OQO Preorder Page Up [Archive] - Thoughts Media Forums

Janak Parekh

10-13-2004, 06:00 PM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.oqo.com/store/shop.cgi/op/op_index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.oqo.com/store/shop.cgi/op/op_index.html</a><br /><br /></div>As I mentioned <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=32224">a month ago</a>, OQO was planning to launch their device in mid-October. Looks like that's the case, sort of: you can now preorder the OQO. The image on their site suggests:<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20041013-OQOAvailable.jpg" /><br /><br />I take a little exception to this being equivalent to "available", though. If a unit is preorderable, that doesn't actually mean it's here. I'll be glad to see the units shipping, but we have to wait... just a little bit more. :| We'll be happy to post on it again, though, when regular review sites and users get their hands on it. I'm also curious if Sony will take the bait and start offering their U model devices here... as it is, they've already beaten OQO out of the gate, but they're only officially selling the units in Japan.

MikeUnwired

10-13-2004, 06:25 PM

Until real people start getting their "pre-orders" filled, I'd be inclined to sit back and wait on this. It's still vaporware to me. With the price, I can't see these flying off the shelves even when they do deliver because they are coming from a micro-cottage-style company rather than a known quantity. Now, if Sony suddenly came into the market, I could see their units moving quite nicely -- people trust Sony to actually deliver and support their products.

alabij

10-13-2004, 06:52 PM

I have a feeling that the 'preorder' is a way to determine if its worth mass producing this concept of theirs.

GoldKey

10-13-2004, 06:53 PM

If you look at the alt text for the image on the page, it says "Now Shipping!". Pitty the visually impaired user who places an order.

arebelspy

10-13-2004, 07:14 PM

I don't think Sony will be coming into the U.S. market after so recently leaving the U.S. PDA market (their clie line), althoguh this is slightly different (handheld versus PDA).

Rumors say though that the U50/U70 are being discontinued though, even in Japan.. further reason they won't bring them to the U.S.

http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/archives/000607.php

http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2004/09/sony_u50_discon.html

-arebelspy

Underwater Mike

10-13-2004, 07:21 PM

Too bad, as the U70 is uber-cool, if out of my price range.

Ed Hansberry

10-13-2004, 07:38 PM

hotweiss

10-13-2004, 07:39 PM

If only the price was around $1000, I'd highly consider the OQO. But for $1899, I'd rather go backpacking through Asia or Europe for two months.

csterns

10-13-2004, 08:36 PM

The size of this blows me away. I just measured my Axim X30 in its case and it is the same size. 14 ounces versus 3 pounds of my Tablet PC (slate mode) makes this tempting to me to sell my Tablet and jump on one of these. I could converge my Axim and Tablet into one. It certainly would be a nice compliment to my desktop setup. Now if it were a phone too that would be awesome but that would be asking too much.

20GB HD bothers me a little in that you might have to juggle some programs and be selective as to what you install. Still with the digitizer pen and third party software you could make this into a neat little tablet device.

Typhoon

10-13-2004, 09:17 PM

$2000 = too expensive! = BOOOOOOO!!!!

What is wrong w/OQO? How can they expect people to be productive on a computer that only has 256 MB of RAm, 1 GHz CPU, run all necessary apps, browse the web, etc. 1 GHz maybe okay, but 256 MB of RAM is too little. Norton AV has to run. Run IE in about 15 windows might be too much (so Opera would have to be used). XP Pro is neccessary for VS Studio. I think the OQO sucks in hardware wise. For $2000 its a ripoff. The only thing you can do w/it is draw and run MP3s. And where is Tablet PC? Maybe there is 3rd party writing drivers in there.

Typhoon

10-13-2004, 09:53 PM

NOTE:
The OQO:
1) can't run Windows Tablet PC
2) can't use a stylus
3) The pen it uses is not a stylus but some sort of navagational pen
4) won't mention capatibility w/Linux
5) 3D hardware acceleration only supports "Direct3D" ony in 16-bit mode
6) only supports DirectX8.0
7) using this pen you have to use 3rd party software (would have to buy?)
8) says that "The digital pen works best when it is held very nearly perpendicular to the screen. Try to minimize the amount of "slant" that you give the pen relative to the screen" meaning that their 'pen' sucks.
9) doesn't have any speakers...you have to add headphone or ext. speakers
10) has probably many more problems and limited functionalities as well

Literally this device sucks. It's great that it is small but I can't imagine anymore uses for it besides being a portable multimedia device ($2000). I thought that at least w/a pen you can draw, etc....but it looks like it's not what we thought it was. I just wait for them to lower the price and come out w/a newer model w/better specs. I think the Dell X50v would serve me better.

