OQO To Launch October 14th?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/13/oqo_launch_date/' target='_blank'>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/0...qo_launch_date/</a><br /><br /></div>Believe it or not, the OQO might actually launch this year. 8O<br /><br /><i>"OQO's Model 01 Windows XP palmtop has for some time been due to ship this autumn, but the company has now narrowed that timeframe down to mid-October. According to an email sent out by OQO, the device will be formally launched on 14 October in San Francisco. The Model 01 is based on a 1GHz Transmeta processor backed by 256MB of RAM and a 20GB hard drive. It sports a 5in 800 x 480 widescreen LCD, and integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The unit's QWERTY keyboard slides out from under the display."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/features/CeBIT-2004-OQO/OQO-expanded-small.jpg" /><br /><br />I once believed the unit was vaporware, but <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,28713">when we saw it</a>, it certainly looked close-to-market. This is the beginning of an interesting trend of mini-PCs that we'll have to keep on watching. 8)

[doc]

In a similar news story, 2nd mortgages for homes are expected to rise towards the end of October :twisted:

Any ideas about a cost for this 8O

[surur]

From the designated critic for the day:

&lt;nitpick>
Nice ultra-light notebook, but surely with a slow processor and probably harddrive, it would have been better to include 1 Gig of RAM to minimise swapping, which will increase battery life and make the unit feel snappier.
&lt;/nitpick>

Its good to see this thing finally reach the market, so we can see if it will really be significant competition to a pocketpc.

Surur

[Perry Reed]

I know we're all pre-disposed towards Pocket PCs, but I really like this idea! And I hope it takes off, along with the FlipStart and other "handtops".

I forget the expected price for the thing, but I believe it was quite hefty; close to $2,000. That's going to be the biggest problem with these things. Well, that and the anemic CPU they're using.

[entropy1980]

I chatted a year or two ago with the CEO Ian Blasch of Tiqit (http://www.tiqit.com). I played with a prototype and must say I left very impressed. At the time Ian said they had been having meetings with HP who was considering outright purchasing their company. Nothing came of it but is interesting to note that HP was looking in that direction at one point.

[bkerrins]

Now, if I can just figure out how to get a sim card installed with a BT headset...

[dean_shan]

I think that the D-Pad should be on the left side and the 'mouse-click' button should be on the left. Everyones left thumb is already trained to handle presise movements while the right them is better suited to clicking.

[Perry Reed]

I think that the D-Pad should be on the left side and the 'mouse-click' button should be on the left. Everyones left thumb is already trained to handle presise movements while the right them is better suited to clicking.

Except for us lefties who, while used to it being the other way on game machines, like it this way. :)

[Paragon]

I chatted a year or two ago with the CEO Ian Blasch of Tiqit (http://www.tiqit.com). I played with a prototype and must say I left very impressed. At the time Ian said they had been having meetings with HP who was considering outright purchasing their company. Nothing came of it but is interesting to note that HP was looking in that direction at one point.

I remember that. That was in Hollywood, right?....It seems to me you ripped it right out of my hands, you were so anxious to have a look see....&lt;joking>

I remember how hot it ran back then. It seems to me Janak stated in previous posts about it that the problem seems to be solved now.

dave

[dean_shan]

Except for us lefties who, while used to it being the other way on game machines, like it this way. :)

That's exactly my point. Every game system has done this. I have quite the agile left thumb and wouldn't like to spend the time to build up my right thumb muscles.

[jlp]

At last!!

After 2.5 years of waiting for us (and probably 4-5 years for them), the (top of the line) PDA killer is here.

30 days and counting down 8)

[entropy1980]

I remember that. That was in Hollywood, right?....It seems to me you ripped it right out of my hands, you were so anxious to have a look see....&lt;joking>

I remember how hot it ran back then. It seems to me Janak stated in previous posts about it that the problem seems to be solved now.

dave
Hey Dave long time no talk/see :) You put up a good fight though!! :) Yeah the thing that suprised me most was how good the pointer tool was. I normally hate eraserhead-type pointers found on laptops but the one they had on it was great, that and the fact it had a touch-screen...

[Jonathon Watkins]

At last!!

