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[Q] Anyone using an OQO Model 2?

Does anyone still use an OQO Model 2? If so, how would you rate the performance in comparison to say, a Galaxy Tab 10.1? By performance, I mean, browser performance, things like netflix, etc. I am very intrigued by the OQO and I am thinking about losing the tablets and going to a Model 02.

I have had an OQO 02 for a few years, and cannot fathom the thought of parting with it. These days I only use it as a "bedside" computer with 15" TV/Monitor, Full sized keyboard and mouse, using the OQO dock w/dvd r/cdr rw. I have in the past used it as my primary computer w/a triple monitor setup and a host of other "proof of concept" projects including using it as a mobile voip platform.
A few things to consider:
It would NOT be a good substitute for a tablet. Screen is too small. But can you put that tablet in your pocket?
The screen is not capacitive ie: "touch". It is proprietary Wacom - needs a Wacom pen to use for screen input.
If you decide to get one, only get the 1.5 ghz model, the 1.6 ghz model has, well, bad motherboards.
It has a noisy fan.
It has an underwhelming VIA CPU with only 1 meg RAM - I call it the "chugger" as in the "The little engine that could".
On the brighter side, Windows 7 works best with it and it should work even better with 8! I have only used Win8 Preview on it and it works fine - but I couldn't do an "upgrade" (loading previous drivers from existing Win7) because it says not enough memory, <1 meg. A full, fresh, install worked fine. I will wait for Win 8 RC0 to arrive before I commit.
The machine is very durable - I am hard on my equipment and the OQO has fared very well through my abuse.
Batteries are hard to find, although available with search - at the moment I am having two batteries recondtioned/fixed locally. They are available on ebay (used), also.
Finally, the OQO is a niche product. You have to want the very small form factor with full Windows OS (or Linux/Mac) to appreciate it.
See OQOTalk and OQOasis for the best information.
Hope this helps!
oqoman

Hi OQOman,
Thanks for replying! You have really given me a lot to think about. Of you wouldn't mind, could you tell me, is $300 a fair price for a model two with the specs you described? I have found several on eBay, but it seems most don't actually have the Wacom digitizer. I really want to try to load an older version of illustrator (maybe CS or cs3). Any thoughts?
Thanks
Kim

$300 seems to be a fair price. Be sure to get the pen. It's a $30 (when new) accessory.
I would look at Oqotalk and Oqoasis forums for the oqo 02 and accessories. Those two forums are the "Bible" for OQO. I wouldn't buy anything until I had read those boards.
Adobe should run on it. Remember it is only 1 meg RAM - but owners have used it.
All OQO 02 have the Wacom (inductive) screens.
OQOman

That Wacom pen, is it special to the oqo or can I buy another one that is Wacom but not specifically labeled for oqo?

All Wacom "penabled" pens work.

I've had both a 02, and 01+, and I have to say, I love them. If you do get one, I'd recommend doing a little modification, and throw an SSD in. The 02 requires a zif ssd, and the 01+ requires a 50pin IDE 5mm ssd, but as oqoman said, oqotalk and oqoasis seem to be the best places online to get infos. Oqoasis moreso, since oqotalk seems to have slowed down a bit.

Where are you having your batteries reconditioned?
oqoman said:
Batteries are hard to find, although available with search - at the moment I am having two batteries recondtioned/fixed locally. They are available on ebay (used), also.
oqoman
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi just ran into your post and wondering where you're having your batteries reconditioned or fixed? Will a Batteries+ type of shop work on these? Appreciate any insight you can provide to steer me in the right direction. Thanks!

