GottaBeMobile - OQO Updates the Model 02 Tablet PC : Tablet PC & Mobile PC News & Video Reviews, and Tablet PC Forums

Monday, September 10, 2007

« Kaz911 Interviews HTC's General Manager - No Windo... | Main | GBM Reader Meetup was a Blast! »

OQO Updates the Model 02 Tablet PC

- Rob Bushway

This past Thursday, I traveled to San Francisco to attend an invitation-only briefing by OQO, where they announced updated features to the Model 02 Tablet PC, a lowered entry-level price point, and introduced their new CEO, Dennis Moore.

Here is the run-down:

Dennis Moore has joined OQO as their new CEO. Moore is the former general manager of the Emerging Solutions division of SAP, a business unit that he envisioned, built and managed, with responsibility for creating SAP solutions for new markets, including mobile information workers.
EV-DO Rev A support can now be ordered with "Better" and "Best" configuration. In addition, OQO announced a $249 upgrade service for current Model 02 owners so they can upgrade from EV-DO Rev 0 to Rev A. They are also providing a $50 rebate on all new WWAN activations.
Upgraded VIA processor from 1.5 ghz to 1.6 ghz.
Support for up to 120GB harddrives, as well as increased harddrive capacities in the entry-level configuration to 40gb, and 80gb in the standard high-end configuration.
32 GB SSD support, which is a $500 upgrade option on the Best configuration. This helps reduce boot times, as well as offer faster application launch times, and increased battery life. Details are still being worked out on offering an upgrade service to current Model 02 owners who wish to move to an SSD drive.
Lowered entry-level price point by $200 to $1299.

Here is the official press release.

During the evening, I also spent some great one-on-one time with OQO's COO Bob Rosin, CTO Joe Bettis-Lacroix, and Brandon Sneed, a Senior Software Engineer at OQO. We talked about fan noise, the need for programmable function keys, the dashboard, Vista, and of course, the need for a built-in stand. These guys are doing some awesome work and are focused like a laser-beam on usability for the mobile information worker. As I mention during the Q & A portion of the program ( which you will see and hear shortly ), OQO has nailed this form factor. As I pointed out, it will get better as they add support for dual-mode touch ( touch + active digitizer ), which will be especially helpful for those, like me and Eddie, who mount their Model 02's in vehicles.

Click To Play

Technorati Tags: OQO Model 02, OQO, Tablet PC

Hardware | OQO | Tablet PC | Ultra Mobile PC

9/10/2007 6:03 AM MST

OQO Updates the Model 02 Tablet PC Comments [7] | Digg This | del.icio.us | Citations

Monday, September 10, 2007 7:47:17 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

So they dropped price on all models? If so, is this any different than the Iphone? I guess we were the beta testers and now they decided to make it better and charge less. Seems equally unfair (assuming you thought what Apple did was unfair.) Personally it didnt bother me what Apple did, I believe that is the price of being first to get a new gadget. I believe same thing is true here, but think it is basically the same thing.

scott

Monday, September 10, 2007 8:21:10 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

The only price that decreased was the entry-level "good" model. It decreased by $200. They also added greater harddrive capacities, as well as support for EV-DO Rev A for their other models, whose prices remained the same. This is no different than what all other OEMs do: they make existing SKU's better as new technologies and demand dictate. Staying static while competitors release newer products with better technology would mean doom.

Rob

Monday, September 10, 2007 9:24:25 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Rob,
I wish I could have seen your face at the response to your last question. heehee Did he say it would fit in your pocket? Does he know who he's talking to? Hasn't he read your comments? lol
Thanks for posting this. OQO is definitely trying to stay ahead of the competition.

Steven

Steven

Monday, September 10, 2007 11:31:25 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

There is a price decrease on what used to be "best" (1.5 Ghz, 60 GB, 1 GB RAM). I think I paid $1849 and now it's listed $150 less at $1699.

Kenrick

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 4:17:45 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

well being international it is impossible to view their website.

Keeps redirecting to /intl/ where only options are going to a vendor site.

I hate when that happens :-(

Kaz

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 5:00:18 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Rob, I would be very curious to find out how well the 1.6GHz models stack up against the 1.5GHz model. There's currently no information about the new 1.6GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor on VIA's website http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/c7-m_ulv/index.jsp .
So unless this is a brand new processor architecture (which I doubt), it might mean that the 1.6GHz will have a higher Max TDP than the 1.5GHz, which is already pushing 7.5W itself.
In other words, for only a 0.1GHz incremental increase in speed, it could require a unpleasant trade-off of a hotter device (with the noisy fan kicking in more) and short battery life in general.
I'm in a dilemma whether to pick up a 1.5GHz model now, which is currently being offered to me with a $200 rebate, on wait for the 1.6GHz.

bungee

Sunday, October 21, 2007 4:36:42 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Rob, just a quick note to update you that I've been using the new 1.6GHz OQO Model 2 (WinXP Tablet, SSD edition) for a couple of weeks now and couldn't be happier. As I've not previously owned a 1.5GHz or earlier OQO model, I can't say that I know the difference. The fan is still noticeably loud but what I can attest to is that the unit itself is not excessivly warm and uncomfortable to hold, even for extended use. And the 1.6GHz is very zippy, handling multimedia and other processor intensive applications like a champ. I love it!

bungee

Comments are closed.