While Jenn prepares mind and body for some MID Moves action at fun park in southern California, I’m getting ready for my own MID  action. The OQO 2+ (64GB SSD, 1.8Ghz, OLED screen version) arrived today and its siting on a table right now in ‘desktop’ mode.  I think it’s fair to say that this is one of the most transparent Vista experiences I’ve had on a UMPC. The 1,8Ghz drive, 2Gb of RAM and fast SSD are really working well together.

I’ve written up a few notes at MID Moves already and there are some piccies being put into the gallery but let me just highlight a few points here.

Overall performance – Excellent.  Vista is useable and apps start quickly.  YouTube full-screen isn’t very good.

Battery life – So so. 2hrs with Wifi on. 2.5 at 800Mhz. 3hrs wifi off.  This is with the small battery. I was hoping for  more.

Screen – High quality.  Not that much better than the best we’ve seen before (Wibrain, Q1 Ultra) but still, the best I’ve seen.  I instantly noticed the restrictions of the 800×480. Interpolated isn’t that bad though. Probably the best interpolated mode i’ve seen.

3G – Can’t test as its locked to EVDO at the moment. So much for Gobi ‘global’ 3G chipsets.

3G is now working. After finding another layer of setting in ctrl panel,  switching to HSDPA, disabling  spring  and verizon software, ticking a box and entering my APN (!) it’s  working. Actually to fair, now that it’s set up, its an easy one-click connect.  HSDPA is working and it’s giving me 700kbpsupload which indicates HSUPA but havent  been able to see any  high speed  downloads yet.

Noise and heat – Dissapointing fan noise. Fan is on all the time and can get very loud. Heat isn’t an issue though so I imagine there’s scope for some tweaking of the fan settings. Maybe it can be made silent at 800Mhz. Update: setting  the heat/noise  bar in ctrl-panel  helped this somewhat. I will do mroe  testing and report on this later.

Disk speed. Good. 50MB read. 37 Write. (max)  This  isn’t  high-end in terms of SSDs  but for the system, it’s probably about as good as it needs to get unless you want some high-speed hibernation action.

I tested the video performance with the Coral Reef Adventures WMV demo supplied on the device. It’s a 1280×720, 6.5mbps WMV9 and the OQO handles it with ease averaging just 50% CPU using Windows Media player hinting to me that there might be some hardware decoding going on somewhere. The OQO even handles it when locked to 8000Mhz which I’ve never seen on any other Silverthorne based device. I moved on to test a 16mbps (average) 1080P file and at this point I found what I think is the reason why all the video is working.  Cyberlink Power DVD V7 is installed. I’ve tested it in the past and seen H.264 working well but i’ve never seen WMV working so well and i’ve never seen H.264 play in Windows Media  player like it’s doing here. Considering this has HDMI out, it could make an amazing portable video player.

Feel free to ask questions. I won’t be monitoring the comments all the time but i’ll make sure I dedicate 30 minutes to answering the questions later. Unfortunately I wont have time for a live video session tonight as I need to prepare for MID Moves activities tomorrow but i’ll be pulling together more thoughts over the week and will be able to present you with a full review soon after.

Thanks to the Intel, OQO and the MID Moves project for the time with the device.

Specs and info on the OQO 2+ here. Feel free to add your thoughts at the bottom of the specification page as a reference for others.

There are still some devices  winging their way over to  Europe but I was lucky and got the  OQO 2+  delivered this morning. Within 1 minute of closing the door on Mr UPS, I was  filming….

I’ve turned on the device and tested through to see if everything is working and the first thing I’ve set up is a new grab-and-go desktop at home…

So far I’m impressed with its processing power and (64GB SSD) disk speed. The Vista experience is fine and I’m easily able to multitask with multiple apps. The fan noise is a bit annoying though. Hopefully that will be fixed before this device goes on sale!

I’ve come across a small problem with the 3G. My plans to ditch my cable broadband for a week have been scuppered due to the 3G being locked to EVDO. In theory the Gobi chipset should handle global 3G bands and types but it looks like its either been locked down of that the firmware isn’t complete yet.
Update. we’ve fixed that problem now. HSDPA is working fine.

I’d tether via bluetooth but the Toshiba bluetooth software refuses to talk with my Nokia N82 meaning i’m left with very few options. OQO are trying to find a solution as I type!