OQO-2 resurrection
Hi, a few months ago I 'inherited' an OQO-2 along with a CD/DVD 'dock' and power-supply. It came without any manuals. The battery was about to explode, so I removed it and soldered the leads in the empty battery-housing to allow the power-adapter to run the computer. It's been up and running for a few months with an Ubuntu LinUx installed by the previous owner. Unfortunately it seems that I cannot set the screen resolution properly(it only allows for 640x480) and so I am never able to see the lower- and right-third of my screen. This makes it hard to do much of anything!
I've connected an external monitor to the dock, but I cannot get the computer to switch to it. Is there a specific keystroke-sequence required to switch to the external?
I've also attempted to install Windows 7 via CD/DVD. When I power-on the computer it'll access the CD/DVD, but it always returns to loading Ubuntu without allowing me to install Windows. Do I need to set the CD/DVD to 'boot' or to 'first-boot' in BIOS? If so, how do I access BIOS?
Rick Baran
USN, ret.

[Q] Help Building A Computer?

Hi
I am looking at making a desktop computer, these are the parts I am looking at. I have heard that if parts do not go together well the might just stop working are all these parts compatible? Also how risky is building a computer my parents don't wont me to build it in case I break it? (they wont me to get shop to put parts together but I really wont to do my own cable management).
​8Gb DDR3 Corsair 2X4Gb 1600Mhz
​Kit Vengeance Performance CL9 CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
​AMD FX 8120 CPU Eight Core
​120Gb Corsair Force 3 SSD 2.5"
​Corsair Obsidian Black 650D
​Gigabyte ATI HD6770 1Gb
​1Tb WD Caviar Black
​Razer Lycosa Gaming KB
​Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3
​5.0m HDMI - HDMI M-M Cable
​Asus VE247H 24" Widescreen LED
​Sony 24X SATA Black Dual Layer
​Corsair 650W HX-650 ATX
​Asus PCE-N15 Wireless 11n
Is they anything I have missed other than software like windows 7 Pro?
I am thinking of buying from netplus or mys as they are in my area.
Any help would be appreciated
SHOGUNRISK

If CPU not BOX package, you need buy cpu cooler separately. In any case, instead of the standard cooler is better to put a more powerful, i.e. Scythe, Zalman or other...
You're thinking about cardreader? It may be helpful to read cards from a smartphone or camera and is very cheap.
And, if its your first computer assemble, be carefull with cpu (pins), motherboards and video card. Electronic elements and tracks are very thin, easily damaged hitting the corners of the metal.

For that build, a bigger power supply is recommended, if only for peace of mind, get an 850 watt. As for everything else it looks good. Motherboard was a good choice. Sendrey is right about the cpu heatsink/fan, I recommend an aftermarket one. Make sure u won't have clearance issues eith your ram. Also make sure u get good thermalpaste as well. Honestly the only other thing is the case. The corsair cases DO have good cable management but for aircooling, which u are doing, frankly, they suck. I HIGHLY recommend getting either a raven rv2 or newer or coolermaster haf series (925 is really good for price, 945 is nice too) case. PM me if u have any other questions

Call me old fashioned (or just old) but I would recommend a magneto-disc hard drive as well. You don't want all your storage to be on a single 120GB SSD.

Dont know if you need it, but if you go over the windows ram limit you wont be able to boot i think.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7

Nielli said:
Dont know if you need it, but if you go over the windows ram limit you wont be able to boot i think.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...=vs.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7
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this is a non-issue, he'll most definitely be using 64 bit, which is up to 192 gigs. And x86 can actually take u higher than 4 with pae but I digress
readymix_wrx said:
Call me old fashioned (or just old) but I would recommend a magneto-disc hard drive as well. You don't want all your storage to be on a single 120GB SSD.
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he has a 1tb harddisk as well. The 120 ssd is a boot drive

More questions
How risky would you says building a computer is?
Also does this graphics card card work with the other parts, and what about others?
Can parts just die if you plug it in with incompatible parts?
Also would the CoolerMaster Hyper 412 Slim fit in with the case and ram?
Thanks for all the replies.

not to terribly complicated but I would recommend doing your research. When in doubt LOOK IT UP, double, triple check and then start.

[Q] Cheap ICS Tablet... What's the catch?

