Is this living room high-tech or what?

HULLO, Dave Robertson, European director of Perforce Software, a company that makes programs that help groups of developers coordinate projects. Sit down, pour yourself a brew. Sorry about the state of this shed. The wife keeps putting her old gear in there.

I told her that clockwork cat feeder was money wasted. Still, it only came from Poundland. Anyhow, let's get on with it and do that questionnaire thing that's a bit like the end bit on Inside The Actors Studio.

Q. Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand? Or is it a mobile phone/smartphone/PDA and if so please could you describe it and your opinion of said item? (Note to self: this joke still doesn't work as it was designed for our first interviewee in this spot because he was named Joe. Fix.)

A. This year's model is a Sony Ericsson k800i. It's small. It's black. It's socially acceptable. Over the past few years I tried to find a phone that could do everything -- PDA, web, Wi-Fi, MP3 player - and went through various smartphones. In the end, none of them had the killer mobile phone app that I needed - the ability to send a text with just one hand and not look like an idiot.

Q. Would you describe yourself as a gadget freak, that is, a consumer of gewgaws and electronic fripperies, some say nerd?

A. No, but everyone I know says I am. I like to think of my technology purchases as investments. Everyone else that knows me calls my purchases a waste of money.

Q. What's the coolest item in your rig?

A. It has to be the Nintendo Wii. It is an absolute hoot to play and has finally made my embarrassing computer gaming habit socially acceptable. All but one of the games I have for it is multi-player and gaming parties are routine events at my place these days. It's good fun for solo play too, but I had to retire my Zelda game after an ill-timed parry with a goblin launched a large glass of red wine over my new cream carpet.

Q. Should be drinking beer then. And the one you feel ashamed to tell us about, omitting no detail, no matter how small?

A. I bought an expensive personal stereo cassette player in the mid-90s that was designed to help you get fit. You wore it attached to a Velcro strap around your arm and it gave you real-time readings of your pulse rate via sensors in the headphones. Unfortunately, I didn't spot the fact that the strap needed to be so tight that it was impossible to flex your arms whilst wearing it. So, it was pretty useless for weight-training. It also made my ears tingle quite a bit when it had new batteries in it.

Q. That'll teach you about physical jerks. What else have you got in that part of the house that you call your study but your partner refers to as 'the utility room'?

A. It's just me and my daughter at home, so my gadgets have spread round the house a bit. In the study, I have a reasonably powerful PC connected to a wireless LAN hub. On the LAN, I have a 250GB NAS that contains my MP3 and photo collections. The real geek zone is in the front room. I've been investing in a home theatre setup. The TV is a Samsung 46-inch LCD with full 1080p capability and I have a Panasonic DVD Recorder with 250GB hard disk and Freeview tuner. Connecting the two is a Denon AVC AV11XV A/V Amp which has built-in 1080p upscaling and an Ethernet connection.

Oh, and a 5.1 speaker setup around the room. Also connected to the amp is the Wii. The final piece is currently on order and arrives this week -- a Shuttle SG33G5 micro-format HTPC with Windows Vista Home Premium. This contains the new Intel G33 chipset and an onboard HDMI-out so I can get native 1080p playback of games, videos etc. The Shuttle will be a media centre for playing HD movies and also act as a jukebox for the MP3s on the NAS. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing how the full-screen 1080p visualisations from Winamp and Windows Media Player will look on the big screen.

Q. Not bad, not bad. To have a desktop or not a desktop - discuss.

A. Desktop, no question. I tend to cannibalise old PC kit and have built hand-me-down PCs for my kids and friends over the years. I'm not comfortable buying computers that can't have their lives extended in some way.

Q. Are you a lunatic, style-obsessed Mac zealot or sober, Harris Tweed-wearing PC man?

A. I'm a PC man, me. I've never owned an Apple product and don't really see anything in the range that would tempt me. I've dabbled in Linux with the Ubuntu Desktop for home use though. I won't reveal what I was wearing at the time as I know this is a clean, family web site.

Q. Moving on, what sweet piece of kit would you like to purchase next, once your dependents take a break from raiding the bank account for so-called necessities?

A. I'm waiting for someone to come out with a reliable voice-controlled SatNav. The one I have in the car has shown me more of Britain's B roads and farm tracks than I had anticipated and changing it midway through a journey is just downright dangerous.

Thank you, Dave. You truly have the geek streak in you. µ