Only a few years ago, computing technology moved forward so quickly that we seemed to update our PC every few months, to keep up with the software that was driving the market forward. These days, games and software many require the latest graphics card and extended memory, but you're unlikely to have to upgrade your PC, motherboard, CPU or other components. Therefore we're more likely to use our money to buy another computer - such as a laptop for the road - rather than upgrade our existing machine.

The snag is, the more computers you own, the more time you need to spend time synchronising files and data across these machines. For instance, if you prefer to use Opera on your machines, you'll need to make sure your bookmarks are updated. If you often work on the same documents across the different computers, then you need to keep the document current on each machine. One option is to store everything on an external USB stick, then manually move each file back on to each machine, every time you make an update. However, this is a rather long-winded approach.

The other option is to use file, bookmark and data synchronisation tools. Apple Mac OS X ships with iSync built in to the operating system, which enables you to synchronise your data from your mobile to your Mac or from your Mac to your .mac account. Windows Vista ships with a Vista SyncCenter which will enable you to synchronise your contacts and other information, across computers.

There are many third party tools, too. If you have a Mac and can't use the Nokia Data Suite, then check out the FoneLink software, which will enable you to connect and synchronise your mobile. It goes much further than iSync, enabling you to backup and restore important data, as well as your contacts, events and other info. Synchredible Standard 2.1 will enable you to sync files across various machines, especially those connected on your network. Allway Sync 6.1.8 is a tool that will enable you to sync files from your machine to your USB stick, whilst GoodSync 6 will perform a similar task.

If you want to synchronise your bookmarks across computers, try SyncBookmarks 1.0. If you use Opera, oSync 1.0 will handle Opera-based bookmarks, whilst Google Browser Sync for Firefox 1.3.2 will handle your Firefox-based bookmarks, history, passwords and other info.