Well, that’s not strictly true. It still works. It’s just that the left mouse button, which is on a kind of rocker switch beneath the trackpad, has stopped working. If I plug in a USB mouse it works fine – but that’s not the point, is it?

So it will be going back tomorrow. It would seem I’m not the only one with this problem. Something to do with leaving it running and overheating. Me? Using a laptop too much? Shurely not…

• Forum discussion of left mouse button malfunction
• Asus customer support numbers

Update: After 45 minutes in Toys ‘R’ Us (yes, that’s where I bought it from – nowhere else had any in stock!) I got a replacement. The only one they had left was the display model. I took it as it’s in good condition and actually the 701 model. This means that it’s easier to overclock and upgrade! Oh, and I also managed to wangle a £10 gift voucher.

When I was at school my teachers used to tell me that I would go one step too far and ruin my work. Although I was never great at art and tech, they would (quite rightly) point out that the useless mess in front of me was the result of just going beyond the point at which I should have been satisfied and stopped. It would seem that impulse to tinker hasn’t left me…

Since last year we’ve had a NAS drive attached to our wireless router. The modded Xbox I bought from eBay 18 months ago is also connected via ethernet to the router:

This gives wireless access to the NAS drive from anywhere in the house and, as the NAS drive, router and Xbox are in a cupboard underneath the TV, allow us to watch DivX movies and TV programmes (via Xbox Media Center). It’s a great setup, but I had to tinker, didn’t I…

The outcome I was trying to achieve was that of this post: How To: Turn Your XBox Into An AppleTV. I was half-way there: I had the startup video and the skin sorted out. It was looking peachy. But that wasn’t enough. I wanted to get rid of the ‘flubber’ animation that comes up when you boot the Xbox. You know, this one:

Trouble is, that involves modifying the BIOS. Now you’d think with a name – sorry, acronym – like that (Basic Input Output System) I’d take more care. But no. I ploughed straight in and now I just get the hardware equivalent of a nonchalent French shrug-of-the-shoulders every time I try to boot it up.

Guess what I’ll be doing with my evenings next week whilst Hannah and Ben are in Devon…