Enermax Aurora Micro Wireless HTPC keyboard review - Aurora Micro Wireless Keyboard

At the top of the keyboard you'll spot some additional functionality in the form of the standard media keys like mute, volume, stop, play, forward backwards, Internet browser and so on. There's also a button that starts up Windows Media Center. Unfortunately no programmable keys which is something I'm missing.

What's extremely handy is that the keyboard does not use infrared to communicate but operates wireless on the 2400 MHz band. As a result you can use it in any angle and up-to roughly 10 meters / 30 ft away from the HTPC where you insert the small USB RF dongle.

The mouse/trackball is laser tracked and extremely precise. The first day of usage you'll need to get used to it as it feels a little sturdy to operate. According to Enermax, this is the first keyboard in the world to have an integrated laser trackball and a scroll wheel. Trackballs work just like mice and can use either a mechanical or an optical sensor, and on this keyboard the optical technology (“laser”) was incorporated.

You can also configure the trackball resolution at 400 dpi, 800 dpi or 1200 dpi. This is done by pressing the function (“Fn”) key together with the F9, F10 or F11 keys. At a higher resolution the cursor moves faster on the screen.

To the left side we spot two buttons (mouse left/right) and very handy a scroll where with 2-way button option, something we miss out on a lot of other HTPC keyboards for whatever reason.

See the function keys? All primary media center features are accessible this way.

When we flip the keyboard over, at the bottom close to the battery compartment it has an on/off switch to preserve battery life and a reset button.

As you can see in the photo, the lack of a numeric keypad makes the product a micro keyboard. Installation could not be any simpler. Insert the batteries in the wireless keyboard, insert the USB dingle into a USB port. Now Windows XP/Vista/7 detects and binds the device -- and you are good to go. 100% plug and play. There is no need for any software installation. Quick easy simple .. exactly what you want.