I call them button monkeys. They are the poor sole who is caught sitting next to my laptop or in the front row when I have a presentation to give. They are the person who gets stuck pressing the arrow keys on cue as I udder the "slide" command. I use a button monkey, because most presentation remotes end up misfiring, breaking, or just not helping. The Logitech Professional Presenter R800 is smooth and sleek enough to stay relevant, and it offers the right amount of necessary features to stay necessary.

Boasting a working radius of 100 feet, the R800 looks like some sort of black stealth weapon. On the face of the remote is a 1 inch LCD panel that can time your presentation or slide times, which I find enormously important because I refuse to talk for more than 7 minutes without offering a chance for audience engagement. The timer itself vibrates so you don't have to be constantly watching it (smooth). It also has a green laser pointer to help emphasize you points. The device is plug and play with the included USB receiver.

Unfortunately, the device is only supported in Windows right now. I would love to see MacBook drivers soon, but I digress. The Logitech Professional Presenter R800 will retail for a mere $99. For piece of mind, a smooth presentation assistant, and the release of a button monkey, I would pay any price.

Via UberGizmo