Kensington SlimBlade Media Notebook Set

(Review) - Kensington recently announced 19 new products, one of which is the SlimBlade Media Notebook Set for notebook computers. Obviously the company has gone insane with a complete overhaul of its product lineup just before Q4, but we like it. We like crazy companies that have what it takes to bat for users, and with a slew of new products in its portfolio, Kensington's dedication shines through. On a more realistic note, however, could a company successfully launch 19 products and have all of them work well? We shall see, we shall see soon...

The SlimBlade Media Notebook Set consists of a mouse, a keypad and a keyboard, and for the most part, there's nothing particularly special about the overall set. It's not a Logitech Killer, to put it bluntly. But that shouldn't be surprising. Kensington is also crazy enough to live in its own little world, sort of like Apple, where products are simple, but durable; they are sleek, but uncomplicated, and so on. You get the picture. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the notebook set is its magnetic sides and the option to rearrange the set according to your needs. The keypad and the keyboard are disjointed, and it's up to you to decide whether or not you want to keep them separated, intact or just not bother with the keypad at all (we assume you would want to use the keyboard). If you would like to use the keypad, you can magnetically connect it to the the right edge of the keyboard; thereby, making it easier for you to work with numeric keys. The left magnetic edge is reserved for a multimedia remote control, which is sold separately.

Of course, there are Hot Keys for PC/Mac for shortcuts to programs as well, and the keyboard and keypad are amazingly slim with a professional color scheme to fit well with the corporate ambiance.

Kensington SlimBlade Presenter Mouse Review

The mouse is the same way as well. It's a slick, smooth, circular mouse with a trackball in the center that rotates 360-degrees for the best possible experience. Considering it's a notebook mouse, naturally, it's smaller than your average desktop mouse, and while it's always a concern for us, we have decided to let companies slide with this. If you can't work with a notebook mouse at all, you should know that by now, and in that case, it would be a deal breaker for you regardless of its quality. Also, since the mouse isn't your typical mouse with set curves, it's left or right-hand compatible. That's something we really appreciate with the SlimBlade.

Additionally, it has a micro receiver for 2.4GHz wireless connectivity.

In our performance tests, SlimBlade met our expectations just fine. Obviously we didn't have very many expectations from such a simplified product, so beating them wasn't a difficult task to begin with. Signal strength of the set was great, and the mouse did a phenomenal job in picking up the signal and keeping up with it. It also glided easily on various surfaces, and precision was relatively acceptable. And the amazing thing is that the mouse automatically goes to sleep when your notebook does, so as to preserve precious battery life. We really liked this feature during our tests. Finally, the keys were really soft and quiet to type, which was a welcome surprise.

Kensington's SlimBlade Media Notebook Set is available for $99.99, and it's a must-have for desktop users. Particularly for notebook users, we don't know if it makes a lot of sense. If I'm a mobile professional, I already have a pair of integrated keyboard and mouse on my notebook, why would I go through the hassle of carrying a separate set? A mouse, maybe, but definitely not an entire keyboard set. Regardless, SlimBlade can easily replace your desktop keyboard and mouse duo, and for that, we say go for it. For notebook users, though, go for a mouse from Kensington's mouse line if you want anything mobile-related. They are better suited for you than the entire set.

Click here to check out the latest prices on Kensington SlimBlade Media Notebook Set!