After 2.5 years of waiting for us (and probably 4-5 years for them), the (top of the line) PDA killer is here.

Umm, JLP, if it looks like a PDA, has a battery life like a PDA, is as convenient as a PDA, starts as fast as a PDA, has similar but better features than a PDA, is a portable as a PDA and is as 'Personal' as a Personal Digital Assistant, then I suggest that this *IS* a PDA. :wink:

OK, it's not a Pocket PC, but it is a Pocketable PC. Close enough. :lol:

[nuka_t]

no, not this time. maybe in a couple years when im in college, and the price is more reasonable ill get me one.

that would be awesome.

ill just need some big pockets...

[sbrown23]

Umm, JLP, if it looks like a PDA, has a battery life like a PDA, is as convenient as a PDA, starts as fast as a PDA, has similar but better features than a PDA, is a portable as a PDA and is as 'Personal' as a Personal Digital Assistant, then I suggest that this *IS* a PDA.

Yeah, and it is running a much, much thicker OS, with an extremely anemic processor, only 256MB RAM, and (I would bet) slow as heck graphics. Can you imagine how much it will bog down once you throw a virus scanner on there? And yeah, it's WinXP, you MUST have virus protection.

For a $2000+ palmtop are you trying to tell me that OQO couldn't shoehorn in a much faster clock-for-clock ULV Pentium M? Please...

Instead, just give me a Tablet PC that offers more functionality, battery life, RAM, Pentium M, and (in some cases) decent graphics processors. Throw the OQO on the trash heap.

[marovada]

I wouldn't get too excited about this if you don't live in the US. I live in Australia and have had some correspondence with OQO sales. I was told that they will neither ship nor provide support outside of the US.

Just thought it was ironic that this news story comes from a UK site.

The only alternative may be to pay ridiculous prices on ebay or from "grey" importers.

I was very disappointed. Also, from what I was told, it seems to be aimed at business users rather than enthusiasts (eg. the beta testing has been by business users).

I certainly like the form factor of this device compared to the Sony U series because of the built in keyboard and size. The Sony U is too big for my liking and many users seem to complain about lack of built in keyboard.

[birick]

Instead, just give me a Tablet PC that offers more functionality, battery life, RAM, Pentium M, and (in some cases) decent graphics processors. Throw the OQO on the trash heap.

That's where I am going next. My new tablet will be here in a day or so. It won't fit in my pocket, but it will allow me to do much more while on the road.

[ricksfiona]

I like the device's form-factor. the keyboard looks pretty decent and you can run pc apps on it.

Here's what I don't like:
* Battery life will mostly likely be terrible.
* No instant 'on' or 'off'. Even with my thickest app, I can have access to any of my applications wthin 20 seconds. I'd be surprised if this was a 'go' within a minute.
* Even though I said the keyboard was 'decent', it doesn't look like you can really touch-type on it.
* Cost. $2000 is NOT going to happen UNLESS they can put in a much more powerful processor. I MIGHT consider $1500.

Overall, I think it's a very interesting machine. I think it could work very well in the business community and for technicians who need XP in the field and their applications.

My current Pocket PC can do 95% of what I asked my laptop and with 2GB SD cards around the corner, VGA & faster processors, I'll be sticking with the Pocket PC for the forseeable future :-)

[jkendrick]

I don't think these devices will be PDA killers but rather laptop killers. It sure is very nice to travel with a UPC. :)

[jkendrick]

Instead, just give me a Tablet PC that offers more functionality, battery life, RAM, Pentium M, and (in some cases) decent graphics processors. Throw the OQO on the trash heap.

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/9109/U-70%20pics%20024.jpg

[jkendrick]

many users seem to complain about lack of built in keyboard.

I haven't heard any U owners complain about the lack of keyboard.

[marovada]

many users seem to complain about lack of built in keyboard.

I haven't heard any U owners complain about the lack of keyboard.

