OQO Ultra-Portable Impresses At CES

carpoolio writes "One of the most-talked about gadgets at CES last week was the OQO ultra personal computer (uPC). TechTV gave it a Best Mobile Device award, and deservedly so. It's a fully functional PC that fits in your pocket. Running on a 1 GHz Transmeta Crusoe processor, the uPC packs a 20 GB hard drive, 256 MB of RAM, and has a color screen that slides up to reveal the keyboard. The price? Sub-$2,000. Photos available on OQO's Web site. Similar devices have come and gone in recent years, but this one really looks nice." OQO seems to be slowly migrating from vaporware to a release date - a CNET News article notes that "OQO said Thursday that it will begin selling the device in the second half of 2004."

Windows Only?

[ThisIsAnExampleAccou]

From the C|Net article:

The machines run Microsoft's Windows XP operating system and all the software that goes with it

I know this is pretty much a /. cliche, but I think that it is actually warranted in this case - can you run Linux on it?

I can think of several functional uses that a PC of this size could fulfil running Linux.

Re:That's weird

[Jeffrey Baker]

RS-232 is an extremely useful interface. If I had to choose a port to jettison from PC laptops, the parallel port would be my first preference. I don't understand why this huge and useless connector is still included on most PC laptops.

Re:That's weird

[Tackhead]

> Is that an RS-232 port I see on the side? If it is, why? Is there something wrong with just providing a few USB ports?

Data acquisition and sensing is one of the Really Cool Applications for an ultraportable. It's a hell of a lot easier for Joe Labgeek to h4x0r something together that talks RS-232 than USB. I'm glad there's at least one "legacy" port.

RE: Major problem.

[fshalor]

The darn thing runs windows!. Oh.. Nm. All the other specs sound like my ibook. Needs more ram though.

I don't think this'll be fun to type on, though I'd say it would be much better than the PDA's of today. Looks well constructed from the pictures.

I'll wait for the solid state CF 2.0 GB internal drive. I've had it with HD's in portable devices. I love my iPod, but I've had so many HD's fail on me that I'm sick of replacing them.

Re:That's weird

[kruczkowski]

GPS and Routers/switches.

Go on groupstudy.com and see how people complain about the new laptops that don't have a serial port.

iPod killer

[Anonymous Coward]

No need for an iPod when you can carry around a whole computer.

Re:I checked this out a couple days ago...

[Neon Spiral Injector]

I guess I am a niche buyer. But this is exactly what I'm looking for. Laptops are too big, PDAs don't have enough power (and also can't run x86 code).

I'd take one and two docking stations (one for home and one for work), but it has to run Linux.

Re:aPC...

[NanoGator]

"Isn't that called Windows XP?"

If you had said Windows 98, modern Windows users would have found that amusing as well as the uninformed Linux zealots.

So tired of waiting.

[Hexydes]

The said this thing would be out in late 2002, early 2003, late 2003, early 2004, and now late 2004. Who cares? They said the price was going to be $800. Then $1,000. Now $2,000. Who cares?

Neat idea, but the company really sucks at delivering. At least update your webpage. They are only 3 months away from not updating it in 2 years. That's just pathetic. They need to invest in some more resources and a PR team.

Re:Uses?

[lordvdr]

I'm sorry, I use my PDA many many times a day. For the basics, ya know, address book, calendar. I don't use it for much beyond that, other than games, a convenient subnet calculator, etc. But saying that PDAs are a solution waiting for a problem is obviously someone who has never really had one. I'd love an easy to use method to get phone numbers into my phone so I only had to put them one place (NOT going to get a PDA/phone, no way), but other than that, could not LIVE without my PDA.
-lv

Re:Uses?

[Rostin]

?? I use my PDA all the time, as do many people. I tell it when my meetings are, and it alarms a few minutes before to remind me. I put in all my phone numbers, addresses, etc, and then they are at my fingertips, wherever I go. And, no, I don't have a cell phone that I could put that stuff in. I even have a street map program that gives me directions and lets me search for addresses. Finally, I use it pretty often as a calculator. Could I carry around a "little black book," a bunch of street maps, a scientific calculator, and tie a bunch of strings around my fingers? Yeah, I guess so, and if I did, I wouldn't have any use for the PDA. But I'm pretty happy with having all that functionality in a box that's the size of a deck of cards.

a tad late?

[Chilles]

The specs are still all right, I guess..for the size... but when they announced it almost two years ago it had specs I'd die for, right now it's just a too low spec too small expensive laptop, or a too high spec, too short battery life, too heavy pda.
If it had the size of an average contemporary PDA with these specs it'd be ultra, or with the performance of a P4 2.5GHz with a 120 GB HD and 1024 MB of RAM (a contemporary PC) then it'd be ultra too. Right now it's just a bit smaller, a bit lower performance, a bit more expensive... just a different compromise. Windows XP and Office XP on this hardware? Nothing ultra about that.

They're still speaking in terms of: "it will be available in QX of 200Y" though, so maybe they're just waiting for the year ipaq's have these specs and HP is willing to produce them OEM style so they can slap their by then hype-laden brand-name on...

Re:Uses?

[CarrionBird]

I use mine a good bit. Basic text entry and word processing, emails, light web browsing, and the traditional PDA functions.

Plus it doubles as an mp3 player and voice recorder. Basiclly I use it when and where I don't want to lug around all the stuff that goes with my laptop. I can fit the unit and keyboard in a large coat pocket, along with my cell if I need net access. Look at the Dana, basically a palm os based laptop. For some people, that would do everything they need a laptop for. For many others, it would be woefully inadequate.

It all really depends on what you would do in a mobile setting and if you can tolerate the smaller screens.

Transmeta's Advance

[munch0wnsy0u]

Everyone and their dog seems to think that Transmeta will never make it in terms of their ultra low heat and ultra portable processors. These things, especially seeing as this one could get off the gound, will be Transmeta's saving grace. They have realized that GHz is no longer the barometer by which users in the know guage performance but it is power consumption and consequently battery life that becomes important as our society moves towards portability bundled with performance. Transmeta has found their niche and, through products like these, will finally realize their potential.

Re:Uses?

[Anonymous Coward]

PDA's aren't really for everyone.... yet. I use mine quite often though, and for reasons that I think a lot of people would want them as well if they were slightly more accessible. One of the major things I like to use it for is watching video. I can re-encode one of my DVD's down to 320x240 resolution so that it will fit easily onto a 256 meg SD card and then watch it quite clearly wherever I want. Add to that the standard PDA functions like calendars and contact lists, the ability to quickly check my email at a wifi access point, the ability to read ebooks, listen to mp3s, view maps and play simple games all in a form factor that can fit easily into my pocket. I know I was looking for something that could do all of these things for a while until someone introduced me to the modern PDA, now I find that at least for me its pretty indispensible.

same here!

[simpl3x]

so, i bought a fujitsu tablet which weighs in under three pounds. on the road, i access email via a cdma modem, and hunt and peck my way through the emails. at home or at the office, i use a keyboard. the weight was my primary issue. i was really tired of lugging around a full laptop, when the uses for a pc on the road are primarily information gathering and communication.

my questions about the oqo are: will it use tablet edition of xp, and isn't a 1gz transmeta a bit backwards for 9 months from now? i like the profile/size, but i think people underestimate the power requirements for a pc you want to use in different settings, particularly graphics processors.

Re:Uses?

[way2trivial]

with two sets of full size monitor/keyboard/mouse at home and work, you can always pick up where you left off.. + a full computer for use in the field... hmm.. it's like having three perfectly computers all perfectly synchronized....