Plop render? Can't say I heard of that. Select render area and which you can select you draw a box around what you want to render for tests and you got preview for really fast renders just to check placement of objects. I use the mouse also to rotate suff. But if you want it exact then numbers is exact. Like you just drag the lttle round arrow round the screen and the object will rotate any plain you working in. Pivot point can get in your way but you can reset it or you can use it to your advantage.