Saw these on newegg the other day. Specs are impressive including an A10 arm CPU @1.5 ghz and Mali-400 GPU, with ICS out of the box... but for around $120? What's the catch here..? Yeah it looks quite a bit like a Dell Streak 7 at first glance - 480x800 res and only has 4GB for storage and only 512 ram... There's a lack of reviews on this thing and I'm considering getting one... But can anyone give me a reason to not buy one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0U009E3479
More detailed specs on Buy.com:
http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=230139359&sellerid=18700237
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Nothing as far as I know. I remember reading about this tablet being the 1st ICS available. It was a GB tablet that didn't sell well, so they converted it to ICS.
BUT! I might be thinking of another similar tablet.

its kinda like a banana split, without the split

...did that say usb 3?
There's just so many that fit into that category Thanks for such quick input!
Another down side is no sd/micro sd slot built in. But with a usb port perhaps a game controller could be used? And did I see right that this thing has usb 3.0? Even if external sd/micro sd isn't available with usb3 transferring data should go pretty quick.
It has it's faults for sure but the hardware alone makes it worth the $120... All I would have to do is add a few games and snes9x ex and fpse... serious budget gaming tablet potential here.

anactoraaron said:
There's just so many that fit into that category Thanks for such quick input!
Another down side is no sd/micro sd slot built in. But with a usb port perhaps a game controller could be used? And did I see right that this thing has usb 3.0? Even if external sd/micro sd isn't available with usb3 transferring data should go pretty quick.
It has it's faults for sure but the hardware alone makes it worth the $120... All I would have to do is add a few games and snes9x ex and fpse... serious budget gaming tablet potential here.
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Click to collapse
im actually thinkin about buyin it

Huh, would ya' look at that.
Being a poor student and not having a laptop sucks, so maybe this one could comfort me all those harsh, horrifying hours of class where I have to write my notes on paper.
That's right, I have use paper! And a pen!
Does anyone have any experience with a tablet as a notetaking tool?
I get the feeling that it'd work out pretty nicely, but you never know.

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Looking for a decent laptop...

Hey everybody I'm in the market for a new computer and I'm getting a laptop for several reasons. Anyway I am looking to be able to build aosp ROMs from source for my galaxy nexus. I have been told I should get something with at least 4gbs of ram. How much HD space should I get? I will be putting Ubuntu on it when I get it. I've been looking online at some different models, not sure if I see anything I like or can afford lol. Price range BTW is like $300-500. Maybe a little more. Thanks in advance for any insight

Well, my standard question is "why a laptop"? You could build a very decent desktop for that price. I understand needing portability - but what kind of power needs to actually be portable? Desktop + Chromebook (or other low-priced solution) could even possibly be squeaked out, very nearly in that price-range. You could skip a video card in the desktop at first, and if you don't play video games probably wouldn't miss it too much.
Anyway, if you still really want a laptop, I'd ask you to think exhaustively about what you'll do with it. Any video games? Anything that needs a good GPU? AMD still has some good deals when it comes to laptops without a dedicated GPU (if you don't need one) - and at your price point will outperform any integrated Intel ones. You can get a laptop with dedicated GPU in your price-range, but it really depends on what you need.
I don't think HDD space is a huge issue - I'd want at least 350-500Gb,but could make due with less. It depends on what you're going to put on it. I know some people can tear through terabytes with HD video collections. If you plan on having a lot of "collection" type data, an external solution might be best - and/or a backup disk, always good to have.
At your price range, I'd look for sales, "scratch and dent" deals, and used machines.
I had an Inspiron for a while and I and everyone I've know who had one ended up with problems / failures. On a whole, a desktop is likely to be around longer - since failures are inevitable and at least you can easily access and replace them I a desktop.
I'd probably check out Craigslist if I was you - see what people are selling locally (since shipping will add quite a bit)
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Will mobile devices take over electronics?

