After connecting it up, I attempted to power it on, which took 2-3 tries, but after figuring out exactly how that works, got it going.
Please explain, in what way did it take 2 or 3 attempts? you plug it in and it boots.
After this it went straight to the apps/games browser. I selected Super Skidmarks with the mouse, upon which the system appeared to have locked up - the mouse pointer could still be moved around, but none of the on screen buttons worked (add, edit, start etc) and I could not select a different application.
Was joypad working? was the left side where game details are greyed out?
I pressed the button on the power lead to switch the unit off, which was a full power cycle as just pressing the button on the power lead would not turn it back on unless I disconnected the power first, but upon restarting, the only thing I get on all subsequent reboots is a red mouse pointer on a blank screen.
I'm not sure I follow, pressing button on power lead is exactly the same as unplugging lead. Button phsically disconnects 5v.
I tried it on my Samsung TV and also tested it on my PC monitor, an ASUS VS247H, and it does exactly the same thing, mouse pointer on a blank screen.
This can sometimes happen if it is not shut down correctly. I have experienced this myself. Its being looked into at present, as it would be nice to be able to solve this simply, without having to reflash SD card. This is currently the only way solve this issue.