They see me rollin'

Today on the slab we have a treat from a HTPC and Media Centre specialist company called VidaBox.

Quite often is the case that you have spent a large sum on that shiny new HTPC sitting under your TV or in your HI-FI rack, but neglect it as more than a music and movie playback means because you lack that bridge between your grubby mits and the desktop.

I'm talking about keyboard and mouse combinations of course! Your 1080p native screen has more than enough real-estate to display webpages and play games, so why shouldn't you use that awesome setup to do more than just watch Finding Nemo…

Step up Vidabox - With your compact but functional keyboard and trackball combo, a nifty oversized laptop style keyboard with a USB RF dongle, meaning you do not need to maintain line-of-sight with your PC all the time.

Included also is a non-descript black bag to protect the keyboard when you shove it down the side of the couch.

Looking at the layout, it's a standard QWERTY design with laptop style micro-switched keys and the trackball and buttons in the opposing top corners.

Looking closely at the function keys included along the top, there is added functionality for media applications to help you get around quickly.

The trackball is gloss black and about the size of a standard marble and is tracked with a laser for better precision and response.

The left and right mouse buttons are in the left corner and feel easy to use when holding the keyboard in its mouse mode.

The shallow key design is like most laptop keyboards, however, the key-spread is larger than some laptops so you won't feel like it's too cramped to use for long periods of time.