I recently got an OQO 02 and thought it would be useful to compare it with the N800 (I used an N800 for a month). So here's a mini-review of an OQO 02 with an N800 audience in mind.

OQO 02:
- runs full Windows XP or Vista (Linux works too)
- built-in WiFi, Verizon or Sprint WWAN optional
- built-in Bluetooth with headset support
- 1.5 - 2 hrs battery life with wireless, 3 hrs without
- one USB port, one HDMI port
- excellent backlit thumb keyboard

The thumb keyboard is very nice. On the N800 in Google Talk, I was always using the large size screen keyboard which then covered up the chat window, making it impossible to see the rest of the conversation.

Integrated WWAN means I can be on the internet all the time. With the N800, no WiFi AP nearby cut the functionality of the device.

However, the N800 is so much better in terms of battery life. It was freeing to be able to use the N800 for an entire work day without worrying about outlets or chargers. With the OQO, I don't go anywhere without the charger. [update - the OQO extended battery yields about 4 hrs of on-line use, so I don't need to carry the charger everywhere anymore].

The N800 certainly wins on price as well ($400 vs the OQO's price of $1500 at the low end to $2300 for the high-end model with Vista Ultimate, 1GB RAM, a 60GB HD, extended battery, and WWAN).

Both devices have their strengths. It was tough saying goodbye to my N800, I still miss its hackability and power efficiency, but I really like the OQO.

If the N800's successor has a thumb keyboard and doesn't stutter on Youtube videos, I'll be pretty happy about that.

Price, size and battery life vs. functionality.

I want both officer them!

of = officer? lol at word completion!

I stab words instead officer the spacebar all the time.

lol. the word completion is really annoying at times!

Anyway, the OQO is too expensive, i would much rather take a laptop at that price.

Without the extended battery, it's a no deal for me too. How does the extended battery looks like anyway? Does it protrude out? Or is it just a more powerful battery that fits in the same battery slot?

To make the comparison fair, you'd have to do something like N800 + trip to Europe vs OQO and staying at home.

You can't really compare the two. The OQO is meant as a PC replacement portable device. The N800 is, er..., Internet Tablet thingy something?

I'd agree that they are not in direct comparison for features & technology, but they are directly competitive for the $$$ in my 'useless toy' budget. I can say that I directly cross-shopped small notebooks, oQo, Samsung and Sony UMPC's. I held them up side by side & made the decision that for a device that I intend only to use for surfing the web while in 'couch potato' mode; price, battery life & weight are more important than features & functionality. (And the N800 has a geek factor that the others don't have.....)

I still want both an N800 and a UMPC.

I CAN compare the two directly. I currently use the N800 and am considering abandoning it in favor of the OQO Model 02.

The main differences are price, size-weight, and battery life, as has been mentioned. I'm also concerned about the problem of viewing the N800 in daylight. This has been a source of frustration as I have pulled it out in broad daylight several times, forgetting that I won't be able to read the screen. It is often not practical to shield the device from sunlight adequately to use it.

I already perceive the N800 as too large to carry around and frequently find myself with only my cell phone and needing to access web sites. I'm sure that problem will be even worse on the OQO which seems to be twice as thick.

Unfortunately, I do frequent slide-shows and the N800 is currently not able to plug into a VGA projector out of the box. I suspect that will change with a future firmware version enabling usb host. There are already a couple of usb to vga adapters that would work.

The N800 does allow me to go without my laptop often, but the OQO would allow it more often. So they are comparable, although the price tag does mean sacrificing the trip to Europe or whatever, as a previous poster said.

I think it's an interesting comparison. I have both myself, and have compared my usage. For me, the N800 is the device I have on me everywhere. The 02 I take a lot of places, but not everywhere. For me, if the N800 had a keyboard, I would probably use the 02 a whole lot less. One of my N800's sits on my nightstand, but neither my UX nor my 02 ever will.