OQO gets a second chance

Last year's OQO ultramobile PC (or UMPC) was a great-looking, high-concept piece of equipment that was perhaps a little ahead of its time. Poor battery life and anemic performance kept the palm-sized PC from capitalizing on the system's initial buzz.

The eagerly expected follow-up, the OQO model 02, keeps the original's sliding screen design but adds upgraded specs; a new, ergonomic, backlit keyboard; and options for every flavor of wireless connectivity out there.

The OQO2 uses a VIA processor, up to 1.5GHz, and can hold up to 60GB of data on its shock-mounted hard drive, along with 1GB of RAM and an 800x480 display. We especially liked the built-in HDMI port for outputting to an external monitor.

The OQO model 02 should be available by the end of March and starts at $1,499.

[gadjitfreek]

Mine. This is MINE.

OK. I had the O1+, and the performance wasn't great, but it was usable. My major gripe with it was the unusable keyboard. Then, OQO comes along and puts a keyboard that resembles a Psion Series 3 keyboard in a slightly wider form factor, and ZING! I gotta have it. I am already writing ads to sell lots of my toys on Ebay to pay for this little beaut, including my Fujitsu P1510D tablet and Dell Axim x51v. The 02 has been ordered, now begins the long and arduous process of waiting. Being one of those stymied from day one with the Wii, I am accustomed to waiting.