Read About Featured Gadgeteer - Andrew Nienaber

Gadgeteer Article

November 18, 2004

Name: Andrew Nienaber
Location: Western Australia

I’m 15, and a student in Perth, Western Australia. I have a fairly good collection of gadgets and computer hardware. My parents are programmers, so we have a lot of computers around the house. Below is a pic of my desk, which as you can see is fairly cluttered.

My first interest in technology was when I was about 3 or 4, and my parents bought an Apple 2FX (that was a top-of-the-line computer back then). We then upgraded to a Compaq with a 90 MHz Pentium, which we overclocked to 100 MHz. Then to a Pentium 3 550 MHZ, a Pentium 4 1.5 GHz, and now my gaming machine, a Pentium 4 2.6 GHz with a gig of ram. Computer building, tweaking and modding is one of my main hobbies, alongside gadgetry.

My first interest in gadgets was about 3 years ago, when someone at school had a cheap Casio organiser, and I was envious. So I saved up, and got a Palm M125. I loved it, and I still use it occasionally.

My main PDA is a Viewsonic V37 for which I have a 64mb SD card; I also have a Palm M125. I have a Panasonic GD 55 cell phone, and a Sony DSC 717 digital camera. My latest gadget is my 40gig 4th generation iPod, which I bought last week. I also have a Sony MZR 500 minidisc player, which I will now be retiring. My favourite electronic item is my computer however, which I use to play games and surf the net.

I also dabble in building electronic kits, and my other hobbies include RC cars, airbrushing, swimming, hockey and playing the piano. I’ve been a big fan of the gadgeteer ever since I read your review of the Palm M125, which convinced me to buy it. My handle on many forums is Katunka89. I’m a gadgeteer, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to change any time soon.