Greetings and welcome to an LGR thing!
And this thing is the OQO Model 02.
[slides open, startup sound plays]
Starting at $1,500 US dollars for the base model and
upwards of $2,300 fully-equipped, the Model 02 was quite the exciting product when it
launched in 2007.
This is from a specific point in the late 2000s where laptops, PDAs, smartphones, and
netbooks were all on the market simultaneously, each fulfilling their own mobile computing needs.
But the Model 02 was part of a new breed of device: the ultra-mobile personal computer,
or UMPC.
The hype began with OQO’s Model 01 all the way back in 2004, sporting an impressive sliding
display revealing a physical keyboard and mouse underneath.
The UMPC term hadn’t even been coined then, but this was an early glimpse at what that
would entail: a one-two punch of technical capability and small size.
The OQO Model 02 arrived three years later with a similar form factor but an even more
impressive array of internal hardware, resulting in its claim to fame of being the world’s
smallest PC to run the latest feature-complete version of Windows.
And it was introduced to the public by none other than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates
during his keynote address for the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show.
-[Bill] These are actually some full-blown Windows PC devices that can even run
the latest Windows, Windows Vista.
So you see this is one you take in your hand and it’s just a touchscreen device, or this
is more traditional in terms of the input.
-[LGR] Eh, well he kind of introduced it anyway.
Mr. Gates didn’t refer to the Model 02 by name,
and calling it a touchscreen was a tad misleading.
While the 02 did indeed feature capacitive controls for scrolling the screen vertically
and horizontally, touching the screen itself won’t do anything beyond accumulate fingerprints.
Much like the Model 01 before it, the 02 featured an 800x480 resolution magnetic field sensitive
5” LCD screen, requiring an additional hundred dollar stylus pen accessory to interact with
the panel directly.
Otherwise, the Model 02 is simply an x86-compatible PC in a tiny form factor capable of running
standard Windows software.
And that was the driving force behind San Francisco-based OQO Incorporated: building
computers with the capabilities of a laptop, but with the form factor closer to a PDA.
Shame they didn’t last very long, as you may deduce by the obscurity of the company today.
Despite the planned Model 02+ making it pretty far into development, OQO never attained the
level of profitability needed to stay in business, and they shut down in April of 2009.
Curiously, a Model 03 popped up in 2010 from Chinese manufacturer Audiotone, but it turned
out this was an unauthorized copycat device and OQO had nothing to do with it.
So yeah, while things like the bootleg 03, the prototype 02+, and the HSDPA Model e2
all existed in some form or another, what we’re looking at today is the original Model 02.
And this is courtesy of an LGR viewer named Joey!
It’s only on loan to me for this video, but I’m more than grateful for the opportunity
cuz these things are exceedingly elusive, especially in fully working order.
Well, mostly working order, hehe.
Handheld computers from the mid-2000s are a real toss-up in regards to usable lifespan,
and this Model 02 is over the hill in that respect.
For one thing the sliding screen no longer holds like it used to, with the metal guide
rails barely keeping it horizontally steady anymore.
And the latching mechanism that once clicked the screen into place has long ago lost its strength.
A screen protector was at least installed from the factory, so the plastic on the LCD
is still nice and fresh.
No word on whether removing it will cause half the screen to die or not, but y’know,
so far so good.
Then there’s the battery situation, or lack thereof, with the original 4500 milliamp hour
lithium ion polymer battery starting to bulge, no longer holding a charge or properly fastening
to the back of the device.
And finally, the little 1.8” 4,200 RPM hard drive inside sounds like it’s on the brink of death.
[Model 02 whirs to life]
[grinding hard disk noises]
[Vista startup sound, overwhelmed by noise]
While there was a 32 or 64 gigabyte SSD option available from OQO, it seems most opted for
a hard disk instead.
Makes sense for 2007 though, being that that they were lower cost while offering nearly
twice the storage at 60 to 120 gigs.
