MID WARS - OQO unleashed

[Guest]

[jptherrien]

There are threads in here, where some people mentioned having sent their units like 6 (or more) times for repairs. Mine crapped out after only 4 months of usage.

[Stuart]

I have SSD, mine is only 4 months old, and I started getting the SMM Initialization failure message yesterday.

I suspect it will be travelling soon

[Tikker]

Also, not sure if this will work but try switching between b/g and different channels. I have noticed my neighbour's Wifi interfering with mine. Cheers.

the issue isn't my wifi, it's the oqo sucking 

[PlacidoDomenech]

The high price of the device, and the quality of OQO must provide high reliability. What is the reason that OQO support give you?

VIA chipset problem? Hard drive / SSD problem?

I hope the next Intel Atom? OQO can offer better reliability, but repeat, at this moment i am happy with the level obtained with OQO e2 SSD models.

[Dave P]

To move back to the original topic.

More MIDs from Quanta
http://www.pocketables.net/2008/09/quanta-branded.html

This article makes my point. Quanta had a demonstration unit at the Intel Developers Forum in March of 2007 - a year and a half ago. They were saying they were a MID manufacturer at CES 2008 but did not have anythin. The lastest news which the article cites is that they expect to have a product in 2009.

If you take a look at Dynamism, which has an excellent reputation for selling cutting edge products as soon as they are available, they list only list two of the current crop of OQO sized UMPC/MIDs: the Asus R50A and the Gigabyte M528. Neither even has a price yet - all you can do is sign up for email alerts regarding final specs, price, and availability.

[PlacidoDomenech]

I see four MID/UMPC in Dynamism of the new UMPC? MID Intel announce in IDF, also R50A:
Wibrain L1
The WiBrain I1 is a full function 1.15 pound Windows UMPC with a Intel Atom processor, 64 GB SSD, built-in HSDPA broadband modem, and beautiful 4.8 inch WSVGA touchscreen.

Panasonic Toughbook U1]Panasonic Toughbook U1
Versatile, Extremely Rugged and Ultra-Portable with 5.6" WSVGA Sunlight Viewable
Touchscreen

Asus R50A
The Asus R50A is an incredibly small UMPC weighing just 1.14 lbs with a 5.6" 1024x600 touchscreen, up to 32GB SSD, built-in GPS, HSDPA modem, TV tuner, and 2MP webcam.

Fujitsu U2010
The Fujitsu U series is the world's smallest tablet PC weighing just 1.34 lbs with a 5.6" 1280x800 touchscreen, Intel Atom 1.6 GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 64GB solid state HD, Bluetooth, and webcam.

I hope soon, real OQO news... 

[Dave P]

I didn't mention them because they (besides the Asus which is not yet available) they are all much bigger than the OQO. If you are willing to accept larger UMPCs, the WiBrain, Toughbook, and Fujitsu are certainly options for you. On the other hand, the MotionComputing line of tablets are even more powerful (and some even offer an integrated barcode scanner that you've mentioned in Accessories).

None of them suit me because they aren't small enough to fit in my pocket or hang on my belt. Your needs might be different and maybe an alternative would be a better choice for you.

The fact remains that right now I can't buy any Windows PC that is as small as the OQO while still being as capable as the OQO.

[PlacidoDomenech]

See Wilcom D4...

http://www.geekstuff4u.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=742

But repeat... i only hope OQO renew and up-power his line for combat the MIDs, and the people want an OQO can afford it.

I love my OQO  andd hope win this battle

[Dave P]

See Wilcom D4...

http://www.geekstuff4u.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=742

Again, like the WiBrain, it's almost two inches longer than the OQO. Plus, as one who uses pen input, it doesn't have an active digitizer (something which can also be said for all the MIDs I've seen). Shaving space costs money. Features cost money. That's why netbooks can be sold so cheaply.

I look forward to the next model but I'm not as interested in a price drop as I am in a performance increase. Let the motherboard manufacturers (like Asus and Gigabyte) fight it out with the smartphone manufacturers (like Apple and Nokia) for the low end market. I'm interested in the high end.

[PlacidoDomenech]

Is it true?
Is OQO only interested in high end market?
We must pay a 3.000 $ for the best UMPC=OQO?
Could be possible a RANGE of OQO models for all the publics and business markets, that can't need an OQO?
Why can't exist a basic o low model OQO with the same form factor that compite with MID's? Where is the problem?

See also this topic...http://www.oqotalk.com/index.php/topic,2990.0.html

[Stuart]

I think you're using the term "same form factor" too loosely.

Size, especially when it's a small as an OQO, really makes a difference in the cost of engineering and the cost of components.

At the size of an OQO, millimeters are very significant.  If a device is 1 cm longer, or about 5% bigger, that is a large amount of space to work with in order to reduce the cost.

If you're going to compare devices, compare the volume of the device, and if it's 10% larger than the OQO, expect AT LEAST a 10% cost reduction even if the computing specs are the same.

[Tikker]

Stuart is right one the money with this one

OQO has a fantastic form factor, and have shown the issues that it causes (heat, noise, etc)

now, if the OQO model 03 will have a smallish dual core, 1-2 gb of ram, and decent SSD, it'll be an amazing device

[Bungee]

I've had the opportunity to handle a couple of the devices above before. None comes close to the form factor of the OQO, which drives the premium we all pay for our OQOs.

[PlacidoDomenech]

I agree with Stuart, size and price are relationed.
10% more expensive than another device with the same configuration? Ok.

Gigabyte M528 & Wilcom D4... the same configuration in OQO form factor but up the price 10%. We obtain GPS, camera, touch screen, atom...

OQO show OQO MID with Atom in IDF... only say... up the price 10% (aprox. 1000$) ...  for compite with the rest of MID's.

[Stuart]

The M528 has about 60% the battery capacity of the OQO.  That's about a 15% volume savings.  It has a 4GB SSD, which is the eqiuvalent of a micro SD card.  That's about another 5% volume savings.  It has half the ram for another 2 or 3% volume savings.  It has a camera, but a phone type camera takes about 0.1 cubic cm.

To me, that's enough space savings and feature loss to account for the price difference.  The camera and GPS might account for $100.  If OQO designed the device to fit 20% less stuff inside, the engineering costs would come down significantly.  Remember, the price of a product is not just the sum of the parts, it inludes the engineering.  If not, Windows would cost $1.

If OQO wants to design a unit that has less crammed inside, that's fine.  However, that's not even close to the same as deigning the current OQO and just leaving some of the big parts out when you build it.

EDIT:  I forgot to also say that we're again comparing a device that doesn't exist yet with a two year old design, and IMO the two year old one is still better.