Review: Wireless PC Lock

The Wireless PC Lock is billed as a convenient aid for protecting personal details and programs when away from the PC or laptop. A receiver is connected via a USB port to the computer while a transmitter is placed upon the person. Should the transmitter and receiver be more than two metres apart then the PC will lock.

Installing the device was pretty easy, once the receiver was plugged into the test machine the drivers installed themselves. Next we installed the PC Lock software from the CD-Rom supplied. Once installed the application runs and asks for a password of up to 64 alphanumeric characters in length (case insensitive). Pressing the red button on the transmitter will then synchronise with the receiver.

We tested whether this worked by moving away from the receiver connected to the desktop. Lo and behold its actually did lock the desktop and moving back returned the desktop to normal. However we did find that this did not work when the transmitter was in a pocket or handbag. So it would look like the device needs clear space between transmitter and receiver to function properly.

Double-clicking on the taskbar icon also puts the desktop into lock down mode. There is also an option to lock the computer using a password. The wireless transmitter does not then unlock the computer, but to be frank doesn't Ctrl+Alt+Del do this anyway?

The software only works for PCs running Windows 98SE upwards so Linux and Mac users will be locked out of using this device as will NT4 users.

Overall this device maybe fine for those who are paranoid about people using their computers but those of us capable of pressing three keys simultaneously might find there are cheaper options readily available.

For:

: A little extra peace of mind for securing the desktop or laptop

: Concept seems superfluous when good security methods are practiced

: Maybe of interest to some