I had to chuckle when reading this article on TUAW last night which says Mac users are less likely to let friends try out their new gadgets than users of other platforms. The TUAW folk said they let others play with their toys but I have to admit that I am a little bit on the “stingy” side where my techy stuff is concerned…but not exclusive to my Macs either it has to be said. In the TUAW poll I voted “They can try it out for a few minutes while I supervise” - and it looks like 69% of people who voted agree with me.

I don’t mind anyone touching the iMac G3…well, as long as they’re over 18 and have washed their hands I frequently let family members/friends use the G3 to browse the net and check their e-mails, but I always stand guard over my iMac and even my PowerBook. My other half sometimes uses my iMac for a quick net look-up if he doesn’t have time to boot up his laptop and I am cool with that, although I have been known to ask “Are your hands clean?”. I guess part of this ‘don’t touch my stuff’ comes from when my Brothers children grabbed my (then brand-new) SONY Cybershot camera and promptly covered the LCD screen in sticky fingerprints which wouldn’t totally wipe off. I was not happy and eversince then I have kept my cameras at arms length, allowing them to look and not touch. That’s how it should be with kids anyway, along with the “seen and not heard thing”…but even the seen thing is taking it a bit too far. I’m a fun Auntie really

But yeah, trying out my gadgets while supervised sounds about right to me. I’m a clean person (not in an overly freaky way) but I like to keep things in good condition and free from grubby fingerprints. Yeah, I’m never going to let that one go…

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

Of the gadgets and technology that excite me so much, game consoles have never been amongst them. I do remember buying a Sega MegaDrive many years ago and spending hours playing my favourite games, Super Hang-On and Wipe Out, but it wasn’t long before I became bored and sold it on. When I got my PC the only games I’d play were things like After Dark Games which challenged the brain and London Racer - again a driving game because I’m so damn good at it…and in reality aswell

When the Nintendo Wii was released I eyed it up for a bit. The attractive thing about the Wii is the physical element of it because at the same time as having fun you’re getting a workout, which is no bad thing for someone like me who works from home!! Being able to play tennis and ten-pin bowling with Wii Sport tempted me for a bit, then I just forgot about it as I do with all other gaming consoles. I have looked, on occasion, to see whether the price has been reduced from £179…but it never has.

Then a few weeks back Mario Kart for the Wii was released in Europe and many of my Twitter friends were talking about it…and challenging eachother with a game using their friend code. Once MKW was released elsewhere last week then I’ve seen the MK tweets triple. Twitter is tempting me to buy a Nintendo Wii and Mario Kart because of the interaction with others, wherever they are in the world. That’s gotta be fun.

It’s funny because if Apple released something I was interested in tomorrow with a £200 price-tag then I’d have no hesitation in buying it. Why? Because if it was something I wanted then I know with Apple I will get so much use out of it. There isn’t a single thing I’ve bought in the past few years, by Apple, that hasn’t been used to death. I am hesitating over the Wii because like I said I’ve never been big into gaming and I’d hate to spend that much money on something that may end up collecting dust. But at the same time it may be something I use a lot. I guess I’ll never know until I bite the bullet and buy one.

I’m going to wait until WWDC08 has passed in June before making any firm decision on buying a Wii, then of course the following month is my Birthday so any money would go towards the purchase. I don’t know what Apple have planned for that and I suppose nobody else does, apart from this 3G iPhone we keep hearing so much about. I’m not in line for one of those…well, unless o2 let existing customers make the switch seamlessly to the iPhone without having to enter a new contract…and if it was £20 a month then fair enough, but, we all know that won’t happen

Anyone else out there with a Wii who previously wasn’t much into gaming but bought one anyway?

Last week I ordered a High Definition Digital Camcorder. It’s the Aiptek AHD200 720p and it cost £109 from QVC UK. They also threw in a 2GB SD Card, but apart from that extra which was exclusive to the QVC deal it also comes with remote control and a case.

It arrived today so I’ve only had a brief time to play around with it but the thing I love about it is the simplicity - it’s very straightforward to use. I don’t need anything expensive or fancy with a ton of features, so this is perfect for my needs.

I’m ill with Tonsillitis and a horrible influenza type virus at the moment, so the chances of me getting out with the intention of shooting any decent footage over the coming days is slim, but hopefully I’ll be able to get something before the Easter Weekend is over and then I’ll give more of my review.

I did take a 10 second test video and uploaded it to YouTube before I realised how that site completely strips any quality. I was pointed in the direction of blip.tv by Graham so I opened an account there and will post any decent stuff there in future. Then I remembered I had an account at Vimeo and was very pleased to see that they now present HD Videos without ripping apart the quality. So, I uploaded my very quick test clip here. I think you can really see how vibrant the colours are on my screen.

So, initial thoughts on the Aiptek AHD 200 from a very quick play while being slightly unwell is very positive indeed. The RRP on this model is around £150 - I’m just glad I was watching QVC at the right moment to bag their special offer. I’ll write more about it when I’ve had a good opportunity to get out and about with it.

EDIT - Wednesday 19th March 2008

Some video shot today of the dog, by my other half. Feel free to add me as a contact on Vimeo

A couple of days ago BBC iPlayer Beta became available for the iPhone/iPod touch. Last night I was finding it hard to sleep so I took my iPod touch to bed, browsed to the iPlayer and watched an episode of Little Britain. Subsequently I laughed myself to sleep. Watching on the 2.5 inch iPod touch screen wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, but as I grabbed hold of it to re-position it I accidentally pushed the ‘home’ button which meant I lost my place. I had to relaunch Safari, browse to the iPlayer and then go searching through the episode to the part I had got to. Slightly annoying.

Having BBC content on a portable device is extremely cool. What I will look forward to even more, however, is the ability to access BBC iPlayer content via Apple TV. Props to Ste for sending me linkage in this direction which confirms it’s a plan. If this was available right now then I’d probably be showing you my Apple TV unboxing pics on Flickr. I am being sold on the idea of this device already, but the ability to watch BBC shows I may have missed over the last 7 days is an even bigger attraction. When the next series of Top Gear begins then iPlayer (via Apple TV *hopes*) will completely come into it’s own as my other half always misses this on Sunday and Wednesday evenings (repeat) by having to go to work. And if I don’t remember to record it, which happens quite frequently, then iPlayer will just be perfect for that.