Since we’re now halfway through the year, I’d like to reflect on the gadgets that have entered my lair over the past 6 months and more importantly discover whether some were just novelties or worth every penny…and perhaps it’ll help others make a decision on whether they should buy.

Apple PowerBook G4 - I bought this from eBay for less than £300 in January. This was bought to take to the studio with me a few times a week, aswell as a ‘bed browsing’ machine. I have used it pretty much everyday since I bought it and it hasn’t let me down. Well worth the (low) price, runs Leopard fine and still such an attractive machine.

Fuji S5700 7MP Digital Camera - Superb camera. It’s easy to use, lots of functions and still lots to learn which is just the way I like it. I paid £104 for this and it’s been worth every penny - using just about every single day. I also bought a couple of extra lenses from eBay for it - a wide angle and a macro.

Aiptek AHD200 High Definition Digital Camcorder - I don’t use this everyday but I guess nobody would expect me to. For a high definition camera the price was amazing, at less than £110. Fantastic video quality as you can see over at my Vimeo page. I still want to create some ‘creative’ videos and now that summer is here (well, on a day like today you wouldn’t think so) I should be able to capture some more.

LOMO Fisheye Camera - I bought this (£22) with the absolute intention of it being a novelty, so it has totally lived up to that. I have taken one roll of film with it which didn’t turn out great, but since I took random shots in 3 days then I didn’t really expect them to. I have used about half a roll of the second film so I suppose I should use up the other half of the film and get it developed to see if there’s much improvement. I don’t regret buying it as I didn’t have huge expectations and film/developing is dirt cheap.

Wacom Bamboo Graphics Tablet - After doing some graphics work and photo-editing/touching up which was proving fiddly with my Mighty Mouse, I decided to buy the Wacom Bamboo (£59). I wasn’t sure whether this would replace my MM altogether but after a few days it felt completely natural and I used it solid in place of my mouse for 3 weeks. Then one day I just felt like giving my hand a rest so I plugged my mouse back in and have used this eversince. I haven’t had any fiddly graphics work to do in recent weeks but that doesn’t mean I won’t have in the coming ones. It’s on the other desk beside me and can easily be plugged into my USB hub when I need to use it. After the first day of using the pen on the graphics tablet my underarm and arm muscles felt quite tense and sore. That’s because my arm was getting more of a workout than it does with the mouse as my hand was moving around a lot more. After a couple of days I got used to it and had no more tense muscles.

Elgato EyeTV - I’ve had this for a couple of weeks and have found myself recording far more TV shows than I ordinarily would. It’s great to be able to watch live TV at the computer and record my favourite shows, then burn to disc. I have only burned about 5 DVD’s so far as it does take rather a long time for the export process, then burning in iDVD…and that’s just a 30 minute show. If I had Apple TV then I wouldn’t need to use DVD’s, I’d just pop them into my iTunes library and view on my TV screen. I can also stream my recordings via wi-fi to my iPod touch which is very cool.

So, what for the next 6 months? I have a back catalogue in my head, hopefully I’ll get around to buying them.

I’d like Apple TV, for the reason mentioned above but also for the upcoming iTunes Movie Rentals in the UK. Definitely keeping one eye on that.

Time Capsule. Not something I want/need immediately, but it would be nice for TC to handle all my Time Machine backups and I could then use my LaCie 320GB external hard drive exclusively for additional storage space…especially when I start stuffing up my internal HD with the things I record via EyeTV Of the people I know who have Time Capsule they absolutely swear by it.

Apple Cinema Display…as long as it’s refreshed and brought up to date with a similar look to the iMac - built-in iSight, black rim, alu and glass with the choice of Matte or Glossy screen. I’d go for the glossy to be in keeping with my iMac as I prefer glossy. Oh and it also needs to be reduced in price…significantly