I used to use a second hand Zaurus for listening to MP3s and a second hand PocketPC for reading eBooks while commuting to and from work each day. Sadly they both deteriorated to the point where battery life was barely enough to cover the journey one way, let alone there and back. I switched back to dead tree book consumption and have learned to live with the general background noise of tube travel.

Recently I started thinking it was about time I got myself a new digital audio player and started looking into options. I was thinking I'd make do with one of the cheap solid state ones in the 2-4Gb range, but I wanted the player to support OGG encoded files to save me having to re-encode half my collection. These simple requirements limited my options on eBuyer somewhat, and I started investigating more expensive devices. That's when I came across the GP2X - a linux based, hand held game console with built in media player and eBook reader.

Now, if you were going to design a gadget specifically to push all my buttons then you'd probably end up with a GP2X - it plays MP3s and OGGs, has dual processors, runs Linux, plays games and reads eBooks, and ships with the SDK for free. You can even plug it directly into a TV and watch movies. And all for only £124.99 - though probably closer to two hundred quid once a few optional extras have been added in. I want one!