The exhaust fans are also impressively loud, but that seems to have been an issue since
launch according to the reviews from back then.
[high RPM fans do their thing]
Yeah it’s not even doing anything that intense, it’s just copying files from a thumb drive.
You sure wouldn’t expect the 02 to sound so much like a hair dryer.
This thing is loud.
The same unfortunately cannot be said for the audio, with its internal speaker barely
cranking out enough sound to cover up the whirlwind of fan noise.
[LGR video plays, is swarmed by fans]
Oh well it still runs for the time being so let’s see what it can do!
Starting with the keyboard, which is a nifty 58-key thing reminiscent of the Blackberries
and Sidekick phones of the era.
The keys are rather close together and understandably tiny so it takes some getting used to, further
complicated by all the stuff that’s moved around to use with the function key.
On the other hand, it has an actual numpad, so I can forgive the rest for most applications.
And it’s even backlit when the ambient light sensor detects darkness, a handy feature for
those late night computing sessions on the go.
Then there’s the “Track Stick” as they called it, which is the mouse.
Somewhat similar to the TrackPoint mouse on IBM ThinkPads in that it doesn’t spin around
and stays in place to be nudged along the x-axis.
The two largest keys over on the other side are the left and right mouse buttons, a pretty
natural place for your left thumb anyway so that makes sense.
Along the bottom of the unit are a couple of nice surprises, including a full-sized
USB 2.0 port, the charging port/docking connector, an air cooling vent, a full-sized HDMI output
port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Not to mention Bluetooth 2.0, so you can even connect wirelessly to a modern smart device
and transfer data that way in addition to the physical connections.
So yeah expansion options are legit on the 02, with USB accepting hubs so you can plug
in all sorts of things, and HDMI allowing you to plug in displays at resolutions of
up to 1900x1200.
This of course defeats half the purpose of having such a small system to begin with,
but it’s still a way more compact option than expanding a laptop, and way more capable
than expanding a PDA.
There was also this neat-looking docking station that OQO sold alongside the 02 that really
makes it looks like something from the future.
A mid-2000s future, but still, it looks awesome.
I dunno what it is, but I dig the aesthetic of oddly-suspended components like this.
Anyway, that’s about it for physical stuff.
The right side doesn’t have anything, the top doesn’t have anything, the left side
just has the power button, security slot, and the battery release.
Oh I almost forgot, there is also this little antenna that folds out giving you better reception,
both for the integrated 802.11g Wi-Fi and also for the optional EV-DO mobile broadband service.
Yep, this could also connect to a cellular provider like Verizon or Sprint, making it
not only a UMPC, but also an MID, or Mobile Internet Device.
Yeah that was a class of computer too, for a moment in time at least.
The late 2000s mobile boom was nuts.
And in case you’re curious, yes the aerial does actually improve reception.
I got about twice the bandwidth with it out, although it didn’t come close to reaching
my 200 megabit connection speed either way.
In fact, nothing on the Model 02 runs as quickly
or smoothly as you’d hope, and for several good reasons.
The first is that it was never that speedy to begin with.
It relies on a VIA C7-M ultra low voltage CPU running at between 1.2 and 1.5 gigahertz.
And in the days before the Intel Atom, this was a fine choice for a tiny PC in 2007.
But it’s still much slower than even laptop processors of the time, by some performance
benchmarks it’s about on-par with a 600 megahertz Intel Celeron.
Then consider its single gigabyte of RAM while also running Windows Vista, not to mention
the poor hard drive on its last legs, and it’s little wonder why it chugs.
Yet even if it had an SSD and another gig of RAM, Vista clearly isn’t the best choice
for the 02’s C7-M chipset.
It can’t even run the Aero Glass interface due to the integrated VX700 graphics, so it’s
no surprise the 02 originally didn’t come with Vista at all.
You might’ve noticed this sticker underneath for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, and yeah,
that’s what the early units understandably had preinstalled.
