We were pretty stoked about the OQO model 2+ when we got to spend a few quality minutes with it at CES this year, and apparently actually getting one delivered to your house is even more spectacular. The cool cats over at MID Moves were able to score one of the Gobi / OLED-equipped handhelds for review, and rather than making us wait until all opinions were formed, they've hosted up a nice preview video along with a few high quality unboxing shots. Initial impressions seem pretty positive, with the SSD helping things along quite significantly. Granted, we would've preferred a WiFi-on battery life of more than two hours, but what fun would it be to not have a single gripe to harp on? More pictorial delight is in the read link, and the vid's just past the break.
Out of interest, when did these things become MIDs? Is OQO marketing it that way?
I agree about the need to remove that Atom sticker. What is it with Intel demanding that perfectly good looking devices be ruined due to their sticker fetish.
"“OQO is excited to work with Intel to deliver the highest performing Mobile Internet Device (MID) on the market today,” said Bob Rosin, senior vice president of sales and marketing at OQO."
Why is it when I ever send anything in I never get a simple thanks. Six or seven stories I've sent in all shown but never a thanks from engadget. This is a nice Machine with disappointing battery life. A simple nice thanks would be appreciated.
It's cool looking...but I still don't know what the point in paying that much for something that limited is...yeah, I know its small, fits in your back pocket (whoops! don't sit on it), but really, the price? Not worth it unless you love having people constantly ask you about your gadgets while you're at the coffee shop...or you're rich...
It looks like they removed the active digitizer. That is very disappointing. The resistive touchscreen will not be nearly as useful for writing or drawing. Maybe I can get a the old version for cheap now...
Two hours? Pardon me? Say again? TWO HOURS?! No. I thought this was supposed to be a mobile device. But anyway, nice to see the touchscreen. Someone please put OS X on it and report on the performance.
It's a Windows computer, not a smartphone. I've never had a laptop that lasted longer than two hours on battery. More would be better, of course, but I don't find anything unacceptable about what they've got now.
Well, running Windows is not an excuse for sucky battery life. Or is it? Ok, maybe it is. I would not want to run Windows on it anyway. OQO offers a 9000mAh battery as an extra, maybe they should pack those standard. Four(on)/Seven(off) hours on one battery would be fine, but a the given price I would not want to pay extra for that. I just noticed the wretched thing doesn't come with FireWire, darn. At least they managed three USB ports on the dock. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing the machine. In fact, despite all the cloud business, I like to have my data with me, and as a longtime Newton user I am a sucker for fully capable ultraportables. But the device has to be truly mobile in terms of battery life.
I'm surprised that OQO still thinks that they're making a MID. A netbook is a MID. The iPhone is a MID. the OQO is trying to shove a full computer into an object the size of a coaster. Too powerful, terrible battery, not focused enough.
You wouldn't want a MID that runs full Windows and uses desktop apps. You want a mobile interface optimized for small screens and touch.
Oh! Your so right. I forgot that I DON'T want a powerful computer the size that is so compact that it can be taken anywhere with me without having to be lugged around and your right, I DON'T want the ease of transfering all my important data, documents and other files. I'd rather have 3 of everything!
I think this is a leap in the right direction. Maybe in a couple years we'll start to see dedicated graphics chips and real processors put in these things, as well as better battery life. They already sound like they have plenty of application for business or school use, they just need to bridge that little gap to become truly consumer friendly.
Just a few little tweaks and in the next few years I'd be more surprised if we DON'T see something like this in Best Buy than if we do. Hell, I thought the Eee and netbooks were a trend with a small demographic just a few months ago, then they popped up in Best Buy.
I have been mulling the OQO PCs for years now. I have hesitant because of the folwing reasons:
1) A post to this blog or another by a very upset buyer who had a very negative experience with OQO. He claimed he had a bad unit and the company was not very responsive. He had a website up that detailed the experience. Was he in the right? Who really knows
2) A review by a Australian reviewer (who has a webite and blog) who loved the unit but had to get a second (and maybe a third ?) because the unit kept crashing. I believe the cause was the fan burning out and the whole thing shutting down to thermal issues.
3) My conversation with the company a year or so ago with a rep who claimed there was a restocking charge for even a unit that wa malfunctioning.
All this said, I am still infatuated by the unit and would love to have one. The Thumb Typable keyboard really appeals to me.
Any opinions or experiences out there to help me decide to purchase one or not?
