OQO model 01+ Handtop PC

In Brief

If you're like me, the OQO is built for you. I carry a laptop around everywhere, although I have my pick of PDAs, simply because I can't bear to give up access to all my files, programs, and utilities. I also can't stand the headache of synching and maintenance required to coordinate work between a PDA and a computer. By the time you invest all that time and energy, and pay for a full round of lowly stepsister handheld software, you could have finished a couple week's work on your laptop. But every time I end up carrying the ten-pound lead weight that is case, notebook, and accessories around a trade show all day, I start to seriously question my decision.

The OQO, and other new "handtops" coming this year from Sony and FlipStart (a Paul Allen venture), aim to give you the best of both worlds: a full Windows XP computer in a package not much larger than a PDA. Obviously the screen is going to be small, and you won't fit an optical drive in there, but the second-generation OQO model 01+ has pretty much everything else, including Wi-Fi 802.11b, Bluetooth 1.1, USB 2.0, and FireWire. You can even attach an external monitor and keyboard for desktop use.

So what's the catch? The original OQO model 01 was criticized for lapses like poor performance, a dim screen, and short battery life. The 01+ still has the same basic issues, although it is much improved, with double the RAM, a 50 percent larger hard disk, USB 2.0, and new features like an internal speaker and screen rotation. The bottom line, however, is that if you need a highly portable solution with full Windows XP support, the OQO is the only game in town, at least until the competition ramps up.

In Depth

In fairness, the OQO is marketed more toward mobile professionals in areas like health care, field service, and public safety, than to the general consumer. But business travelers should give it a hard look. Pair the OQO with an EV-DO cell phone that you can use as a broadband modem, and you have a total communications and computing solution, albeit a pricey one. The OQO model 01+ ranges from $1899 to $2099, depending on which version of Windows you choose: XP Home, XP Pro, or XP Tablet PC Edition. We reviewed the Tablet version.

Taking a look at the front of the unit, you can see several ports under the slide-out thumb keyboard, which glides very smoothly and solidly on a rack-and-pinion mechanism. At far left is the power port, with the docking cable port next to it, and at right are the programmable thumbwheel and USB 2.0 port. We'll talk more about the docking port later, but now let's investigate that keyboard.

The QWERTY keys have rounded-top buttons that give solid feedback and clicks when pressed, plus several "sticky" keys like the Function and Control buttons, that stay active until you press them a second time (like Caps Lock on a regular keyboard). The sticky keys, plus the IBM-like TrackStik and left/right mouse buttons at the far left, provide everything you need to navigate around the screen. The TrackStik can even double as a left-mouse clicker, and there's a thumbwheel at the bottom that scrolls horizontally or vertically.

But this is a touchscreen PC (and a Tablet PC model to boot), so the OQO also comes equipped with a digital stylus that operates much like the pen on a Wacom tablet. It even has a little mouse button on the shaft, and can be turned upside down to use as an "eraser" in appropriate situations. Sadly, we found ourselves avoiding the stylus as much as possible in favor of the much more accessible TrackStik and buttons. You have to hold the pen at an unnatural 90-degree angle to the screen in order for it to track properly, and we just couldn't get used to its quirks in the short time we had for this review. With practice, it would probably work just fine, but the emphasis is on practice.

If you plan to do a lot of typing on the road, we recommend bringing along a folding Bluetooth keyboard. The OQO comes with a little metal stand that puts it at just the right height and angle to use with a full-size keyboard. Unfortunately, the stand itself is not folding, although it's still small enough to tuck into your suitcase.

So what about wireless? On each side, you can see a sort of tab affixed with two screws. These are the antennae for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so you'll need to avoid wrapping your hands around them if you don't want to block the signal too much. This is easy when the keyboard is open, since your hands naturally grasp farther down, but it's hard to hold the OQO elsewhere when the machine is closed. We mostly used the keyboard instead of the pen, anyway, and didn't run into in any problems. We could even pull in Wi-Fi networks across the street, very good for an 802.11b device. Also unusual for 802.11b, the OQO has support for WPA2 encryption, the latest and greatest in Wi-Fi security. Hopping onto a Wi-Fi net uses the familiar Windows XP Zero Config interface, and gave us no trouble. We especially appreciate the function key that turns Wi-Fi on and off with a click -- you can save lots of battery life with the radio off, and you'll be more secure in public spaces.

Review Continued