With the Eikon To Go Privacy Manager fingerprint scanner, you can replace your user account password with a finger swipe.

After registering your fingerprints, set your login and authentication screens to prompt for a swipe, your password or both. Multiple users on the same Mac can register their prints with their own accounts, so you can use the scanner to facilitate user-switching too.

In a corporate environment, Eikon to Go would stop folks writing their passwords on Post-it notes and sticking them to their monitors. So, maybe it's of limited utility to the home user.

With admin privileges, you can get into your account with your password even when you're set to swipe-only, leaving your Mac vulnerable if someone pinches it. Yet a swipe-only login stops you changing your Eikon settings or uninstalling the application without a print. Just make sure you don't lose or break your unit…

In testing it performed well, recognising registered fingerprints almost every time and refusing to be fooled by 'hacking' attempts. A cut or grazed finger doesn't always read, but you can register as many fingers as you like.

Although Eikon to Go works on the Mac and PC, many features are Windows-only. If Mac users enjoyed functions such as File and Folder Encryption, Application Launching and Security Tokens, it might well find its worth outside the office. But as it stands, for the home Mac, it's pretty much a solution looking for a problem.

In the PalmSecure Login Kit, a vein identifying near-infrared sensor has been built into a standard two-button USB mouse.

Once you've installed the supplied OmniPass software, all you need to do is pop the clear plastic cradle on top, so that your hand is at an optimal distance for scanning. Your eventual 'palm print' (a spidery web of veins) can then be used to replace your Windows log-in, website passwords and passcodes for encrypted files.

While the system works perfectly, it's overkill for a home security solution. Setting up the kit to access websites is time consuming and, like fingerprint scanners, the technology quickly loses its lustre.

Another niggle is that a Windows user account is tied to an individual palm print. So if you only have a single account on a family PC, only that user can log into Windows.

This is no real surprise, though, since PalmSecure is aimed at business users with laptops full of sensitive data. And for them, it's a better solution.

The Eikon Protector Suite is a biometric security finger swiper that adds protection to your Mac beyond your standard user ID and password.

It's new to Macs, but has been available for PCs for a short while. In fact, it's so new to Macs that no installer comes in the box. Instead there's a little sticker on the packaging with a URL to visit to download the Mac driver, which is what we did.

Straightforward setup

The software, Upek's Protector Suite for Eikon Digital Privacy Manager, requires you to restart the Mac then walk through the setup process, which involves swiping your finger a few times along the biometric reader when the software prompts you.

The software is straightforward, and you get as many practise swipes as you like, just in case swiping your finger is something you find challenging. You can register any or all of your fingers.

Once swiped three times, three green ticks appear to tell you that all is well. You can set up multiple users to access the same Mac, but this is not obvious in the user guide; the software has a checkbox to click if you are a 'standard user', but with no other option available this confused us.

Who exactly isn't a standard user? Is there an admin level we haven't accessed?

Justifiable price

The software and reader are similar to that on LaCie's Safe biometric hard drive. The two are so similar, in fact, that it wouldn't surprise us if Upek is linked to LaCie in some way.

For only 40 quid, we like this. The price seems fair for the peace of mind you get back in return, and it's also small enough to slip into a bag with a laptop.

The hardware and software combo seems protective and it's also easy to configure. We had no problems with any part of the kit, but we would like a chance to rewrite the user guide!

If this is the kind of thing you're looking for, go for it. It works as advertised and you'll never have to remember your login password again.