IT Week reviews OQO e2: a perfect 5 out of 5
I’m thinking they should have gone with a 4.5 out of 5 only because they identify the cons as "short battery life" and "small keyboard", but that’s just my opinion. Regardless, the OQO e2 gets a rightful rave review from IT Week who thinks this is the only UMPC that lives up to they hype. On a related note, I see that Steve has his first impressions of the same e2 model freshly posted. He’s got an ever so slightly peppier 1.6 GHz CPU in his vs. the 1.5 GHz that IT Week had, but that shouldn’t have a very noticeable impact.
Steve raises an interesting question with a comment on the short battery life saying that he’d prefer two small or standard batteries over the added bulk of an extended battery. Definitely a personal preference, but I’m wondering how most mobile device owners feel about that? I definitely prefer using my Q1P with the extended battery as opposed to having two standard batteries. Probably depends on the device as well as the size & shape of the extended battery option.
I think that the question of 1 or 2 batteries depends as much on size and shape as you say but also this question: Do you want to use the device OVER a long period of time or FOR a long period of time. Doing extensive blogging and work for extended periods like you and James do, a larger single battery is better. But what about say, you need to travel over a distance and want to stop at hot spots along the way, then multiple smaller batteries can do the trick.
My view at least
..wiley
NW Houston
I opted for 2 standard (thinner) batteries for my OQO Model 02.
This is the best mobile device I’ve ever owned (and that’s a lot). The keyboard is almost perfect for this type of device and with the double capacity battery fitted (I haven’t taken it off since it arrived) I would also give it a 5 out of 5.
The only thing I was disappointed with was the lack of readability in direct sunlight but as we haven’t seen the sun here for months it’s not a big deal.
I love my OQO. I would much rather have a spare standard battery, but again, personal preference. BTW: TigerDirect has great deals right now.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=oqo
I bought an extended battery and think it gives the perfect amount of time needed to get some real work done. But the extended battery makes it too heavy to be comfortably pocketable. I find that even the executive case which is very small adds just enough to make it less pocketable. I think OQO with the standard battery is the biggest size that I’d consider comfortably pocketable, so I guess 2 batteries would have been a smarter choice for me.
I’m hoping one day the Model 03 comes out with the same form factor and doubles the battery life, ups the performance and reduces the fan noise. There are other things I’d like (SD card slot, passive touch screen, etc), but those are not as important to me.
As it is now, I’d give my OQO a 5 out of 5 for design, and a 3.5 our of 5 for performance.
Good point with the 2 batteries. I had the x50v PDA wich can do a hot swap. The Battery is so tiny that you can have one allway in your bag. If you run out of battery, you just change it in couple of seconds, no need to swith of. With ne WM5 enablet successor x51v, this required a reboot which changed everything. Thus I had to buy the larger extented battery which is quite bulky. So the result is: put in a small spare battery so that you can hot swap without power down/resume (currently one those devices with an Ultrabay option offer this). If it does not interfere with your work process, 2 smaller batteries are preferable over a bulky protuding one, imho.
I had that same PDA Peter did… that was pretty much the most perfect way of handling it I’ve ever come across. No need to power off, just swap batteries.
It would be really nice if it was offered on a UMPC, I think.