VidaBox Wireless Keyboard with Integrated Trackball<base href="http://www.atruereview.com/" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/template_css.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/style10.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/slimbox/slimbox.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/rokmoomenu.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />  <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <style type="text/css"> td.left div.moduletable, td.right div.moduletable, td.left div.moduletable-hilite1, td.right div.moduletable-hilite1, td.left div.moduletable-hilite2, td.right div.moduletable-hilite2, td.left div.moduletable-hilite3, td.right div.moduletable-hilite3, td.left div.moduletable-hilite4, td.right div.moduletable-hilite4, td.left div.moduletable-hilite5, td.right div.moduletable-hilite5, td.left div.moduletable-hilite6, td.right div.moduletable-hilite6, td.left div.moduletable-hilite7, td.right div.moduletable-hilite7, td.left div.moduletable-hilite8, td.right div.moduletable-hilite8 { width: 175px; 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No software comes with the keyboard; Windows recognizes it as just a standard HID device. The USB dongle is just bulky enough that it may block adjacent USB ports. An included USB extension cable can help alleviate this issue.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/vidabox_keyboard/7.jpg"><img src="atruereview/vidabox_keyboard/7th.jpg" alt="VidaBox Wireless Keyboard with Integrated Trackball" title="VidaBox Wireless Keyboard with Integrated Trackball"width="250" height="74" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>Being an avid notebook user, I found typing on the VidaBox keyboard to be exactly like typing on a notebook. The keys are quite responsive and there is no noticeable lag from the wireless connection. Despite my familiarity with notebook keyboards, I did find some slight quarks with this keyboard that takes getting use to. One example is the bottom left most key is an Fn key rather than a Ctrl key. Though this is a common trait on various brand notebooks, I still find it annoying as I always expect a Ctrl key in that position.</p> <p>Another example is the Del key is located on the bottom row of keys (between the space bar and the arrow buttons) instead of at the more common position of at the top right of the keyboard. Also, there are no status LEDs of any kind on the keyboard; this includes no power as well as any of the key locks (cap, num, and scroll). On a few occasions, I found myself accidently pressing the Num Lock button (while mistaking it for the Del key) and then resuming my typing only to have "U"s show up as "4"s and "L"s show up as "3"s. </p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/vidabox_keyboard/8.jpg"><img src="atruereview/vidabox_keyboard/8th.jpg" alt="VidaBox Wireless Keyboard with Integrated Trackball" title="VidaBox Wireless Keyboard with Integrated Trackball"width="250" height="73" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>The optical trackball performs very well. It is very sensitive; I had to go into the mouse's properties and turn curser speed down very low to comfortably control the cursor. The ball's movement is very smooth as is the cursor movement on screen. Naturally, using the keyboard's trackball function is a two hand process. The ergonomic curves of the keyboard make it comfortable to hold in a position where I can then use my two thumbs to operate the trackball and mouse buttons. Because using the trackball is a two hand operation, doing cursor operations that require pressing keys (ex. holding Ctrl to additive select) is, dexterity wise, challenging.</p> <p>The battery life of the VidaBox keyboard is quite amazing. It is rated to have 2 month stand-by time (presumably with standard alkaline AA batteries). With the included AA batteries, I have been using the keyboard for a month now with an average of 2 hour usage a day and it is still operating just fine with no signs of battery running low.</p> <p>The keyboard is rated to have up to a 30 feet range. In open range, the keyboard easily functioned at 30 feet. I was able to get up to 35 feet before I noticed performance hiccups.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/vidabox_keyboard/3.jpg"><img src="atruereview/vidabox_keyboard/3th.jpg" alt="VidaBox Wireless Keyboard with Integrated Trackball" title="VidaBox Wireless Keyboard with Integrated Trackball"width="250" height="243" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>As mentioned before, there are no status LEDs on the keyboard. The only way of knowing the keyboard is "on" is by the flickering and glow of the trackball's red LED. When the keyboard is on and the trackball is not in use, the LED flickers. When the trackball is in use, the LED is steadily on.</p> <p>The keyboard has no power switch. After a reasonable period of none usage the keyboard does go into a standby mode. In this mode the trackball LED no longer flickers; pressing any of the keyboard’s keys "wakes" the keyboard.</p> <p>The included anti-dust pouch fits snuggly over the keyboard. With that said, there is also just enough space left in the pouch for the USB adapter as well.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong></p> <p> VidaBox's Wireless Keyboard is a fairly simple yet well designed device. The integrated optical trackball is a very useful feature as it eliminates the need for an accompanying cursor control device. Both the keyboard and trackball exhibited smooth performance along with good battery life and long operating range. However, some inconvenient key placements and no status LEDs of any sort do make for some occasionally frustrating moments. Beyond that, the VidaBox Wireless Keyboard is a great input device that would work great with any HTPC.</p> <p><strong>Pros:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Responsive buttons</li> <li>Smooth and sensitive trackball</li> <li>Good battery life</li> <li>Very good operating range</li> </ul> <p><strong>Cons:</strong></p> <ul> <li>No power switch</li> <li>No indication LEDs</li> </ul> <p><strong>Ratings: </strong></p> <blockquote> <p>Very Good</p> <p>(Ratings Possible Terrible, Very Bad, Bad, Fair, Good, Very Good, Excellent)</p> </blockquote> <p> <a href="atruereview/vidabox_keyboard/keyboard.php"></a> <a href="vidabox_keyboard/keyboard.php">Previous (Description)</a></p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div id="footer" class="clr"> <div class="rk-1"> <div class="rk-2"> <div id="the-footer"> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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