Gen-M

10-13-2004, 10:02 PM

Evidently people are being told that units will ship from Singapore within 5 days of the order being processed. (http://www.handtops.com)

NY Times has a review (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/13/technology/circuits/13CND-STATE.html?oref=login&oref=login&8dpc?8hpib) of the device.

Janak Parekh

10-13-2004, 10:21 PM

Why in the world does this come with XP Pro or XP Home and not the Tablet PC edition? :confused totally: I know that "Tablet PC" didn't exist when the OQO first started to get hyped, but it has been out several years now and on its second revision, Tablet PC 2005.
AFAIK, the Tablet PC certification requirements specify an electrostatic digitizer, not a pressure-sensitive one like what the Pocket PCs use. All micro PCs don't ship with the Tablet PC OS as a result, although people have reported success manually overwriting the machine with a Tablet PC CD (say, from MSDN).

--janak

jlp

10-13-2004, 10:56 PM

AFAIK, OQO's digitizer is electrostatic, it's a custom Wacom Penabled one.

God knows why the OQO doesn't ship with WinXP TPC.

What I know is that the requirement for the digitizer is to be x times denser than the screen, and at an already very dense rez, it would be very expensive at best; probably even out of the now feasible.

Might be a cost driven reason too, possibly would make the device more than $2000 since the OQO with XP Pro is already $1999; and knowing XP TPC is a superset of XP Pro.

I've read (hantops.com I think) that there already is one laptop with a touch screen that doesn't come with XP TPC for costs reason but is bundled with EverNote.com's ink recognition apps and utils.

Something that the OQO could run too. 8)

Janak Parekh

10-14-2004, 03:20 AM

AFAIK, OQO's digitizer is electrostatic, it's a custom Wacom Penabled one.
Ah! I stand corrected then. It must indeed be the sturdiness of the screen. The prerelease unit we saw at CeBIT was indeed a bit spongy -- a bit too much for my tastes -- and hopefully they've managed to firm it up for the final release.

--janak

arebelspy

10-14-2004, 04:05 AM

Typhoon

10-14-2004, 04:43 AM

Does it matter that much that it doesn't come with Tablet PC OS? I'll be installing it onto the OQO if I buy one..

PPCT itself reported about jkontherun's U70 with Tablet PC OS (comes with XP): http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=268273&sid=04b1095ded46239448214b4534520ebe

Plus Tablet PC 2005 comes with Service Pack 2 FREE.. it is just installed or not depending on what serial number you use.. so anyone with a Tablet can use that serial number when installing Windows onto their OQO, then upgrade to SP2 free and get the Tablet PC 2005 OS installed onto their OQO really easily. :D

True, it's a slight hassle compared to if it was natively installed, but nothing that any of us Geeks can't handle. ;)

-arebelspy

Well, the OQO website says that it isn't possible to install the Tablet PC edition of Windows on an OQO because the OQO's screen wasn't designed the same way. The 'pen' that comes w/the OQO isn't a stylus, it's supposed some sort of navagational pen... sucks huh? I've given up hopes on this stupid device. I've been waiting 4-5 years for this? All the anticipation wasn't worth it. I wonder how successful their pathetic device will be. But I think the functionality of the OQO can be saved if their qwerty keyboard is functions well productively. W/out a good input, what's the point of carry it around? And plus, the website says that inorder to use the 'pen' you have to hold it perpindicular to the screen.

IpaqMan2

10-14-2004, 01:03 PM

If the OQO fails.... I'd have to say it will be for the same reason why Sony's u50/u70 fails...... Because of PRICE!

Truely I think there is a market for ultra small and portable computers running a full blown version of Windows being just little bigger than the typical PDA, everywhere from students, to hospitals, law enforment and so on... but not at or near 2k. That's just insane... There's just not enough computer (power) to justify that kind of money.

gry

10-14-2004, 07:58 PM

Unless you can afford it.

Hey it's the age of the digital divide and SF (OQO's HQ) has 20% of the top 5% wage earners in the US. Maybe they're just being snobby? :wink:

spg

10-14-2004, 09:42 PM

Well, the OQO website says that it isn't possible to install the Tablet PC edition of Windows on an OQO because the OQO's screen wasn't designed the same way. The 'pen' that comes w/the OQO isn't a stylus, it's supposed some sort of navagational pen... sucks huh? I've given up hopes on this stupid device. I've been waiting 4-5 years for this? All the anticipation wasn't worth it. I wonder how successful their pathetic device will be. But I think the functionality of the OQO can be saved if their qwerty keyboard is functions well productively. W/out a good input, what's the point of carry it around? And plus, the website says that inorder to use the 'pen' you have to hold it perpindicular to the screen.
Actually, I think alot of that info is false. I had a chance to play with an OQO unit here a few weeks back, when I had a meeting with an engineer from Wacom. The pen is no different from any other Wacom pen, and I even used my Cross/Wacom Tablet PC pen on it. I certainly didn't have any impression of being forced to hold it perpindicular to the screen either. Not sure why they would include that info on their site.

