Holiday Buyer's Guide 2007 Part 4

Kensington Ci85m QuickStart Wireless Notebook Mouse

By Sina Mohammadi

An established brand in the computer accessories and peripherals market, Kensington is best known for its notebook bags, iPod accessories, computer mice and keyboards. For frequent travelers, and those who schlep their notebooks around with them, portability is essential for carry-on accessories. Kensington's new line of travel mice has been gaining ground lately, owing to its stylish design and slender profile.

Notable in this line is the Ci85m Quickstart Wireless mouse. It measures just 4.25" x 2.5" x 0.7" (108 mm x 63.5 mm x 17.8 mm) and is the first mouse we have seen to utilize ExpressCard technology. As the "QuickStart" in its name indicates, the Ci85m's primary feature is its ability to connect to your notebook without any setup. Simply insert the ExpressCard/34 receiver into your notebook's ExpressCard slot, flip up its tiny antenna, and you are ready to use this mouse.

The Kensington Ci85 comes in a sleek, puce package, but the ExpressCard link is what makes it special.

By design, this mouse is minimalistic and features only basic left/right buttons and a scroll-wheel that doubles as a low-battery indicator. Removing its cover exposes a slot for two AAA batteries and a backup USB cord should you decide not to go wireless, or want to connect to a notebook that lacks an ExpressCard slot. Underneath the mouse you will find a sliding cover that closes to conserve power and protect the optical sensor when it's not in use.

ExpressCard technology is relatively new and its availability in notebooks is still somewhat limited. But for newer notebooks, the $40 Ci85m Quickstart is a reasonably priced, well-rounded traveling mouse that makes a great stocking stuffer for frequent flyers (and others who seldom venture forth without a notebook in tow).

  • trainer051
    XFX Warranty deos not exist here why:

    dead

    Hi, thanks for your message,can you provide more details of the problems you are experiencing.regards Jedy

    no video running on asus motherboard with 4gb ram and win7

    Hi , thanks for your message. would it be possible to try the card in another system just to double check that it is the VGA card that is broken, please update us, regards Jedy

    It has been tried in two other system and result were the same. THIS VIDEO CARD IS DEAD - NOT WOPRKING

    Hi, sorry to hear the card does appears at fault here. Please contact your supplier for more details. thanks Jedy

    After a long waiting, XFX is not honoring their responsibility for warranty. That is very bad. The retailer is no longer in business.

    Hi,Thanks for the update. please note that warranty is only officially with the reseller. We provide support for XFX products up to 2 yrs from the date of manufacturer, including a courtesy RMA service where it is difficult for people to obtain RMA service from the reseller, but please note that as your product was manufactured well over 2 yrs ago, I`m sorry we cannot help here. Best Regards.Jedy
    Reply