It's Here! The Holiday Buyer's Guide 2004

OQO: It Lives!

Finally - the OQO arrives! After several years of hype, we received a working OQO PC. This is a full-bore small computer that runs a full version of Windows XP Home or Professional.

This tiny computer has a 1 GHz Transmeta processor, 256 MB of RAM and a 20 GB hard drive. Wireless connectivity is provided through built-in 802.11b and Bluetooth transceivers. There is even an external 802.11 antenna connector. All of this in a package that weighs only 14 ounces!

The screen resolution is 800x480 and you can output 1280x1024 to a regular monitor with the included "docking cable". The docking cable also has connections for a full-size keyboard, Ethernet, USB and Firewire.

You can navigate using either the eraser-top pointer or the digital pen, the tip of which is sensed when it hovers over the surface of the screen. The keyboard has all the buttons you would expect on a regular keyboard - even a numeric keypad. You may be thinking that key combinations involving Shift, Fn, Control or Alt might be difficult to accomplish because of the small key size, but OQO has already thought of that. When you press any of those four keys, they turn green and remain "pressed down" until you to hit the next key.

The OQO, preloaded with Windows XP Professional, is available now for $1,999; if you only need XP Home, deduct $100. The OQO can be purchased on the OQO website