James, as u are a U user, can I ask a few questions (just thinking about the OQO vs U):

- given that the U is not a 3D gaming machine, would it be a bad decision to buy the U50 and not the U70? Otherwise I would have to spend $A4k on U70.
- if the OQO had come out first, would you prefer its size or anything else about it (ie. rather than the U)?
- is the handwriting software you have installed in the U as slow and inaccurate as that in a PPC?
- have you had any major problems? The U Yahoo group indicates people have had problems with drivers etc.
- wouldn't a built in keyboard come in handy? For example, to play half life or for emulated games/computers?

[bnycastro]

If it's coming out on the 14th of October I hope you guys get it for my birthday :devilboy: j/k

Really this thing looks awesome but I think I would wait for the 2nd generation of these devices (hopefullly there will be a 2nd gen) but for now I will stick with PPC :)

[Zack Mahdavi]

Woo hoo! I can't wait for this product to be released. Too bad I can't afford it though, but hopefully it will spark a new product segment that will catch on.

[nuka_t]

comparing it to the e800, i think this needs 1024x768 given its screensize.

no way 800x600 can be used for a daytoday computer, and especially if its 2 grand.

[gibson042]

comparing it to the e800, i think this needs 1024x768 given its screensize.

no way 800x600 can be used for a daytoday computer, and especially if its 2 grand.

Then get ready to cringe, because it's 800x480... basically just widescreen VGA.

[jkendrick]

many users seem to complain about lack of built in keyboard.

I haven't heard any U owners complain about the lack of keyboard.

James, as u are a U user, can I ask a few questions (just thinking about the OQO vs U):

- given that the U is not a 3D gaming machine, would it be a bad decision to buy the U50 and not the U70? Otherwise I would have to spend $A4k on U70.
- if the OQO had come out first, would you prefer its size or anything else about it (ie. rather than the U)?
- is the handwriting software you have installed in the U as slow and inaccurate as that in a PPC?
- have you had any major problems? The U Yahoo group indicates people have had problems with drivers etc.
- wouldn't a built in keyboard come in handy? For example, to play half life or for emulated games/computers?

-The U50 would likely work fine as long as you bump the memory to 512 MB (which is expensive). WinXP with only 256 MB will page a lot and kill battery life, a problem the OQO will likely have. The U70 also gets better battery utilization due to the Pentium M (a concern I have about the OQO).

-I have watched the OQO for a longtime and I like the instant screen rotation on the U. It's quicker than the rotation on my PPC and the U intelligently rotates all control buttons too. All buttons on the U can be user configured independently for each screen orientation. I also think the SVGA resolution on the U is the minimum for WinXP but that's just me.

-I am using the handwriting recognition in the Tablet OS which is phenomenal. The U comes with NextText which is OK but really designed for Japanese recognition. Most US users are installing either ritePen or PenOffice for handwriting recognition. PenOffice is Calligrapher for WinXP so you are probably familiar with it.

-The only driver problems people are having with the U are when they clean install the OS without making sure they have all originally installed drivers readily available for the OS install. This is mainly the case of people who shouldn't be overwriting their OS anyway. :) The Sony drivers are rock solid and I have not had any problems with my U70.

-A keyboard would come in handy for gaming for sure but if I really need one I plug in the Stowaway USB. You won't be doing much gaming on the OQO with it's 8 MB of video RAM but Warcraft 3 on the U is beautiful. :)

[Deus]

Its not even out yet and we are worried about performance with the low RAM.

Think this is a good candidate for a stripped down OS with eMbedded XP?

[SassKwatch]

Yeah, and it is running a much, much thicker OS, with an extremely anemic processor, only 256MB RAM, and (I would bet) slow as heck graphics. Can you imagine how much it will bog down once you throw a virus scanner on there.
This is only an 'extremely anemic processor' if you're a hard core gamer, video editor, major code wrangler, or something of that nature.

People keep harping on this and I've said it here before. That simply is not true. We run the Fujitsu P1120 (virtually same specs only with the 800mHz Crusoe processor) with a SQL Server instance running on it and it runs fine.

For the avg 'road warrior' who collects some email, does a little surfing, has a few .doc files, and maybe a few Powerpoint presentations to carry with him/her, devices of this nature will more than suffice.

Not everyone needs the latest/greatest/fastest processor and 1gb RAM. A *lot* less computing power will do the job just fine for a lot of users. The tech world needs to get over the idea that every computer user needs to have a Peterbilt with an 80 ft trailer attached when a simple Chevy pickup would do the job just as well.

