For more years than I care to remember I have been using, building, cannibalising and generally abusing Computers and this has continued on into Pocket PCs and now Windows Mobile Smartphones....

So much so that I am closely associated with the UK’s premier Smartphone Support and Advice Forums - SmartphoneGurus as a Reviewer and Moderator.

I started with a Sinclair ZX81, then a BBC Model B (from Acorn) and then onto Atari in the shape of the wonderful ST (initially 520ST, then 1040ST) before moving onto PC clones with initially a true IBM XT, then clones of 286, 386, 486 and then a mix of Intel Pentiums and AMD processors. Now settled on an Intel Quad Core CPU (overclocked of course!).

On the pocket devices, I still have my original Psion Organiser II from the 1980s and then got myself a Psion 3 then a Psion 5 before switching to Palm and I still have my Vx. Then in 2000 I switched to Windows CE (Pocket PC) with a Compaq iPaq 3630 which I also still have although the battery needs replacing!

It’s been Windows Mobile all the way since then with a variety of devices such as an iPaq 2210 and then a variety of Phone Edition devices starting with the HTC Universal in O2 Exec form, HTC Artemis (O2 Orbit), HTC Touch Cruise (O2 Orbit II), HTC Wizard (XDA Mini S), HTC Tornado  SP5m, HTC S710, HTC S730, HTC Sedna (P6500), HTC X7510 (O2 XDA Flint), HTC Touch Diamond, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1i, HTC Touch Pro 2, HTC HD2 and also my first Android powered device, a HTC Desire.

I dabbled with iPhone but it wasn’t powerful enough for me under the hood with lack of configuration and the controlling nature of Apple. Still have a 1st Gen iPhone but my wife and my son have both abandoned theirs. As with all these things - it depends on what you want and none of them are perfect!

I’ve also jumped into Windows Phone 7, Microsoft’s latest and greatest attempt at a mobile OS. A complete departure from the old Windows Mobile 6 code-base and moving more towards an Apple model of little user configuration and ability to get under the bonnet and access the core. I’ve gone with the HTC HD7 and it’s certainly fast but no real move on from the HTC HD2 I also have (in fact they are almost identical internally and externally).

I’ll remain non-comittal on Windows Phone 7 until the first update comes along. What is there works well, what isn’t there is in some cases a shocking omission - like not being able to sync to Outlook on your desktop PC! Applications are rolling out faster and faster via the Zune Marketplace.

BUT - I still find myself reaching for my HTC Desire to do most things - SatNav, e-book reading etc....

A ‘good start but could do better’ interim report on the platform (B+)!