What single-hand cursor control device to use in a presentation?

I make presentations that require a bit more control than the typical prev/next slide buttons, and sitting beside the laptop during a presentation is usually not an option. I'm looking for a mouse device that I use to control cursor movement and clicks which can be operated with only one hand in the air.

It looks like there are two options available. One is those motion-sensing air mouses that appear to be little inertial navigation devices. The other is hand-held trackballs. Does anyone here have experience with them? Which do you think would work better for presentation control?

The air mouses seem to have no proper calibration. How exactly do they initiate and control drift? For hand-held trackballs, I'm worried that the small ball would make precision control even worse than with typical desktop trackballs.

 

Mr.Koala, why not use your smartphone to control your notebook?

 

As a air mouse or hand-held touchpad?

I'll see how well touchpad mode works for me. Using only a thumb to move and click could be a bit awkward.

 

The handheld trackball, where you control the small trackball with your thumb, works fine once you get used to it. There are also more advanced wireless laser pointer presenters that have mouse control and programmable buttons. I've looked at this one but have not used it.

SP600 Smart-Pointer (Black) 2.4Ghz RF Wireless Presenter with Mouse Function and Laser Pointer