OQO has announced a fairly impressive refresh of the OQO Model 02. The two biggest changes: a lower price – down to $1299, from $1499, and the option of using a 32GB Solid State Drive (although the temptation of the new 120GB drive will be hard to overcome). The refreshed OQO Model 02 is available now. The OQO Model 02 is a unique device, considered by some to be the first Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) and with a 5″ widescreen touchscreen display and a sliding keyboard, offering both a Tablet PC device, and a semi-laptop style device, running Windows XP or Windows Vista.
Changes include:
– 120GB for storage (30GB – 60GB was the previous maximum, 40GB and 80GB are now offered as well)
– 1.6GHz CPU (1.2GHz or 1.5GHz previously)
– 32GB Solid State Drive (SSD) offered as an option.
To me, one of the biggest updates is the 32GB SSD. Whereas with a full-blown laptop like the Dell XPS M1330 that we just mentioned, 32GB is just not going to cut it, because you have a laptop that would try to use as a normal laptop. On the other hand, with an ultramobile device like the OQO Model 02, 32GB is a viable option – at that size, and with the specifications, you know you’re going to be limited on what you can do from the beginning. A SSD in any size is going to help the battery life as well as the weight (pre SSD, you were looking at a weight of 1 pound / 0.5kg) and a battery life of 3+ – 6+ hours (with the extended battery pre-SSD option, OQO listed a battery life of 6 hours, with the standard battery, 3 hours). The drop in price was important as well, as other devices are starting to creep into the OQO Model 02’s market. Of course, the SSD adds $500…
Source: OQO Press Release
Mention of a new CEO: jkOnTheRun
Interview with Via: GottaBeMoblie.com – Rob Bushway