Saw something kinda cool online today… one of the tiniest computers I’ve ever seen that is a full-fledged PC (not a PDA or mobile phone that is a Pocket PC) running Windows Vista (you can also get it with Windows XP) and all Windows software. It’s called the OQO Ultra Mobile Personal Computer and as you can see in the image, it fits in the palm of your hand. Billed as “the world’s smallest Windows Vista PC,” it weighs under 1 pound with standard battery, and is only 5.6 inches wide, 3.3 inches long and 1 inch deep. Its 5-inch screen can zoom to 1200×720.
Although it’s a tiny PC, it can run at speeds of up to 1.5 Ghz and can contain up to 1 GB RAM and a 60 GB hard drive. It also comes with built-in wireless LAN and Bluetooth and optional wireless WAN. The optional docking station allows for connection to full-sized monitor, keyboard and wired Ethernet.
So, who would this computer be ideal for?
– Seems to me it would be a good second computer for people need to have PC/Internet access on the road, but don’t want to lug around a full-sized laptop. This thing would easily fit in a standard backpack, messenger bag or purse. With many restaurants and coffee shops offering Wi-Fi these days, would provide the capability to check e-mail from the road.
– People who are not heavy computer users but still need basic functions like word processing, e-mail, surfing the Internet, spreadsheets, etc. This is a full computer so it can run the full range of Vista and XP software. Could buy the optional docking station and hook it up to a full-sized monitor when at home for improved screen resolution.
Probably would not be a good primary computer for people who deal with a lot of photos, sound files or multimedia – these would fill up the hard drive quickly, although you could use the USB port to connect to an external hard drive for additional storage. It’s also not the right primary computer for people who rely heavily on computing power – 1.5 Ghz and 1 GB of RAM are enough for most people these days, but you may want more if you run a lot of computationally-intensive software (Google Earth, for example).
You can decide for yourself whether this is a computer worth getting excited about. Personally, I’m glad to see PCs this small hitting the market.