I have had this item now for 3 months and there is no doubt in my mind that my opinion of it is extremely high. This is an excellent product from Microsoft.In a nutshell on how the fingerprint reader works. It is a USB device accompanied with the driver software to be installed. The software receives the fingerprints from the user(s), and the websites to login to which you would like to use the reader for, as well as your Windows account login. A mini-database if you like. And of course when the reader receives a fingerprint, it scans it, looks for a match within the software, retrieves the login details (username, password and any others fields you've chosen to automate, for that login you are currently on), places them in the coresponding text fields on the page, and finally hits the login button also on the page to log you in. And it does all of this very, very quickly.
I have to disagree with the review below written by a user in Glasgow on the two main points that he makes.
Firstly the fingerprint reader doesn't get easily dirty in my opinion and given it the due care it can function at 100% without having to be cleaned at all for a long time. With regards to actually cleaning it there are specific instructions on how to do this that come within the boxed contents (e.g. using celotape to peel off anything unwanted).
Secondly with regards to the suggested unauthorised user feature, this product is not a security product. As Microsoft clearly state when you purchase the item, this product is for convenience only. Otherwise I'd be suggesting that a trap door came with it to place under the chair for unauthorised users.
However having said that, if it is security you are also looking for to protect your passwords, an effective technique to tackle this is to use significantly varied passwords that are long and character complex passwords (also not the same password for everything as is very common). And of course these are often difficult to remember, which this product can do for you - so although it is not a security product in itself, it does a supreme job of supporting you to take the security initiative yourself.
Also lastly I would like to add that because it is indeed a Microsoft product, I don't blame them for not working extra to accomodate users of third-party browsers, and only the Microsoft browser Internet Explorer. Because it is very specific functionality intergrating with the browser, most likely it wasn't possible at the time of development with another browser such as firefox. With regards to the 18% of internet users, they should ask firefox to produce a fingerprint reader.
My own positive thoughts after using the fingerprint reader for 3 months, is that it is:
- very easy to install the device
- again very easy, to register fingerprints and logins
- stylish design, espeicially one of the other versions of this product which comes with the mouse (the other being with the reader on the keyboard)
- the software doesn't have to clog-up your system tray if you don't want it to
- simply very efficient, correctly rejects an unregistered fingerprint (including one from the same hand), and yes it also accepts registered prints as well - every time.
- for a note on the side, you can very easily change the accept/reject print audio sounds with others for anyone with a humorous idea - a thunderous bolt of lightning perhaps for an unrecognised print (access the installed software directory and swap the .wav files to do this). Or on the other hand you can disable the audio altogether if not prefered.
The only very, very slight point that I would make regarding the convenience, is very slight because it's not a problem and only applies to the slower computers, which is that for logging into your Windows account, you might notice that it will take a few seconds longer for it to load and be ready to accept a password whilst it is loading the fingerprint software. By that time, without this expense, for fast-typing users you could have probably funnily enough have logged in using the keyboard. But I do stress this is very, very slight and only applies to the computers who find loading Windows quickly a struggle. Perhaps I'm the only one who even experiences this. Regardless, this in no way what so ever subtracts in my opinion from the overal quality of, and benefit this product has brought to me.
This is an excellent product from Microsoft.
