PC world

Note the lower-case w.

This is not about a well-known chain of computer stores. I'm talking about Wordsmith HQ.

I have a PC on my desk. Next to my desk is my beloved P's desk, on which sits his own PC. Scattered around the house are at least 4 other PCs of varying ages and ability, mostly in P's workshop where he tinkers with electronics for amusement.

Then there is P's laptop, which belongs to the company he works for and goes everywhere with him.

Total 7.

Today, P bought another laptop, having spotted a very new Dell for sale for £199.99 in one of those not-quite-a-pawnbroker shops in town. We had a quick discussion about whether to buy it or not and decided it would be worth acquiring - we can take it on holiday to check on emails, for example, and if I'm on one of my occasional business trips to London, I can do at least 5 hours' work on the train while travelling. So it was back to the shop to check it out and make sure it's working properly - it is and it has XP Pro on it, plus MS Office and a firewall. P bargained the shopkeeper down to £150. A quick trip to Maplin to buy a wifi card was next. As I type, P's installing the wifi and then we'll have PC no. 8 on the go.

I've postponed buying a Mac laptop for the time being, but I know I'll have to splash out next year. That'll bring the total to 9.

Is that excessive for 2 people? Probably. But then we don't have a car. At least we're not polluting the planet.

And now I can buy one of these... in purple!