Too bad this one now runs Vista then, because the potential here is excellent for some late
90s to mid-2000s gaming!
I mean, it’s a handheld computer that handles
Quake III and Unreal without breaking much of a sweat.
That’s still pretty impressive in my mind.
Not that the mouse nub and cramped keyboard are suitable for much of anything in terms
of first person shooters, but eh, whatcha gonna do.
And the 5” LCD is a respectable dimension for mobile gaming even today, with the overall
size, shape, and design kinda reminding me of the PSP Go from 2009.
The 02 screen really is a lovely transflective panel that’s nice and bright, though not
bright enough to consistently overcome the glare from the glossy plastic, with or without
the screen protector.
And it gets worse, with the biggest setback in terms of the display being how it handles
resolutions beyond its native 800x480.
It’s fine with lower resolutions, but anything higher results in a zoomed in image controlled
by the mouse cursor.
Meaning that games like SimCity 4 fall apart with its minimum resolution of 800x600 and
reliance on edge scrolling.
And of course, the CPU and graphics chipset combo aren’t enough even for games from
2005, with titles like F.E.A.R. refusing to start up at all.
And no, it does not run Crysis, though I certainly tried to force it anyway out of sheer curiosity.
Most games beyond 2005 refuse to start at all due to the graphics chip, with the newest
one I got running being Flatout 2 from 2006.
And well, that was not pretty.
[Flatout 2 plays, technically]
[absurd choppiness increases]
Yeah, this means that beyond productivity applications, the 02 is best suited to older
PC games and various emulators in terms of performance capability.
For example, PCSX runs PlayStation 1 ISOs at a respectable speed,
depending on the game in question.
It’s nothing to write home about, but compared to Windows PDAs of the time
this was crazy impressive stuff.
And DOSBox runs pretty well too when configured properly, so games like Commander Keen and
Doom are right at your fingertips.
Heh, though again that keyboard is the largest constraint, especially when playing older
games that use control, alt, and shift.
Those keys are actually toggle keys on the 02, meaning that you press them once and it
keeps the button held down so you can then press something else.
Guess that’s one way to get an autofire button, no turbo gamepad required!
Heh, but yeah, no, the Model 02 was unsurprisingly not built for gaming in any respect.
The keys are just too tiny and the mouse is just too nubby to result in anything beyond
a few minutes of novel fascination, followed by finicky frustration before you give up
and go back to web browsing.
Not that the internet performs much better, at least on the modern web.
Websites and browsers have only gotten more complicated and memory-intensive, and the
02 is once again not equipped to handle most of ‘em.
Even performing searches takes oodles of patience to endure, and multimedia sites like YouTube
are sheer torture, even on lower video settings.
[video intro music plays]
[choppy out of sync video plays]
Despite the limitations though, I can’t help but think about how the 02 was so close
to being my ideal mobile device back in 2007.
I was all about things like PDAs, smartphones, and netbooks back then, having owned an iPaq
Pocket PC, a Blackberry Pearl, and an HP Mini 1000 netbook.
When combined they met all my mobile wants and needs, but I always dreamed of having
a more capable handheld device.
Had I been able to afford an OQO Model 2, and actually seen one sold in stores, I totally
would’ve been tempted enough to grab one back then.
Instead I completely missed out on the UMPC train of the late 2000s, only remaining passively
curious about later devices like the GPD Win and similar Windows palmtops.
But really, once I got my first touchscreen smartphone in 2011,
well, I’ve never fully looked back.
Except for when I cover things like the Model 02 that is, and I hope you’ve enjoyed looking
back with me at this fascinating footnote in portable computing history.
[upbeat retro synth music]
Once again, I hope you had fun checkin’ out this piece of obscure tech!
If so you’re on the right channel, I love making videos like this and there are new
videos weekly so consider subscribing if you please.
And as always thank you very much for watching LGR!