Problems in OQO 02 land

 

I think its necessary that I address some of the issues and concerns with OQO’s latest model, the OQO 02. It seems that many people have not even received their units yet. Just to be clear, the production unit I received was ordered from OQO directly through their website, I didn’t use any super Boy Genius powers to receive it. I didn’t even use the Boy Genius name on the order. The unit shipped to me just like it should to any of the other thousands of people that have placed orders, whether it be through OQO’s site or from a reseller like Dynamism. While my OQO is doing fine overall, there is a huge problem with the Sprint EV-DO modem, which is why they have delayed the initial Sprint and Verizon units.

Here is a quote from an OQO representative, "All our orders with Sprint and Verizon Wireless (WWAN) are on hold while some issues are ironed out with our WWAN product line. Rest assured, we are working hard to get the orders shipped in an expeditious manner, but our commitment to insuring we are shipping our customers a quality product must take precedent."

So you’re telling me that no one, in the entire company, tested a production device with Sprint or Verizon installed? Because anybody in the world could have seen the issues with the first units that I’m about to go into.

My device won’t get on the EV-DO network, just 1X even though I am in a blanket coverage EV-DO area. In addition, neither the Sprint software, nor any of the Novatel EV-DO modem drivers were installed, which lead me to believe that the modem physically wasn’t even present. This is problem one. Problem two seems to be the production quality. While the unit is extremely well-built, there are countless nicks and scratches all over the plastic parts of the device. To make things worse, the docking station I just received is even more scratched. It looks like it was literally dropped on pavement. Mind you the boxes were all sealed and protected from outside exposure in plastic wrap. I really expected more from OQO.

They are a small company and shipping delays happen, but atleast be upfront with your customers on realistic shipping times and delays, instead of quoting a "4-6 weeks" shipping timeframe when most people won’t receive their units until 16 weeks or more. We live in a day and age where everything moves so fast, and it seems like these guys can’t keep up. Most people expect to order a product and get it within days, not months — atleast I do. They should have had units available for shipping the day the computer went on sale. There needs to be something done about these issues. Not even for me, but for all the customers who have plunked down an average of over $2,000 for a product they have not even received yet. Take a page out of Dynamism, who have kept their customers up to date on the order status as soon as they get info, hats off to you.

Let’s see what happens with OQO in the near future.

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