HardwareGeeks.com - Review: OQO

Posted by: Justin on Fri, Mar 07th, 2008

A couple of weeks ago I ordered an OQO Model 01+, and it arrived shortly after. I made a post about it on the forums, and promised to follow up with a review of the system, so here is is, along with my original post:

http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/board/showthread.php?t=35950

(Out of 10)
Comfort: 9
Power: 6
Practical Use: 8
Cosmetic: 10

Comfort; When I first unboxed the OQO, plugged it in and powered it up, I was amazed as I started using it. The tactile feedback from the keyboard was very comfortable, as was the unit’s sturdiness and weight. The screen has a good viewing able, and being transflective it works amazingly well in lighted conditions, without the back light even being on. All the keys are easy to reach, the trackstick works well, as does the scrollwheel. The only real complaint I have is when you have a cable plugged into the audio-out, USB, or firewire plugs built into the device, it becomes more awkward to hold, and you have to adjust your hands accordingly, however, this is trivial as worst.

Power; Now, before I start talking about the devices speed and power, it’s important to remember that it is a UMPC, and the smallest fully-featured one in the world, to my knowledge. That said, the devices overall speed is absolutely amazing for it’s size. It’s responsive, capable, and can even run games like Unreal Tournament. The device has a 1.0GHz Transmeta Crusoe CPU, which means the OQO’s heart is actually a hardware emulator of types. The CPU itself uses a proprietary instruction set, with a software HAL that translates the instructions from x86 to the CPU’s actual instruction set. However, while this sounds kind of lackluster even to me, you really don’t notice at all when using the device. It cold boots in about 35-40 seconds, shuts down in about the same, and there is hardly any noticeable delay when starting and running applications, even when running more then one at a time. It’s absolutely astonishing to use, because it’s so tiny and comfortable, yet runs a full featured OS, and has everything anyone would need for a laptop. However, it only has 512MB of RAM which does limit it somewhat when it comes to major multi-tasking, but overall, for it’s size, it’s amazingly powerful.

Practical Use; This is one of the areas where the OQO really shines. Within five minutes of unboxing it, I was surfing web pages, checking my email, instant messaging, chatting on IRC, and even installing and playing Unreal Tournament. Beyond very basic gaming or office type use, the OQO is a prime device for use when it comes to wardriving. Netstumbler installs on it and works with it’s built in wireless card, as does Airmagnet’s Laptop Analyzer. I was even able to install my Wi-Spy 2.4x Wireless Monitor, and with the device plugged it into the built in USB port, it worked amazingly well, on battery power nonetheless. I haven’t tried my GPS yet, but I’m certain it’ll work just as well with Netstumbler, and hell, you can even install Linux on the device.

Cosmetic; There really isn’t much to say about the cosmetics of the device, other then how absurdly cute it is. It’s well designed, by Apple’s former powerbook G4 Titanium team, and it’s shiny, sturdy, and very aesthetically appealing.

All in all, I’m very VERY happy with the device, and I hope to be using it for a very long time. I plan to take some pictures or videos of it in action later and post those, so you guys can see what all it’s capable of.