A Closer Look

The keyboard features a textured black finish that gives off a light metal flake effect. They main keys are a lighter grey in color while the rest are a darker grey and it's all in the standard QWERTY configuration. It's about as thick as an average desktop keyboard, and as you can see the keys have been condensed to fit into a smaller configuration all while maintaining a standard sized key allowing the keys to spread out over the close to 13" wide keyboard. The back of the keyboard is recessed on the left and right side and has the compartment to install the batteries. The USB receiver is made out of the same black textured plastic of the keyboard and is quite small and unobstructive.


Having a good look at the keys themselves, all the options are where you would expect them on a desktop keyboard but in a smaller HTPC friendly configuration. One of the things that is condensed is the number pad. Vidabox has kept the Num Lock button on the keyboard and when pressed, the right side of the keyboard becomes the number pad making that last minute number-crunching on the sofa ever so easy. The keys only require a light tap for operation and require about half the depression of a standard keyboard. Typing on it is very comfortable and should be easily recognizable to anyone who's used a laptop before.


Located at the top of the keyboard are twelve hot keys. The first is the keyboard synchronization button which we'll discuss in a moment. The next key takes you directly into Window Media Center functions followed by a mute key, volume down, volume up and a pause/play key. Next is stop, play, forward and backwards all of which can be used to control a movie or music for example. The last two keys are for accessing email and internet. On the top left side of the keyboard are the left/right click buttons and on the right side is the laser trackball.