Why only highend?

[Guest]

[Stormbringer]

People often comlain about the price of the OQO. So, I wonder, why OQO is just focused on highend hardware? Since most users need their OQO just for office work, there is no need for a 1,6 GHz CPU or 1 GB RAM.
Best example is the EEE PC. ASUS is very sucessfull with their EEE-PC, it got a slow CPU, 512 MB RAM and it got a horrible looking (sorry, couldnt help myself  ) Linux on it. And still people buy it, because it's a small computer anyone can afford.
I wonder why OQO doesn't follow ASUS on this "trend" of cheap mini computers and sell different versions. I know that an OQO will never become a device you can buy in nextdoor department store, but since many popular companies jumped on the train of mini computers and developing hardware for it, different versions for different needs would be great.

Don't know if I am the only one thinking this way  : ?

[jptherrien]

I don't have an issue with the price in itself, but the price vs. performance/features/format.

OQO is a high end niche boutique, usually these work on a a high margin/specialized market - think Alienware for example - that works through word of mouth, repeat business and such. It would be suicide for OQO to try to slug it out  on price with the big dogs.

Personally I think the EEE is a piece of crap and it doesn't fit my requirements at all, but at least it's inexpensive and that's an essential requirement for many.

[fixup]

It is all about competition. OQO was the only pocketable PC with a usable keyboard. Everun was almost a killer but that stupid keyboard sucked it to hell. Now M528 is out for about $700, things will change.

Right now the 1.2GH/EVDO for $999 is what you are talking about. If without this deal, I would not have got one and just waited for things like the M528 to come. Throw out 2K for any computer is simply beyond me. I'm not satisfied with this oqo (not about its performance but the battery life and proprietary DC interface), but for 999 it is still a good purchase for what I get. For the money, cannot get anything smaller and better and it is not above the 1K boundary.

[Kenrick]

The VIA CPU is really on the low end, even at 1.6 Ghz it's close in performance to a 1 Ghz Pentium.  It is,  however, low power which is a big requirement.  Also, if people are going to run Windows (which many want) then it needs 1 GB or ideally 2 GB for Vista.

[DavidT.]

I guess if you want something cheaper with Asus Eee PC specs, you could always get a used OQO Model 01 or 01+ 

[jptherrien]

The VIA CPU is really on the low end, even at 1.6 Ghz it's close in performance to a 1 Ghz Pentium.  It is,  however, low power which is a big requirement.  Also, if people are going to run Windows (which many want) then it needs 1 GB or ideally 2 GB for Vista.

I agree.

Hopefully the 03 will be a faster (and dual core?) CPU with 2 Gb and less noise, at least that's on top of my list - possibly with a higher res screen.

[Bungee]

I wonder why OQO doesn't follow ASUS on this "trend" of cheap mini computers...

Dude, comparing the OQO e2 to a EeePC is like comparing the BMW 1 Series to the Suzuki Swift



After all, they are both sporty (they both come in red!) and the Swift is so popular and affordable. Why doesn't BMW just follow Suzuki on this 'trend'? Enough said... 

[Stormbringer]

I wonder why OQO doesn't follow ASUS on this "trend" of cheap mini computers...

Dude, comparing the OQO e2 to a EeePC is like comparing the BMW 1 Series to the Suzuki Swift



After all, they are both sporty (they both come in red!) and the Swift is so popular and affordable. Why doesn't BMW just follow Suzuki on this 'trend'? Enough said... 

No, my example would be 2 BMWs, and one with the motor of a Swift  .

I guess if you want something cheaper with Asus Eee PC specs, you could always get a used OQO Model 01 or 01+ 

Yes, but used stuff is... well how shall I say - not allways the best buy  .


I think you got me wrong. Of course I have no problem with highend hardware, I just wonder, why not making different versions, something like "low", "average" and "highend".

[benjamin1206]

there are different versions.  you can choose from the Model 02 Good, Better, Best, or Best With SSD

[stuartguthrie]

I can see where you're coming from but I think that OQO are seeing the majority of their customers (at this stage) as being mobile professionals. Mobile professionals require the use of Windows to run their Windows apps which as Kenrick said requires power. Specs like 512MBs of RAM, 4GBs of hard drive space would never cut it for them. I'm sure that even the current specs are unusable for some.

