Wireless Keyboard with touchpad?

Question

I have been looking for some time for a wireless keyboard with built in mouse control - a touchpad seems the obvious choice - to use with a mac mini in a plasma TV/Hi Fi home theatre set up. There seems to be a gap in the market for this type of device.
I have so far come across 2-3 third party devices that only work with PC but not wirelessly (two USB, one PS2). Sony make a nice looking white cylindrical media PC that has a wireless keyboard with a touchpad. I also see them in some department stores at the point of sale tills.
I know I could get a wireless Mac (mighty) mouse, but when you are sat in a chair or sofa, there are very few surfaces where you can comfortably use a wireless mouse. It just feels odd!
Many people are comfortable using a laptop on their lap and controlling the mouse pointer with a touchpad so it is just like detaching the screen, moving it away 6-8 feet and making it bigger of course! The user interface and experience stays the same.
If Apple got wise and marketed the mini as a media centre, I'm sure they would make the connection and produce another wireless keyboard with built in touchpad. Until then, has anyone come across a suitable solution?

Answer 1

Hi Bob,
I'll be in the same boat as you soon, aiming to migrate my G4 Mac Mini to the living room soon, and doing the homework now.
Here are the wireless keyboards that I've found appealing for this purpose:
Logitech Playstation 3 Cordless MediaBoard Keyboard, US$47
Some people have said it works well on Mac and PC too, so this seems good. Note: the PRO model is much more expensive!
http://www.amazon.com/Playstation-3-Cordless-MediaBoard-Keyboard/dp/B000MFLBBK
Logitech DiNovo Edge, US$157
Very smart looking, pure Bluetooth tech and nice trackpad/media cursor.
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/192&cl=hk,en
Logitech DiNovo Mini, US$149
Miniturized version of above, yuo'll be using thumbs to type. Only recently released.
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/3848&cl=us,en?WT.ac =ps
Adessa WKB-4000US, US$80
Matches your description of a laptop keyboard and trackpad perfectly!
http://www.amazon.com/Adesso-WIRELESS-SLIMTOUCH-TOUCHPAD-WKB-4000US/dp/B00083Y0Y G/ref=pdbbs5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1203675646&sr=8-5
I've tried some of the relatively cheaper mini keyboards that have a trackball on the right and left+right mouse keys on the left. The build quality was abit poor and either the trackball easily lost traction (within afew days!) or the keys started falling off, but I do recall I tried it and it wasn't very good, and I returned it. I'm also abit weary of RF wireless, because I have had some RF mice where the battery died very quickly and the wireless connection was not smooth unless you had the mouse right next to the USB dongle. I tried afew cheap brands, going upto the Kensington wireless mouse, but just gave up on RF stuff since.
If you do go for one of the above, please do let us know how it is with them!