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."

Comments

Sorry, you missed the boat.

[Seth Finklestein]

I remember hearing about OQO a long time ago; I was even invited to an early meeting where the prototype was shown. (It looked just like the "machine" they keep trotting out for press photos.)

If they introduced this three years ago, it might have sold. Now, there's the Cappuccino PC, which has been through several revisions since its introduction. Likewise, I can build a Mini-ITX PC for a fraction of the price of this new OQO. Furthermore, I can run any OS I want; this OQO can only run Windows XP. Yuck.

I'm afraid that I can't endorse the OQO. Sorry, guys. Next time don't produce so much vapour.

Sincerely,
Seth Finklestein
Miniature Computer Expert

Re:Windows Only?

[Seth Finklestein]

No, you cannot run Linux on it. There is all sorts of dedicated hardware inside the OQO that is not available to the general public (e.g. you). It would take months if not years to reverse-engineer all the hardware; and then you would get sued under the DCMA.

I'd recommend a nice Mini-ITX PC. You get to build it yourself, and you can run whatever you want with it.

Sincerely,
Seth Finklestein
Pundit