[sbrown23]

This is only an 'extremely anemic processor' if you're a hard core gamer, video editor, major code wrangler, or something of that nature.

People keep harping on this and I've said it here before. That simply is not true. We run the Fujitsu P1120 (virtually same specs only with the 800mHz Crusoe processor) with a SQL Server instance running on it and it runs fine.

For the avg 'road warrior' who collects some email, does a little surfing, has a few .doc files, and maybe a few Powerpoint presentations to carry with him/her, devices of this nature will more than suffice.

Not everyone needs the latest/greatest/fastest processor and 1gb RAM. A *lot* less computing power will do the job just fine for a lot of users. The tech world needs to get over the idea that every computer user needs to have a Peterbilt with an 80 ft trailer attached when a simple Chevy pickup would do the job just as well.

I'm sorry, I have to disagree. The Crusoe by many many accounts is an anemic processor, and not just in the press. The first HP Tablet PC (TC1000 I believe) used a Transmeta Crusoe 1Ghz... and needless to say, the execs that got them were a little more than underwhelmed with the performance. Those that are now getting the TC1100 model with the Pentium M 1GHz are MUCH happier. For a $2000 palmtop, I should be getting state of the art.

From PC Magazine review of the TC1000: "In general, performance was below average, perhaps due to the software- dependent Transmeta Crusoe processor, which fights the OS and digital ink for task priority."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,924432,00.asp

From the PC Magazine review of the TC1100: "Another major improvement is the move away from the Transmeta platform to the 1.0-GHz Pentium M. While the old HP tablet performed abysmally, the new one does quite well for a unit with a low-voltage chip."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1383088,00.asp

That Transmeta processor, along with the high price, and low amount of RAM are all deal-killers. Throw a (very) thick OS like Windows XP, a virus scanner with on-access scanning, XP's Firewall, and a couple of apps (MS Office apps, IE, Lotus Notes) at this thing and I would bet it will bog down severely. Business users will run up against that 256MB RAM and start swapping out to disk much faster than they think.

[SassKwatch]

That Transmeta processor, along with the high price, and low amount of RAM are all deal-killers. Throw a (very) thick OS like Windows XP, a virus scanner with on-access scanning, XP's Firewall, and a couple of apps (MS Office apps, IE, Lotus Notes) at this thing and I would bet it will bog down severely. Business users will run up against that 256MB RAM and start swapping out to disk much faster than they think.

And those are virtually the identical specs we're running in the P1120. Xp Pro, 256mb RAM, 800mHz processor, SQL Server Personal Edition, AV stuff, yada, yad, Yoda. We have 25 of these devices running in that same config. And with the exception of the initial load time of the SQL based app, 'performance' is just not that bad.....certainly nowhere close to being a 'deal killer'.

You can quote all the mag reviews you choose, but I'd prefer to rely on things I've experienced with my own eyes on 25 such devices with ~75-80 different people using them.

It may be a deal killer for *YOU*, but it won't be for a lot of people.

[sbrown23]

I am not just quoting magazine reviews regarding the TC1000 and Transmeta Crusoe. Way to take it out of context. That was just supporting information. It certainly was a deal killer for all of the executives at my company that received the first iteration of the HP Tablet PC. I tested one, and agreed that performance was awful compared to Pentium III/4/M based laptops that were available at the time.

I still maintain that for a $2000+ palmtop, they should include better/faster technology. A ULV 1GHz Pentium M cannot be much more expensive than a 1GHz Crusoe. If this thing was going to be $1200 - 1500 then they might get away with the Crusoe. But this price is putting them in the range of higher end laptops and Tablets. All I can say is I doubt it will be very successful at that price with that feature set.

[plop265]

I want to use the OQO or the flipstart also for navigation. Alturion (naviagation-program) work on an PPC and on my desktop. I have a bluethooth GPS receiver so this could work I think but what about the volume of the spaekers of the OQO/flipstart. I never read anything about it maybe it is because nobody wants to use it for navigation ?
can somebody give me some feedback ?
Will there be a carstand available ?

many thanks