The Good: -Runs programs like Photoshop CS & Office without a hitch...though with much more delay than most economy laptops -1+ minute boot up and instant response from sleep -Small form factor and light weight -Fits in the pocket of my pants (and even jeans) without a case without difficulty. -Beautiful screen with good native resolution and very good interpolated resolution. -Batteries have a LED button that tells you with how much charge is left without turning on the computer (e.g., 3.5 out of 4 would mean about 85%) -Back lit keyboard is great in dim lighting -New Rev A. Sprint modem (i.e., EVDO) and Verizon Modem. This is the fastest wireless available -Touch-sensitive scrolling on the screen (both left and right and up and down)
The Bad: -It gets hot -Watching movies on the device is possible but dark scenes are hard to make out detail and you occasionally get a stutter with playback. -No integrated GPS (though a bluetooth GPS and software turns the device into a nice travel companion) -No integrated holder or place for a Wacom stylus -HDMI output does not carry an audio signal
The Ugly: -The price. But, I guess best-in-class performance and form-factor demands a premium -Fan noise. The fan is no worse than a laptop but do not have the expectation that this is a quiet device. There are fan settings to make it quieter but then it will get hot. -Battery life could be a lot better (you will need the extended battery or 2 regular batteries for any sort of travel) -Customer service is incompetent. I had to RMA 3 devices (without charge) because they never fixed the problem. -You need the bumper-to-bumper 3 year warranty which add a couple hundred dollars.
The verdict: I believe that this is the BEST device in this form factor on the market today. If you have the money. I have replaced my laptop (and to some extent, my desktop) with this device. I used to travel with a laptop and smart phone. Now I travel with a slim, regular phone and this device. By doing this, I have shed about 7-10lbs. in carry-on weight. Incidentally, I have never needed to take this device out of my carry-on bag for airport screeners so I get past security more quickly.
Recommended sites: OQOtalk dot com is forum for all things OQO
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
posted Jan 20th 2009 10:12AM
Pre-Order... CHECK!
i have the oqo e2.
works fine with vista but it needs more ram (only 1GB) and an atom cpu (via is crap and slow).
oqo 2+ seems the perfect replacement.
Did I spotted a Samsung LCD? ..................and a VGA connector. How graceful!
Wow, get the Atom sticker off of there, please.
the device came from intel, which is why there's brand stickers all over everything
Out of interest, when did these things become MIDs? Is OQO marketing it that way?
I agree about the need to remove that Atom sticker. What is it with Intel demanding that perfectly good looking devices be ruined due to their sticker fetish.
Actually, thats where they have the touchscrollers. They were on the model 02 as well.
MID vs UMPC
Engadget posted this a year ago....now already forgot?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/10/intel-explains-mid-vs-umpc/
In fact OQO is using the MID term:
"“OQO is excited to work with Intel to deliver the highest performing Mobile Internet Device (MID) on the market today,” said Bob Rosin, senior vice president of sales and marketing at OQO."
http://www.oqo.com/news/press_releases/2009-01-07_mode2+_release.html
so does it run Vista or a light weight quick startup OS?
Looks like they made the right side bezel extra wide just for that intel sticker...
That docking station is badass. I want one.
Yes, it's bad-tastically good looking, but it wouldn't hurt if they shine that mental return bends up a bit.
Aluminum doesn't shine much...
Why is it when I ever send anything in I never get a simple thanks. Six or seven stories I've sent in all shown but never a thanks from engadget. This is a nice Machine with disappointing battery life. A simple nice thanks would be appreciated.
"[Via Slashgear, thanks Kris120890]"
Wasn't there when the article came up.
Cheese with your whine?
Thanks, we couldn't have done it without you.
I wish that dang intel sticker wasnt on the front at least, hopefully thats pre-production units.
It's cool looking...but I still don't know what the point in paying that much for something that limited is...yeah, I know its small, fits in your back pocket (whoops! don't sit on it), but really, the price? Not worth it unless you love having people constantly ask you about your gadgets while you're at the coffee shop...or you're rich...
It looks like they removed the active digitizer. That is very disappointing. The resistive touchscreen will not be nearly as useful for writing or drawing. Maybe I can get a the old version for cheap now...
Two hours? Pardon me? Say again? TWO HOURS?! No. I thought this was supposed to be a mobile device. But anyway, nice to see the touchscreen. Someone please put OS X on it and report on the performance.
It's a Windows computer, not a smartphone. I've never had a laptop that lasted longer than two hours on battery. More would be better, of course, but I don't find anything unacceptable about what they've got now.
Well, running Windows is not an excuse for sucky battery life. Or is it? Ok, maybe it is. I would not want to run Windows on it anyway.
