I posted a video on youTube of my VEX robot being controlled from my laptop using no IFI hardware. You can see the radio but I can assure you that I am not using it. I had to use it to confirm that my servos are working. And didn't take it off. Enjoy. Ask any questions you may have.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swjqjIP2H9g
This is the first version that just uses a simple Servo controller bought from pololu.com. The next version will be using a Atmel AVR where I will be writing my own protocol and it will be able to be used for Servos, and digital I/O. Version 3 will include analog signals.
-John