Smaller Is Better, Say Makers of Ultraportable PCs

Comments

• 	The incredible Cellular Phone + WindowsXP Computer Gaetano Marano on 01/26/2007 at 10:38 AM
  Posts: 71 Avg Rating:	. . I've found a (much smaller than OQO and Q1) advanced Cellular Phone + full performance WindowsXP Computer, all in a small 143 x 92 x 30 mm, 560 g. case! List of features and image here: www.gaetanomarano.it/news/001samsung.html . . Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: The incredible Cellular Phone + WindowsXP Computer smithsomian on 02/07/2008 at 1:07 PM
    Posts: 20 Avg Rating:	psst, 143 x 92 x 30 mm, 560 g. is not smaller than 142 x 83 x 26 mm, 450 g. (OQO 02).  Not to mention the better processor, RAM size and HD space. http://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=57 Rate this comment: (Reply)

• the Ultraportable PC ecelyot on 01/26/2007 at 5:17 PM

  Posts: 2

  Just read the piece and thought of the new iPhone. if the iPhone does what Jobs and Apple state it will then OQO isn't even in the ball park. It is instructive that OQO 1.0 did not rock too many worlds; perhaps because the market is too small? Listen to my Music, watch movies, phone everyone and surf the web and do my work too. Can OQO do that for $600 plus tax? Seems a hard act for OQO to follow. Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: the Ultraportable PC gabrielg01 on 01/26/2007 at 7:13 PM
    Posts: 314 Avg Rating:	OQO runs Vista, and it can do anything a computer can do, except hardcore gaming. Did you actually read the article? The iPhone is just another overhyped, candy-colored yesterday's device for the iFools. A cell phone without 3G is not a latest generation machine. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• i like my oqo model 01 bshanks on 01/29/2007 at 9:15 PM

  Posts: 3

  I have an OQO model 01 and I like it. I usually keep it in my pocket and I use it frequently to write down notes to myself (books or journal articles suggested by friends, phone numbers, to-do items). I also take it to class and use it to take notes. Sometimes I use it to connect to the wireless internet from various locations. I have a regular laptop, but I never take it out of my apartment anymore; the regular laptop just sits on my desk in my room, and sometimes on the dinner table. It's nice not to lug around a laptop, and equally nice to have a place to write a note or book suggestion at a time when you wouldn't have brought a laptop (say, while out to dinner with another grad student if we talk about our research) (yes, napkins and pads of paper exist, but when I used to do that, I found that I lost all of the notes). As a test of its usability, I took the OQO to a wiki conference in place of a laptop and it did the trick. It's the only thing that I know of that fits in your pocket, has a keyboard, and can run standard Debian GNU/Linux without undue hassle. The article claims the OQO 01 had a number of problems, but they weren't problems for me. It's significantly slower than today's laptops, but my other laptop (other than the oqo) is 5 years old, so the OQO was actually a slight step up for me. The limited battery life is ameliorated by the small size and light weight of the batteries; I just carry a spare battery with me in my pocket next to the OQO. One of my few complaints about the 01 was that the keyboard was not backlit. So, I expect that OQO 02 will be great, too. My only fear is that the increase in size will make it that much less suitable to fit in one's pocket. My plan is to buy an OQO every other computer (with normal laptops interspersed in case I ever want to do heavy-duty number crunching or run games). However, I am a niche market. I suspect that computer nerds like me will all acquire UMPCs once they get cheaper. I suspect that other people won't buy them until we have computer screens in our sunglasses and air keyboards (at which point the GPS and location-based social networking and IM will become killer apps). Rate this comment: (Reply)