OQO Model 02 now shipping

When you're waiting on a signature device like the decked-out OQO Model 02, you're REALLY waiting on it, so the anxious gadgetheads who've been watching this one like a hawk will be delighted to learn that the pocketable powerhouse is finally shipping. After a slight delay -- which must have been torture for pre-order customers, we're sure -- the $1,500+ Model 02 is now available either directly from the company or through "select enterprise and retail channels," and still comes with the option of EV-DO goodness from either Sprint or Verizon. That 3G connectivity is obviously gonna cost ya, though -- that is unless you're the lucky winner of our birthday cake contest (to be announced shortly), in which case your culinary skills have already got you covered.

[0nIC @ Mar 27th 2007 2:11PM]

that looks nice with the windows mobile 6. someone should smash it and see if anyone would still care. www.smashsomestuff.com

[ALLurGroceries @ Mar 27th 2007 3:59PM]

"that looks nice with the windows mobile 6. someone should smash it and see if anyone would still care. www.smashsomestuff.com"

It'd be fun to smash, but it's not Windows Mobile 6, it's Vista... would be a bit overkill for WM, no? Check out teh specs..

[zorg @ Mar 27th 2007 6:36PM]

I got to play with one of these at OQO HQ last week. The hardware package was incredibly impressive. It was running Vista, though, which was clearly not ready. For instance, the screen would not rotate. There were many other Vista-related problems, but I ignored a lot of that because I'm just not interested in Vista.

It was the main computer of one of the sales people, so I only got to play with it for five minutes (I'll bet he gets interrupted all the time.)

The high points were the screen and keyboard and trackpoint. The digitizer wasn't working well, for which they blamed Wacom. They said the slide mechanism wasn't working well, but it seemed great to me.

They didn't play up the little things on the face that let you scroll up and down or sideways, but I liked them. The problem is that they seem mostly likely useful in concert with the digitizer, which currently does not work well. The OQO people seemed disappointed in the lack of attention from Wacom about this. My guess is that their target user (which is not me) is someone addicted to the latest version of MS Office and they need to grab this person immediately rather than wait for the satisficing Samsung alternative to take root. They probably are desperate for rapid turnaround from their partners.

They extensively demoed the networking software and I think they thought that was a high point. For me it was not, but perhaps that was a personal view rather than a generic problem.

The dock was elegant and the software was working well under Vista for moving windows between the OQO's display and the external display attached to the dock.

I will probably just get the lowest spec'ed model and put Linux on it. They claim to not support Linux officially, but they have previously provided a lot of informal Linux support, so I am confident. This is the smallest device I have seen with hdmi and vga output. I don't think it can be beaten on that score and I think the remarkable screen, keyboard, and trackpoint all make it more comfortable than any device even remotely approaching its size.

[Stephen Yuan @ Mar 28th 2007 5:11PM]

Would you kindly let us know what Samsung device you are refering to? Is it the samsung UMPC that does tri-fold?

[zorg @ Mar 30th 2007 1:41PM]

I was thinking of the Q1 Ultra or whatever. The one that has been in the news with the split keyboard. That seems like it will be a "satisficing" alternative in that it won't be as good as the OQO in terms of size, but it will be cheaper and faster enough that a lot of people will just get it.

The thing with the flurry of Q1 models recently recently released is that it seems that Samsung is hell-bent on tweaking until they get the price/performance/size balance that will really sell. They're not trying to nail two of those the way OQO is; they're really taking widespread consumer mentality into account by going after a balance of all three.

[3goldens @ Mar 27th 2007 1:17PM]

great news!

[Nukes and Candy @ Mar 27th 2007 1:51PM]

pffff. too expensive. Probably a flop like the model 1.

sorry OQO.

[Rand Kiessig @ Mar 27th 2007 2:41PM]

Argh, I hope I get it soon.. I feel like a kid waiting for xmas! And now Im starting to see them on TV shows like Jericho and I saw an older one on Stargate Atlantis.. what a world, what a world..

[ALLurGroceries @ Mar 27th 2007 2:46PM]

*drool*

[martyfinkle @ Mar 27th 2007 2:22PM]

I wonder if the model 2 will end up like my model one, sitting in a bag on a self at my house.

I think I thought I would get what this thing has when I bought it. Internet anywhere. Of course I have that with my cingular8125 now which obsoleted my OQOModel 1.

[Elliott @ Mar 27th 2007 4:11PM]

i will take that off your hands if you don't want it.

[Jonathan @ Mar 27th 2007 1:52PM]

You'd think they could get a better hand model.

[tnkgrl @ Mar 27th 2007 3:46PM]

For some pictures and a video:

http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/oqo-model-02-hands-on-part-1/
http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2007/03/27/oqo-model-02-hands-on-part-2/

[gadjitfreek @ Mar 27th 2007 5:09PM]

I ordered mine one month ago yesterday, so I expect to get mine in another month. I got it with XP Pro and no 3G module, so they told me it would be much sooner. The Stronghold case and the air/car adapter is on backorder, though.

[gadjitfreek @ Apr 14th 2007 11:40AM]

Well, no one has yet posted that they have gotten their preordered OQO direct, though some few report having gotten theirs from RCS in Manhattan or from Dynamism. Looks like OQO is taking care of its resellers while still stringing along those who first ordered theirs direct from OQO. Seriously considering canceling my preorder.

[Dan Bourque @ Sep 19th 2007 3:32PM]

I'm furious at OQO. I bought my Model 2 15 weeks ago, and it has been having lock-up problems since the day I received it. It's still under the 1-year warranty, so I thought I was covered, right? Well, it turns out that their tech supports is very unreliable. In retrospect, I *should* have returned it within the 30-day money back guarrantee and suffered the 15% restocking fee, but it's far too late for that now.

I've re-imaged it twice myself, and for the past 15 weeks, have been following OQO tech support's instructions in trying to figure out the issue. I've even sent it in for repair, and all they did was add scratches to it, and send it back to me still broken! I've been paying $60/month on top of that to Sprint, for a device that I cannot use for more than 15 minutes before it locks up!

Because of all of this, I recently asked for a return-for-credit, or at least allow me to upgrade to the newer model (I offered to pay the difference), but after 20 days, I got denied. They're saying that I'm effectively stuck with this broken unit, but that they're willing to re-image it themselves (never mind that they've already scratched it up)!

I'm fed up with this. 15 weeks of this is enough. I urge you to heed this warning and STAY AWAY from OQO! Even if you get a unit that works properly right out of the box, if anything goes wrong with it, you're likely to get tremendous headaches dealing with their tech support/customer support.

Furiously,
-Dan.

[Lovebaby @ Sep 22nd 2007 7:58AM]

I was all set to buy one of the Model 2 when I started reading about peoples nightmares with this model and the company. I decided to call OQO and ask a salesman about their return policy. He said that there is restocking charge even to return a unit for repair ??!!. Tell me this can't be true.

[Dan Bourque @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:25PM]

If anyone's interested, I'll keep updating the full transcripts of my conversations with OQO at: http://dan.bourque.googlepages.com/oqotroubles

Cheers,
-Dan.