OQO model 2 review

OQO model 2 Review

Reviewed by: Rory Reid

Reviewed on: 26 June 2007

Connectivity is a mixed bag. We love the fact it has an HDMI connector, and there's a single USB port, but it lacks FireWire and there's no sign of a memory-card reader. You do, however, get Bluetooth, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, and its trump card -- an integrated cellular datacard. Don't get your hopes up too high, though -- at time of publication, this feature didn't work outside of the US.

If you're a spec junkie, you'll be slightly disappointed by the rest of the model 2. There's no fingerprint reader, no camera and the rubbish old microphone is in no way as good as the array mic on the Samsung Q1, so it isn't as good at for voice recognition. The optional docking station provides HDMI and VGA ports, a couple of USB ports, Ethernet and audio connections, and an integrated optical drive (both DVD and CD writer versions are available). The model 2 comes with a standard one-year return-to-base warranty.

Performance
If a normal laptop is Lewis Hamilton's F1 car, the OQO model 2 is your dad's Ford Mondeo. Its Via chipset is designed for stamina, not speed, so we weren't surprised to see an appalling PCMark 2005 score of 719. It takes an age to load most applications, although once they've started things get more bearable. 3D performance on the model 2 is nearly non-existent -- the only games you'll be playing on it are Solitaire and the rest of the 2D Windows games.

In the all-important issue of battery life, the model 2 does fairly well. It lasted nearly two hours using the extended battery and 1 hour 30 minutes on the slimline model. The latter is extremely thin and light, so we'd recommend carrying both batteries with you at all times.

As a day-to-day machine, the model 2 is easy to live with. It's said to have a better thermal-management system than the model 1, and in our opinion this is true. The cooling fans are usually active, except when the device is idling, but it never gets too hot. Our only gripe here is that the fans can get quite loud when running highly complex tasks.

Conclusion
The OQO model 2 is a great piece of kit. It's slower and doesn't have half the features of the Vaio UX1XN, but it's more usable, more beautiful and more affordable. If you really must have an ultra-mobile PC, this is probably your best bet.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Nick Hide