I'm not completely sold on the OQO yet, but I do like the idea of having an ultra-portable tablet style computer. Because of this I did place an order for one yesterday, and I plan to install Windows XP Tablet PC Edition once it gets here. I plan on writing a review for my site, and detailing how hard (or easy) it ends up being to install the Tablet PC OS.

Right now they have given me an estimated "Reg. Date" of Oct. 16th, and an estimated "Due Date" of Oct. 25th. I'm not sure exactly what those mean, but I'm guessing the 25th is an estimated ship date, or the latest that it might ship. Don't really know, but since I have seen an played with one in person, I'm probably a little more inclined to think it is real this time around. :-)

spg

10-14-2004, 09:49 PM

And of course... when it comes to gadgets who would you expect to be the first person on the block to get one and take photos? Why pt of course. :-)

Just saw this from him on Engadget -

http://www.engadget.com/entry/9535533665475287/

howardholton

10-15-2004, 04:20 PM

jlp

10-16-2004, 04:22 AM

The only real problem I have with the device is the 2.5 hour battery life. 5 hours would be a minimum, but none-the-less I will be buying one for XMAS - after I saw the engadget pics and realized that it was only a little larger than my ipod or pda I was sold.

All you need is an extra OQO battery that's only $99 (reg. $149), about the same price as the Dell extended battery yet has double the Amperage.

8)

As for the size, as I write it in my Avatar it's the size of an average PDA!! virtually the size of my Dell Axim X5.

8)

Darius Wey

10-26-2004, 08:00 AM

I couldn't let ZDNet's (http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/OQO_Model_01/4505-3121_16-31124684.html?tag=promo2) fantastic rating go unnoticed. Looks like the PDA wins again. :D

Typhoon

10-26-2004, 09:02 AM

I just read ZDNet's review... pretty sad...

jlp

10-26-2004, 09:25 AM

Typhoon

10-26-2004, 09:33 AM

I couldn't let ZDNet's (http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/OQO_Model_01/4505-3121_16-31124684.html?tag=promo2) fantastic rating go unnoticed. Looks like the PDA wins again. :D

Tho it compares in size with many PDAs in use today, why trying to compare (globally) the OQO with PDAs and wrongly state "PDA wins again" 8O?? Try running WinXP apps on your "regular" PDA to see.

"regular" PDAs win in term of:
a) battery life
b) and weight

But PDAs loose big in terms of:
a) running standard XP apps (they simply can't)
b) storage capacity (stadard:20GB vs 0.06GB to 0.1GB 8O),
c) desktop peripherals connectivity (can't connect to FireWire h/w, can't burn to DC/DVD drives, can't print to any USB printer, etc.)
d) and the list goes on...

:razzing:

A lot of what you say is true... but I wonder what the trend of PDA specs will be like two years from now. Hey can the PPC port of Bochs run Win XP? I always want to know... but I know, if it did, it wouldn't be suitably fast enough. I contacted Mamaich who did the port of Bochs and he claimed that he could get it to run much faster... even if it is possible to increase the speed, his reply in email to me made me wonder if he was bluffing...

But if you look at it this way, and maybe ZDNet was looking at it this way, more people might buy a PDA over a OQO anyday if you compare them side by side (w/the facts). I think the OQO needs major help if they want to succeed. $2000 for an extremely weak version of a laptop that can't finish a video w/Windows Media Player in less than 2 hours? Pretty sad.

Darius Wey

10-26-2004, 09:39 AM

I couldn't let ZDNet's (http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/OQO_Model_01/4505-3121_16-31124684.html?tag=promo2) fantastic rating go unnoticed. Looks like the PDA wins again. :D

Tho it compares in size with many PDAs in use today, why trying to compare (globally) the OQO with PDAs and wrongly state "PDA wins again" 8O?? Try running WinXP apps on your "regular" PDA to see.

Well my use of "PDA wins again" was purely subjective. It's really up to personal choice. jlp, I know you are very pro-OQO and I have nothing against that. In fact, I can actually say that the OQO may have a promising future ahead of it. However, IMO, while it does have the added benefits of being able to perform all of your normal computer functions, there are some things I feel it could improve on:

(1) The fact that it runs Windows is one thing, but it almost seems a bit bloated for a screen of that size. I feel as though MS should be working toward providing some sort of OQO-based version (I keep typing QOQ for some reason!!! :( ) of Windows. One that takes advantage of the full features of Windows XP, but one that is optimised for the size of the OQO.
(2) Although the OQO loses in terms of battery life and weight, it is respectable in the sense that it's a very apples/oranges concept. Both do different things, so both would have different life/weight statistics. If you wanted true portability, there's the PDA. If you wanted true power, there's the OQO. It really depends on what you want, and at the end of the day, you will have to offset one of those benefits for the other.

