OQO Model 01+ Review
By Chris De Herrera, Founder
Date:  4/4/2006

The OQO Model 01+ is the next generation of the original OQO which I first saw at CES in 2004. Well since 2004, the OQO has only had some minor improvements. They have increased the ram to 512MB and now support USB 2.0. Also, they now offer the option for users to purchase the Tablet PC OS for the OQO. Here's my review of the OQO Model 01+ with Windows XP, Tablet PC Edition after using it for the past month:

Whats In The Box?

The OQO ships with an AC adapter, Airplane charger, stand, soft neoprene case and the docking cable.  In addition you also get the restore CDs and a Start Guide which you might miss since they are stored in the lid of the box..

Display

The 5" LCD with 800 x 480 resolution has 4 levels of backlight.  However the backlight is very dim compared to other mobile devices I have used.  It is visible in sunlight however the screen must be in direct sunlight. The small display along with the medium resolution makes it hard to read small fonts - even OQO ships the unit with large fonts enabled.  Also, websites designed for 1024 x 768 require the user to scroll left and right to read them.

Here's a comparison of the font sizes.  Keep in mind that the display is 4.25 inches wide (much smaller than the one you are looking at).

Extra Large

Large

Normal

Pen Input

The pen input actually uses a Wacom digitizer.  So you can use the provided stylus or the AT Cross stylus or other Wacom stylus only.  The screen has a squishy rubber over it so when you press the pen to the display, it feels soft so you do not get the same tactile feedback you do with a regular Tablet PC.  The squishynees of the display reminds me of the early touch screens for PDAs.  I found that even with the large fonts enabled, it was sometimes difficult to accurately tap using the stylus on menu buttons.  The Pen does support pressure sensitivity so you can use applications that such as ArtRage which take advantage of this feature. Now the OQO offers Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, however it’s at a steep premium of $100 over the list price of Windows XP Professional.  I asked Jory Bell, Fonder, at CES in 2006 about the delay in supporting the Tablet PC OS from when the OQO was announced in 2005 and was told that OQO was working on refining the quality of the pen input for inking.

Keyboard

The built in keyboard that you can pull down from behind the display can be handy. When I pull down the keyboard it does not feel smooth.  OQO uses gears that move the display and they are visible if you look from the back so make sure you don't get anything stuck in there.  I found that it was best for me to type with my thumbs like I used to with the Handheld PCs.  The keyboard was easy to press and there are indicators for caps lock and scroll lock on it.   Also, on the keyboard to the right is a pointing stick which you can use to navigate and the mouse buttons (left and right) are located on the left.  So you have to get used to performing mouse functions with both hands.

Here's a closeup of the keyboard:

Here's the back of the display close up so you can see the the gears:

Wireless

The OQO comes with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi built in.  However I found that the Wi-Fi antenna sensitivity is far inferior to other designs.  It is about 1/2 as sensitive as other Tablet PCs I have.  If you need good Wi-Fi coverage, I suggest you consider a USB Wi-Fi adapter.

Here's a closeup of the Bluetooth Antenna:

Ports

The OQO has the ability to plug in a USB device as well as a FireWire 1394 device at the same time.  There is no PC Card slot so you can't use the latest EvDO or other wireless PC Cards with it.  You can hook up a docking cable that looks like a snake which offers VGA, headphone, USB, FireWire 1394 and 10/100 Ethernet to make the OQO a desktop replacement however the cable is cumbersome to use.

Bottom

Left Side - FireWire Port and Wi-Fi Antenna

Software

The OQO includes their own control panel applet to allow users to adjust their settings.  However there is no option to adjust the brightness of the display or turn on or off the Wi-Fi connection or turn on the external VGA adapter. To perform these functions  you must use the keyboard.  This negates the usability of the stylus since you have to switch between the keyboard and the display to access these functions.

Here's a screen shot of the OQO Settings application:

Performance

The additional ram in the OQO Model 01+ runs more smoothly. I can see a significant difference when loading Office applications especially when running more than one application at a time. Also, the additional ram is a real requirement for the Tablet PC OS since it uses more ram for the Tablet Input Panel and the inking functionality. Even though the OQO has a 1 GHz Transmeta CPU, it performs slower than the Intel Pentium M CPUs at the same clock speed. Further OQO has to throttle back the clock speed of the Transmeta CPU to approximately 300 MHz (according to their utility) due to heat dissipation and power consumption.

The battery life with the standard battery is pretty short at approximately 2 hours of moderate use. I would say that the extended battery is a must if you really want to use it most of the day without recharging. However the unit will be heavier and the extended battery will set you back $250.  I do like the built in battery status where you can press a button and see how much power is left in the battery.

Conclusion

The OQO Model 01+ allows users to carry Windows XP, Tablet PC Edition with them easily. For mobile users they will have to get used to reading small fonts on the display that may be too dim for them to read it well.  However I do not see it as a desktop replacement due to the low CPU speed and the limited amount of ram.  Overall the OQO Model 01+ represents a compromised design based on 2004 technology that hasn't progressed far enough today to meet users needs effectively.  At a list price of $2,099 you are paying a premium for a small Windows XP Tablet PC compared to the Ultra Mobile PCs that are coming for much less.

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