You know, it's a funny thing is being a 'Techie'. There are so many things you have to deal with, keeping up to date with the latest gadgets (which in itself can be a full time job), making sure your current hardware is running the latest software, and proving you don't need to read manuals. It can be a rewarding experience though, from a techie point of view. I loved seeing for the first time my trusty Psion netBook get on the 'net via WiFi. However getting the right mix of that new software and hardware is a tricky business, as is getting the whole lot to work.

Recently however the items on my mental list marked 'trusty' took a turn for the worst as in the same month my laptop's CD drive decided to go to that great trade-in centre in the sky and my netBook decided that it just didn't want to be recharged anymore and would I politely leave it alone as it was tired.

Trouble.

All of a sudden I found myself tied to a desktop computer. Now, it has to be said that my current job does not require a palmtop, or a laptop, or anything beyond using the desktops there and having the technical knowledge to fix a Windows machine and as I am no longer a student (having finally grabbed my certificate last year and run as far and fast from the lecture room as my health would allow) I did not currently need a mobile machine. Need. I didn't need one.

I like them. There you go, call laptops anonymous and turn me in, I like having a book in my pocket to read and be able to check my email on break times and be able to play Vexed (Thank you Ewen!!) on my dinner or in my girlfriends front room, and my sense of direction is so poor that TomToms products are a saving grace not to mention I'm typing this and do you reckon I'm sat at a desk? So I had to do something, and I found myself making a mental list (since I could no longer fire Jotter up) of points for and against. I also found myself reading Palmtop magazines and mainly one single editorial piece in which a man was explaining how his busy successful businessman friend had no idea his expensive 'electronic diary' could play MP3s and that we didn't need more features as the industry speculated but needed more information on current features.

Interesting, eh?

However, I digress, my technology was in trouble. The significance was that I was looking at websites offering PDAs that to be honest did not do what I wanted, they were simply new and, dare I type it, cool. I am referring to the iPAQ.

Yes they are amazing, WiFi, beautiful screens, lots of memory, loads of battery time, bluetooth, video players, picture viewers, web browsers. Fantastic stuff. Did anyone see the missing component on that list? Say something... productive? This was what I found myself thinking.  You see I started on a lovely Psion Series 3mx back when I was in school and palmtops were made by Psion, and I mean basically exclusively (in my world anyway, I was 15) and it was great thank you. I could read, play games, keep a diary and contacts and what more could I want? I could want a 5mx, yes, touch screen, more memory, CF slot and better everything. So at the age of 16 I bought one. The best thing ever!  The Internet was there in front of me thanks to a Nokia 8210 and my friends and I would sit grinding our teeth in front of Vexed (again, thanks!). The item was so popular within six months three of them were roaming in a class of less than 30 electronic students.

This is where the happy story runs off I'm afraid, anyone with a weak bank account or heart should probably sit down.

You see I found that a colour screen was tempting, and for anyone who's read Martins article at Pscience5 as I have will know the power of the darkside (only joking, Pocket PCs and Palms rightly have their sector of business). I bought a Jornada 568, and for a while I was very happy until I made the mistake of selling my 5mx then I realised what I was missing.  No longer could I type up assignments at college or draw up component cost graphs in the lecture. I could however view PDFs, tech manuals and read books as well as play games on a lovely screen, and so I kept happy for the rest of my course doing my major work at home (and listening to MP3s on the way there and back of course). However when I hit 18 I bought a netBook to compliment this solution and all was good again.

Anyway anyway, back to now. I put all this in thought and decided I needed a solution. Do I buy a new laptop? A new palmtop? Do I simply have the current items repaired? Do I do nothing? I currently owned a brand-spanking-new AMD64 desktop PC, which would do anything I wanted, at the desk. So what companions did it need? My Jornada still worked beautifully and my laptop worked as long as I didn't need to put a disc in.

My answer was rather simple I'm sorry to say, I left my laptop as is (out of warranty unfortunately) and decided I would fix my dear old netBook. As always in times of EPOC crisis or curiosity I fired an email off to Martin as Pscience5 and asked if he had any ideas on repairs or guides to ripping the machine to pieces. Alas I found that although the machines are pretty sturdy getting them repairs could actually cost half as much as the unit and so I decided to put my qualifications to use and apply a little DIY.

My lovely netBook is happy to be back, I'm overjoyed to be on good terms with my trusty unit and in case you're wondering, I ordered a second hand Psion 5mx of eBay ;)

Colour is great for fun, but I'd like to see you type this up on my Jornada.

Moral of the story?  You can have all the hardware you want, but you need good software to go with it. Don't presume the palmtop you buy is going to do those things you take for granted.