IMO, I merely stated "PDA wins again" with reference to the "battery life", "size", and "weight", as touted in the negative points raised in that review. However, ask me again which one performs better, and you may see those three words change to something like "OQO packs a punch". It's purely subjective. For now, I'm in touch with the "portable" side of things. If I wanted power, I always have my laptop here. :D The OQO still has a long way to go in the years ahead, and it will be interesting to see how it captures consumers in this "mobile market". ;)

Typhoon

10-26-2004, 09:56 AM

Yea I love the idea of the OQO too... I was thinking about getting one too... but not until I read those reviews. I want to wait and see what happens though. If they can take care of the specs and everything and lower the price...eeks! that price! It's hard for tech students, who probably obsessed about having one (like me) up until it's release/preorder, to get money to pay $2000 for such a thing. I think I emailed them 6 seperate times w/questions over a span of a long time... one of the questions I had asked was about possible student discounts...but guess what? No replies at all. Then what they got to show for all the hype of about 4 years is a portable $2000 junk assistant =) sorry, I just think they failed me and many other students out there. It's kind of like they showed me overly large egostical behavior. Oh well... one less customer...

Doesn't anyone think it is kind of wierd though? That 4 years of hype and this is what they want to sell? I remember seeing this thing in a sci. magazine long time ago. I also notice that I could not find any user reviews on the ZDNet review. That is wierd as well. The review was done on October 13th. For any other review, their are always opinions or reviews from people who are just judging from the review and not real user experience. I'm wondering if OQO has some agreement w/ZDNet about post people's reviews. It looks OQO themselves are not too positive on their initial outcome...

Darius Wey

10-26-2004, 10:07 AM

Yea I love the idea of the OQO too... I was thinking about getting one too... but not until I read those reviews. I want to wait and see what happens though. If they can take care of the specs and everything and lower the price...eeks! that price! It's hard for tech students, who probably obsessed about having one (like me) up until it's release/preorder, to get money to pay $2000 for such a thing. I think I emailed them 6 seperate times w/questions over a span of a long time... one of the questions I had asked was about possible student discounts...but guess what? No replies at all. Then what they got to show for all the hype of about 4 years is a oortable $2000 junk assistant =) sorry, I just think they failed me. It's kind of like they showed me egostical behavior. Oh well... one less customer...

Well, if you look at it, in actuality, the OQO is a whole new concept. When the first Pocket PC came out, my-oh-my, the price! The specs! Yet with time, the specs improve and so do the price. The current OQO is very much a "prototype" design, and I'm sure in due course, future models of the OQO will be packed with faster processors, GPUs, RAM, HDDs, etc.

IMO, I wouldn't be rushing to purchase one now as the price will drop in the future. Remember when the P4 3.0GHz processor was pushing the upper limits of the price spectrum, yet look at it now and it's dirt cheap (comparatively)? I believe you'll see the same trend - and it's funny, because technology has always been like that. :D You can never completely satisfy the inner "geek", otherwise you'd be broke in a matter of minutes; that is why you have to make that compromise by making "waiting time" as another issue to consider.

Typhoon

10-26-2004, 10:09 AM

lol i totally agree

Darius Wey

10-26-2004, 05:39 PM

lol i totally agree

Well this topic is getting interesting - I just read this article posted 10 minutes ago (which incidentally, you can find here (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1211&e=1&u=/nm/20041026/tc_nm/column_pluggedin_dc&sid=95573372) ;))

Not doubting the future potential of the OQO, but some of the points made by the writer I found interesting:

Yet as might be expected in a device called the "Model 01," the OQO has fallen short of many reviewers' expectations.
The price of an OQO, many say, could also buy a sleek and light notebook computer that lacks any of these compromises.

Like I said before, comparing the PDA and the OQO is a very apples and oranges concept. And even the writer agreed:

The debate over "pocketability" and its trade-offs is not likely to settle down any time soon.

The other point made was:

OQO, with its sleek design and unusual looks, has made an impression on the early adopter set and can even be seen occasionally on prime-time television. But it is not a guaranteed market hit. Bell wouldn't discuss any plans for a "Model 02" of the OQO. "The success of the version zero-one," he said, "is what's going to drive whether we're around to do a zero-two."

What Model 02 has in store for us, we won't know at this time. However, while a lot of critical points were drawn out of this article, I am in no way anti-OQO. The increasing frequency of OQO rant articles popping up around the net goes to show that the comparison of the PDA and the OQO is entirely subjective. I believe we need to wait for the PDA to increase ini power, and the OQO to increase in portability, before we see some sort of competitive behaviour between the two. 8) My thoughts anyway... ;)