OQO offers a 9000mAh battery as an extra, maybe they should pack those standard. Four(on)/Seven(off) hours on one battery would be fine, but a the given price I would not want to pay extra for that.
I just noticed the wretched thing doesn't come with FireWire, darn. At least they managed three USB ports on the dock.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing the machine. In fact, despite all the cloud business, I like to have my data with me, and as a longtime Newton user I am a sucker for fully capable ultraportables. But the device has to be truly mobile in terms of battery life.
UPDATE:
I just loaded OS X on mine. Performance was shitty. No surprise.
Have a video?
I'm surprised that OQO still thinks that they're making a MID. A netbook is a MID. The iPhone is a MID. the OQO is trying to shove a full computer into an object the size of a coaster. Too powerful, terrible battery, not focused enough.
You wouldn't want a MID that runs full Windows and uses desktop apps. You want a mobile interface optimized for small screens and touch.
Oh! Your so right. I forgot that I DON'T want a powerful computer the size that is so compact that it can be taken anywhere with me without having to be lugged around and your right, I DON'T want the ease of transfering all my important data, documents and other files. I'd rather have 3 of everything!
lol here here tyler
I think this is a leap in the right direction. Maybe in a couple years we'll start to see dedicated graphics chips and real processors put in these things, as well as better battery life. They already sound like they have plenty of application for business or school use, they just need to bridge that little gap to become truly consumer friendly.
Just a few little tweaks and in the next few years I'd be more surprised if we DON'T see something like this in Best Buy than if we do. Hell, I thought the Eee and netbooks were a trend with a small demographic just a few months ago, then they popped up in Best Buy.
Terrible video by the way. Skip to 1:30 unless you want to see plastic wrapping and a cardboard box.
Its a Sinclair Spectrum all-growed-up.
I have been mulling the OQO PCs for years now. I have hesitant because of the folwing reasons:
1) A post to this blog or another by a very upset buyer who had a very negative experience with OQO. He claimed he had a bad unit and the company was not very responsive. He had a website up that detailed the experience. Was he in the right? Who really knows
2) A review by a Australian reviewer (who has a webite and blog) who loved the unit but had to get a second (and maybe a third ?) because the unit kept crashing. I believe the cause was the fan burning out and the whole thing shutting down to thermal issues.
3) My conversation with the company a year or so ago with a rep who claimed there was a restocking charge for even a unit that wa malfunctioning.
All this said, I am still infatuated by the unit and would love to have one. The Thumb Typable keyboard really appeals to me.
Any opinions or experiences out there to help me decide to purchase one or not?
Have one. OQO 2 1.6/120GB/Sprint.
The Good:
-Runs programs like Photoshop CS & Office without a hitch...though with much more delay than most economy laptops
-1+ minute boot up and instant response from sleep
-Small form factor and light weight
-Fits in the pocket of my pants (and even jeans) without a case without difficulty.
-Beautiful screen with good native resolution and very good interpolated resolution.
-Batteries have a LED button that tells you with how much charge is left without turning on the computer (e.g., 3.5 out of 4 would mean about 85%)
-Back lit keyboard is great in dim lighting
-New Rev A. Sprint modem (i.e., EVDO) and Verizon Modem. This is the fastest wireless available
-Touch-sensitive scrolling on the screen (both left and right and up and down)
The Bad:
-It gets hot
-Watching movies on the device is possible but dark scenes are hard to make out detail and you occasionally get a stutter with playback.
-No integrated GPS (though a bluetooth GPS and software turns the device into a nice travel companion)
-No integrated holder or place for a Wacom stylus
-HDMI output does not carry an audio signal
The Ugly:
-The price. But, I guess best-in-class performance and form-factor demands a premium
-Fan noise. The fan is no worse than a laptop but do not have the expectation that this is a quiet device. There are fan settings to make it quieter but then it will get hot.
-Battery life could be a lot better (you will need the extended battery or 2 regular batteries for any sort of travel)
-Customer service is incompetent. I had to RMA 3 devices (without charge) because they never fixed the problem.
-You need the bumper-to-bumper 3 year warranty which add a couple hundred dollars.
The verdict:
I believe that this is the BEST device in this form factor on the market today. If you have the money. I have replaced my laptop (and to some extent, my desktop) with this device. I used to travel with a laptop and smart phone. Now I travel with a slim, regular phone and this device. By doing this, I have shed about 7-10lbs. in carry-on weight. Incidentally, I have never needed to take this device out of my carry-on bag for airport screeners so I get past security more quickly.
Recommended sites:
OQOtalk dot com is forum for all things OQO