The screen is obviously extremely high quality although not as nice as I expected. I think i’ve been spoilt by high-end screens on the Wibrain and Q1 Ultra and the brightness and contrast isn’t far off what i’m used to on those devices. Still, i’m comparing against the best here and it’s easily as good.

Wifi-On, in-use battery life is looking like 2 hrs. With some tweaking I’m expecting this to stretch to 2.5 hours (browsing at 800Mhz isn’t a problem when you’re on the go) and with a spare battery weighing just 150gm it’s no problem to carry a spare.

Built quality is fantastic; just as it was on the previous OQO E2/02. The keyboard is excellent and the finishing is very stylish. The slider is smooth and they’ve even kept the pulsing LED inside the power adapter connector so you know it’s connected to the mains. Smart!

I’ll be writing more about the OQO as I go along but for the rest of today i’ll be preparing and testing. Tomorrow I attempt a 5-country tour so I’ve got a few things to prepare!

Update: More images available here.

The first of the MIDs are arriving at the doors of MID Moves doorsteps and one of the first to get attention is the OQO 2+ with it’s OLED screen and 1.8Ghz Atom CPU. Jenn has pushed out some benchmarks already and you can instantly see the advantage over lower-clocked Atom CPUs. In fact, that ALU figure is higher than I expected. Disk results there look fairly average so I’m wondering if Jenn has the HDD version. Actually I’m hoping she has the HDD version!

As I type, Jenn is twittering [follow her mutterings] in the background so although it must be past her bedtime, I know she hasn’t been able to put it down yet!

Source: MID Moves

P.S. Jenn has the Benq S6 too. It’s the cheapest MID on the planet. Euro299!

Specifictions and details in the database: OQO 2 Plus. Benq S6.

Just unveiled last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the OQO Model 2+ is being touted by its maker as “faster, brighter, and smarter” than its predecessor. Though cosmetically identical to 2007’s Model 02, the 2+ earns the “plus” in its name from a stunningly saturated OLED touchscreen, 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor, 2GB of RAM, and integrated mobile broadband.
Read the full story

One advantage of running an Intel-sponsored MID event is that I get some nice kit to play with. In fact, the whole team gets some nice kit to play with on the tour. Between Jenn, Nicole, Ewan and myself we’ve got 4 different MIDs to test out. The Compal MID (not sure which ‘brand’ this will be yet) the Benq S6, the ClarionMiND and the OQO 2+. There’ll be 2 of each to be shared out and I’m getting an OQO 2+ and a Clarion Mind. The devices have been shipped by Intel from the US and we’re expecting them very soon. Jenn is also getting an OQO 2+ and I guess, as she’s in the US, she’ll be getting it first so watch closely over at Pocketables.net

The MIDMoves tour starts next Monday, the 19th and MIDMoves will be the place that we’ll all be reporting about the devices first. If I have time before the tour I’ll fire up the studio (still warm from CES coverage!) and do some live work with you. If I don’t have time during the tour, expect lots of coverage after it.

If you’ve been following MIDMoves, you’ll see that I’ve been getting into final planning. Roaming 3G costs have meant that I’m having to change my tour itinerary but there are some exciting things happening. In my latest post, I’ve been talking about geographically aware applications and services.

Gottabemobile have just posted a video presentation of the new Atom-powered OQO and the device is really looking great. The famous coral reef demo is played and it doesnt stutter at all thanks to the hardware h.264 decoding built in. Paired with the OLED screen and the touchscreen this device is going to make a lot of people happy.

Heres the video embedded for your viewing pleasure:

I wonder if JKK ordered one yet ;)

Gizmodo just got the specs on the OQO Model 02+ ….
Note it’s got the same 800×480 screen. Atom 1.33 and 1.8Ghz versions. XP and Vista options. Looking good OQO. More details as we get them.

Specifications are now in the database.

OQO Model 2+ Is +10 Awesome: OLED Touchscreen, Global 3G and Speed UP.

This is hardly a suprise given that we spotted this at IDF but its great to get confirmation. We’re hoping to get hold of one for the MIDMoves tour. Fingers crossed.

OQO bringing Atom-powered Model 2+ ultra mobile PC to CES – Engadget.

P.S. We’re bringing UMPCPortal back up to speed after our holiday. Expect more detailed posts very soon.