Ever since ~September of 2012 when Windows 8 was released and I tried it for the first time, I have been giving this idea a lot of thought. Mobile devices are becoming so powerful and more and more people are ditching their computer for an iPad / other tabet, which is almost equally as powerful as their old computer. Take the newly announced Tegra 4 APU. It has 72 freaking graphics cores!!!!! I run a laptop with a Geforce 555M that has 96 cuda cores, and I use that for intensive gaming. That is insane! What would ANYONE need 72 graphics cores on a mobile device for? The most graphically intensive android game I can think of off the top of my head is NOVA 3, and honestly, does that need a quad core processor, 72 graphics cores, and (probably becoming standard). 2GB of ram? NO! So why do companies pack those rediculous specs into a phone/tablet for? Does anyone else remember the days of a 1GHz single core Athlon processor on a desktop, and that was considered the best? Now dont get me wrong, I'm not saying we should throttle mobile devices just for the sake of throttling them, but I am trying to get my point across that there is no reason for those kinds of specs to be packed into a device that was originally intended to make calls.
I'm not ranting/raving or anything. Sorry if it comes across that way. I'm just curious to see if anyone is still out there that isn't converting to an average consumer who just cares how many gpu/cpu cores and how much ram they can get into a 4" cell phone.

My dad was never big into computers. Now that he has a smartphone, he says he hardly ever uses his desktop. So, for a lot of people, I think that their mobile devices can perform and replace the functions of a "for pleasure" desktop. Obviously, this is not going to cut it for the kind of gamer who cares about overclocking and liquid cooling - there's just more freedom with a custom desktop build, but I'm sure they'll appreciate mobile gaming, too - I know I do.
A phone might be a little small for web-browsing, but not everyone is big into that. Apps for e-mail, Facebook, eBay - those cover a lot of "normal" use.
And a 10" tablet is a good size to enjoy full web-browsing. For me, personally, it's not entirely the same, but it's close enough for most of my uses. I still prefer the desktop for some things, but I can do them without much trouble on the tablet, too. For me, a tablet with keyboard has taken the place of a laptop - I still like having a desktop for movies, games, and backup - but a tablet covers all the things I needed a laptop for. I think a lot of people can find that is true, who don't use their laptops for much "heavy lifting" - they'll find that a tablet is smaller, lighter, and does a lot of things very well.
With the lowering price of tablets, I do think that they will be able to take a good part of the consumer market that will find they don't need a laptop or even desktop (and we know that desktops have already been on the way out for the average consumer).
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The GTX 680M (Nvidia Kepler card for laptops) is running on 1184 or so CUDA-cores.
The high end desktop Keplers I can't recall, but it's safe to say that the less than hundred cores in the Tegra 4 SoC really only tells you one thing:
Mobile units just cannot -at least for a very long time- replace stationary electronics.
I don't remember the clock speed of the Tegra cores, but the Kepler cards run at over 1GHz.
When materials allow power supply, battery lifetime and passive cooling comparable to what is available to a stationary unit, then mobile units will replace them.
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I think that there will always be a need for desktop computers, at least in the foreseeable future. Mobile devices are good and quite convenient for media consumption, but try doing any kind of serious work on one. Electronics will continue to become more and more miniaturized, and it's possible that one day desktops will simply be a thing of the past, but we still have a long way to go.
(Here's hoping that we see holography in our lifetimes!)

Holography already exists, and not just the fake kind, Google it
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Extrinsic said:
I think that there will always be a need for desktop computers, at least in the foreseeable future. Mobile devices are good and quite convenient for media consumption, but try doing any kind of serious work on one. Electronics will continue to become more and more miniaturized, and it's possible that one day desktops will simply be a thing of the past, but we still have a long way to go.
(Here's hoping that we see holography in our lifetimes!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it depends on the consumer. Most consumers are ditching desktops for laptops. The laptops in some cases function just like a desktop would, almost always at home and plugged in - but people are staying away from machines that aren't portable more than ever.
Desktops are certainly still needed for heavy lifting - gaming and many work applications. But for a person who's not in a tech field, a laptop can do all the word-processing one could need as well as email and simple company applications. People who use computers as an accessory tool, not a primary one, don't need a desktop since a laptop can provide the same power they'd have gotten in a bigger, immobile box. And this way they can work from the couch or kitchen table.
Tablets aren't going to take over things like word-processing, although I can see farther in the future the modular concept expanded upon (I use my ASUD Transformer for word-processing quite often).
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