Among all the devices a gadget lover can crave for, the OQO has been way up there on my list for a long time. Unfortunately, it was not distributed by any major retail chain when it was first release, which made it difficult to get a sense for its fairly unique form factor. Last year, I got to play with the model 01 and was quite impressed. But this year, we signed OQO as sponsor for the Office 2.0 Conference, and we got sample units of the model 02 to showcase on the Mobility Area. Here are my first impressions about the device.

The people who started OQO are the people who designed Apple’s legendary Titanium laptop, and you can definitely see how their experience influenced the design of their own device, in every possible way, starting with its packaging. Buying a product bearing the Apple logo is all about the user experience it gives to the buyer, and this experience starts with the unwrapping of her new prized possession. As much as been understood by the OQO team, and while not as insanely exquisite as Steve’s boxes, OQO’s packages are pretty damn cool, all dressed in black and organized in logical layers of components and documentations.

The device itself is small, a lot smaller than you might think, especially if you are familiar with the Sony UX180P, which I also reviewed last year. While the Sony UX180P is kinda bulky, the OQO model 02 is slim, a lot lighter, and just plain sleek. But the real difference becomes evident when you start using the keyboard. While the keyboard on the Sony UX180P is virtually unusable, the one on the OQO model 02 is amazingly well designed. Typing is fast, and having digits laid out on a separate keypad makes them a lot easier to reach. This is the kind of thing that you would not really think about until you actually try to use any of these devices, and the OQO folks must have played with a lot of them, while taking a bunch of notes along the way.

From a hardware standpoint, the biggest problem with the OQO model 01 was that it was getting pretty hot, and you really needed to put it into a dedicated enclosure if you wanted to hold it, even for a short period of time. The OQO model 02 runs cooler, yet hotter than a smart phone or a PDA, hence an enclosure is still recommended. Nevertheless, a lot of work went into the design of the one we got, which comes with what OQO calls the Executive Pack. This new enclosure is lightweight, easy to snap on, and the magnetic latch very efficient. Wrapped into it, the OQO model 02 still remains a lot smaller than my Sony UX180P, small enough to be carried around on a daily basis.

But with any device, software is what matters the most, and this is where I got my most pleasant surprise when using the OQO model 02. Having made the switch from Windows to Mac OS four years ago, I have grown used to the pleasant experience of using an operating system free of crapware, and I always apprehend the times when I have to setup a new Windows powered computer. I had to setup three of them for the conference last week, and I essentially lost three hours going through incredibly frustrating setup processes, trying to de-activate or un-install all the junk that comes with any PC today. None of that was true for the OQO model 02.

The units we got came with Microsoft Windows Vista pre-installed. The setup took no longer than what I am used to with Mac OS X, but at the end of it, the desktop and the launch bar were essentially empty, at the exception of one web link to OQO’s site and the recycle bin, surprisingly stowed at the bottom right of the desktop — did I mention these guys came from Apple? And guess what? Windows Vista without crapware is turning out to be a pretty usable operating system. Everything seems a lot faster than on any PC I have used recently, and my user workflow does not get constantly interrupted by reminders that I should purchase a license for this useless piece of security junk that won’t really protect me anyway should I go to the wrong site or use the wrong email software. Essentially, the OQO model 02 is a PC that is as good as a Mac, and that says a lot about the device and the people who built it.

It is too early to tell if this new form factor will find a place in my daily workflow. I currently jump from iPhone to laptop to desktop for getting things done, and adding a fourth component to this setup won’t necessarily make me more productive. Nevertheless, there are many times when I need a bigger screen than the iPhone’s for doing something online, but do not want to get my laptop out. Going to a meeting, waiting for a guest sitting at a restaurant table, or laying in bed are such instances when something small yet usable would come in handy, and these are the times when I hope the OQO model 02 will be my interface to the Web. I will make sure to report on this after a couple more months of usage.

In the meantime, I would like to thank the good folks at OQO for their support. I also look forward to what their new CEO has to say about forms factors during this panel next week. I have known Dennis Moore for more than five years now, and have learned to appreciate his often controversial positions. Taking the top job at company that is trying to establish a new form factor is no small undertaking, but after having had a first hand experience at what these guys can produce, I tend to believe that Dennis made yet another smart move.