Computer
- Dell Dimension 9200 (Windows Vista)
- Main desktop. I use it for all my web dev.
General
- Logitech G15 Keyboard
- Probably the best keyboard there is. It has a screen, backlit keys and multimedia controls that don’t feel clunky and out of place. It’s great to type on and, provided you can find one in stock, they’re not ridiculously expensive.
- Logitech G9 Mouse
- Again, a fantastic product! It fits perfectly in your palm and feels solid. Certainly not for left-handed people though.
- Dell 22″ Widescreen Monitor
- First off, your next monitor should be a widescreen if it’s not already. Secondly, it should be big. Once you get past 22 inches, though, sizes are sparse and usually carry high prices.
Web Development
- Aptana Studio
- I used to use Dreamweaver but I found it unnecessarily bloated and consequently slow. Aptana is a bit more agile and the Community Edition is free.
- Adobe Fireworks CS4
- Much easier to use than Photoshop just not as powerful.
- Adobe Photoshop CS4
- The leading image editor.
- Mozilla Firefox 3
- This is very easily my favourite browser. It’s complete with the Web Developer toolbar and Firebug, among others.
- VirtualBox
- It’s free so it’s a lot cheaper than buying another computer and a lot safer than dual-booting. In short, I can test a variety of different operating systems quickly to ensure projects work as they should. I find it lighter than VMWare and a little bit easier to use as well.
Music
- Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card
- Good sound card.
- Creative Inspire T7900 7.1 Speakers
- There’s nothing like being immersed in sound. There are 7 of these speakers and a huge subwoofer. When joined with a Creative X-Fi sound card, the results are phenomenal.
- iTunes
- iTunes is love/hate software — many people hate it but I quite like it. Sure, it doesn’t have codec support for anything outside Apple confines — FLAC support, for example, is something I wouldn’t mind. But it does, however, support the iPod perfectly and as I have two iPods, that’s a huge advantage. It’s not a bad looking piece of software either, compared to Windows Media Player.
- iPod Video 5G
- Granted, it was expensive and video playback drained the battery but I love it and it has all my music in one portable device.
- iPod Shuffle 1G
- For a light journey, nothing beats a Shuffle, in terms of portability and simplicity.
Portability
- LaCiE 500GB External Drive
- Written on the side it says “Designed by F A Porsche”. It’s a great hard drive although it can get fairly warm after a while.
Miscellaneous
- Sony Ericsson W200i
- A great phone at a bargain price. It’s a Sony Ericsson so music playback is great but there has to things said about the lack of Bluetooth (it has Infrared instead) and the poor camera. At £25 ($50), why complain?