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Review: OQO 01+By Jørgen Sundgot, Tuesday 2 May 2006
GALLERY
OQO 01+
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OQO 01+
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OQO 01+
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OQO 01+
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OQO 01+
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OQO 01+
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You don't get PCs smaller than this: the 14-oz OQO 01+ boasts Windows XP Tablet PC 2005 on a 5-inch touch screen, a 30 GB hard drive, thumbboard, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. A review by Jørgen Sundgot.

Review summary of the OQO 01+:
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OQO 01+ Despite its considerable technological prowess, the OQO 01+ makes a spectacular fall between two chairs. As compared to high-end business phones, the added functionality on offer is too restricted by poor data entry, a mediocre screen and limited battery life to justify the added bulk and hefty price tag. Meanwhile, converting the unit into a full-blown laptop is a cumbersome process which leaves the user with far less horsepower than a comparably priced laptop. This is an expensive executive toy - albeit a resoundingly impressive one. Release: April 2006. Price: $1900.
Pros: Ability to run any Windows application in a truly portable form factor
Cons: Short battery life; dim and unprecise touch screen; mediocre thumbboard; underpowered
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Full review of the OQO 01+:
Never before has leaving your coat entailed the possibility of also leaving your PC. Your handheld or phone, certainly, but not your PC - until now, that is. Sporting 4.9 by 3.4 by 0.9 inch vitals and a 14 oz weight, the OQO 01+ crams a full-blown PC into a form factor that's actually pocketable and even boasts a slide-up screen which reveals a thumbboard, complete with a TrackStik mouse and buttons.

Show me what you've got

Solidly built, the centrepiece of the OQO 01+ is its 5-inch active touch screen, which unfortunately suffers from poor brightness and a notorious lack of precision during stylus use. Furthermore, as with newfangled UMPC devices, its 800 x 480 resolution teeters on the very brink of usability for several reasons, including limitations in Windows XP and the vast majority of recent applications and web pages being adapted for resolutions from 1024 x 768 pixels and up.

Slide up the screen, and a membrane thumbboard of decent quality is revealed alongside a high-precision, textured TrackStik mouse and buttons which represent a far better option for navigating the 01+ than its touch screen. Surrounding the unit at various points is a reasonable assortment of connectors including power, single USB 2.0 and FireWire ports, a 3.5 mm audio jack and a multi-function jog wheel. Also present is a connector for the docking cable of the unit, which adds VGA out, additional USB 2.0 and FireWire ports, 10/100 Ethernet and an earphone jack.

In addition to wired connectivity, the OQO 01+ also includes sufficient wireless options courtesy of Bluetooth 1.2 and Wi-Fi 802.11b support, although range and performance for both proved to be sub-par. Other expansion and connectivity options, including card slots, are expectedly absent. Lastly, it would be unfair not to mention the ingenious battery indicator on the back of the unit; press a button, and four LEDs light up to show the amount of remaining battery capacity.

It's time to fold

With a specifications list comprising a 1 GHz Transmeta processor, 512 MB of RAM, 8 MB of discrete graphics memory and a 30 GB hard drive, it comes as no surprise that the performance of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 is very modest. The device does quite well at common productivity tasks, but graphics or processor intensive use is entirely out of the question - and despite its focus on power efficient components, the 01+ averaged only 2 hours of battery life, which is barely enough for a meeting or three.

Use as a tablet is unfortunately hampered by the inprecise touch screen; had this not been the case, the OQO 01+ could have excelled at quick - and it would have to be considering its battery life - note-taking. This leaves the greatest advantage of the OQO 01+ over handhelds or business phones to be its ability to run any application - within reason. Conventional ultraportables or small tablets will almost invariably yield a better performance-to-portability ratio, however, but if portability is paramount, the 01+ simply can't be beat.


Price and availability

Available in three different models, the OQO 01+ sells with Windows XP Home Edition for $1,900, with Windows XP Professional Edition for $2,000 and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 for $2,100.

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