A router is probably one of themost versitile tools you can have in a workshop. The problem, however, is that unlike a drill..or a jigsaw..or circular saw...you really gotta *think* about how to use a router

You can use a router to, for example, cut a slot into the side of a piece of wood for installing T-moulding.
Or you can use a different bit and put a smooth rounded edge on a square end of a piece of wood.
You can use it to drill holes or to take off a certain depth of wood. Say you want to use a Trackball Mounting Plate. Well thats like 1/8 of an inch thick.....if you want your control panel to be smooth, or covered with Lexan or Plexi, then you can use the router and a nice flat bit to "plunge" down 1/8 into the wood and just route-out the square for the mounting plate...etc, etc, etc.
In the hands of someone good with tools, a router is an amazing tool. IN the hands of a novice, it can kill ya. Those bits spin REAL, real fast.
Just go to Home Depot, check em out, and see if you can get one of the guys to explain how to use one.
Once you see one in action it'll start to make sense...