There are certainly other target audiences out there (like students) but whether or not OQO would make enough sales from investing in another model (at this point in time) would be quite a risk. I don't know but I imagine that as sales increase we will probably start seeing more configurations (remember how the Apple PowerBook split into the iBook for consumers and the PowerBook for pro users).

I guess it will be interesting to see what OQO have planned for down the track.

Stu

[Dave P]

Yes, we all realize the OQO is expensive. However, it is competing against equally expensive real UMPC computers like Sony and Fujitsu.

To compare it to the Gigabyte M528, a Linux machine running an 800MHz Intel Atom processor is just silly. Of course the Gigabyte will be cheaper. The Gigabyte M700 would be a more valid comparison but even that only runs at 1.2GHz and no one knows what the price will be or when it will be available.

The impact of the Mobile Internet Device (MID) and Ultra Low Cost PC (ULCPC) segments of the market on the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) segment is, at present, unclear. What does seem to be the case is that if you want a wi-fi internet browser, the OQO is overkill and overpriced but if you need a pocketable Windows computer, the OQO competes on price and wins on features.

[JCC]

Now M528 is out for about $700, things will change.

Did I miss something?  The last I checked, it was available for pre-order from one company in Australia. Following this was a blog post hypothesizing that the Australian price might be equivalent to a US price of $750. Following this was news from Gigabyte saying that they hadn't firmed up their pricing strategy yet.

Now, something like "Now M528 is out for about $700," leaves me with the impression that I can pay cold, hard cash to a reputable store for it right now and have it in my palms within 24 hours. Is that really the case?

As for why OQO seems to be pushing for the high end, I think part of it is because they're a small company with comparatively limited manufacturing capacity. It doesn't make very much sense to price their product to sell millions of units if they can't actually produce millions of units. Compared to Asus, OQO is tiny. Asus has access to economies of scale that OQO doesn't. It's likely that Asus has an easier time getting distribution than OQO does. Also, I suspect that Asus just plain has more money to play with.

Also, given how few pocket-sized computers intended to run Vista there are on the market, it's not hard to suppose that the OQO is a pioneer in the field. The R&D cost to be a pioneer can be substantial. Dennis Moore made a comment at some point about the sheer number of custom parts in an OQO Model 02.

OQO does sell refurbished units for $1000. I don't find them tempting because those units do not have active digitizers. However, I suspect most people don't care if they have them or not.

In any case, the decision whether to buy an OQO or not is like the decision to buy any other device. If it's useful and you can stomach the price, go for it. Otherwise, get something else or wait.

IMHO, in order for buying an OQO to make sense, the buyer has to value the ability to run Windows apps in a pocket-sized device enough to pay for it. If you're ok with something that's larger, or something which doesn't run Windows, if running Windows apps on something which fits in your pocket isn't worth money to you, there are lots of cheaper products which likely will meet your needs just as well or better.
(Whenever anyone compares the OQO to some device it doesn't direct compete with, what goes through my mind is that person probably places little value on OQO's main selling point: it's a pocket-sized Vista/XP device.)

[Bungee]

JCC, well said!! And Stormbringer, the ASUS is definitely no BMW. And if you've held an Eee PC in your hands, it's not even a Toyota or Honda... those will be your HP or Toshiba. 

[Mike-B]

I don't have an issue with the price in itself, but the price vs. performance/features/format.

the EEE is a piece of crap

I have both the new WinXP Asus eeePC 900 and a 64Gb SSD HSPDA OQO Sunlight display.  While the eeePC may not fit your needs, it certainly not a piece of crap.  The eeePC boots in under 30secs, runs comparatively cool and both the screen and keyboard is pretty good.   I'm by no means a fan-boy of any brand but as a mini-laptop its just the job IMHO.

Mike 

[Stormbringer]

And if you've held an Eee PC in your hands, it's not even a Toyota or Honda

Well, you can't expect a designer notebook for 300$  . When looking for a new mini computer, I also tested the EEE PC. There were 2 things I didn't like: It was delivered with Linux and it got just 4GB storage (ok you can use external sd cards). It's for sure not the best notebook, but it is affordable for nearly anyone. And well, it was still too big.

The OQO impressed me compared to other UMPCs because of the design. Most UMPCs look like - well like the company didn't know what to do with the keyboard  : . The OQO also got nice optical features like the pulsing power button or the button to check the battery.

But personally for me, it got features I don't need. Well maybe it's because I grew up with DOS and the old Windows versions up to ME and I used a Transmeta at 533 MHz in my subnotebook before.