the mouse all you need do is press the button under the ball. If you press it once, it will go into regular mouse mode. If you press it twice, it will go into trackball mode.

One thing I have read about this device is that you will need to keep the little roller ball very clean. They tend to gum up after a period of time, and are difficult to clean. To prevent this people have mentioned that you should use multipurpose cleaning wipes to periodically clean the mouse in order to prevent problems.

Here are the main advantages of the Slimblade Bluetooth Mouse:

Slim design making it easily transportable

Easy to set up

Bluetooth connectivity

Dual use as either a normal mouse or a trackball

Disadvantages:

Trackball tends to get clogged over time

Difficult to clean if dirt begins to affect operation

This device has been around for several years, but tended to be expensive. When I purchased the device I paid $54.00 and that was probably about half the price of when it originally came on the market.

Trackball mice are not extremely popular, but there is a group of computer enthusiasts that do like them. I have used this type of mouse for many years, and don't really understand why they aren't more popular. The main advantage to the trackball is that you don't have to move the mouse around just the little ball. This makes it easy to use in tight places like on an airplane or small desktop.

I give the Kennsington Slimblade Bluetooth Mouse a four star rating out of five. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because of the cleaning issue. If it had been easy to take apart and clean, I would have given it five stars.