Latest VoodooPC Hardware – Envy M:151

Following on from the Envy F:121, it’s the turn of the Envy M:151 to be outlined here at HPGB.

Envy M:151

The M:151 is the first machine in the range (if we start from the F:121 and go up in base price) to be optimised for all three of VoodooPC’s categories; gaming, digital content creation and the home and small office.

This “middleweight” notebook is 8 pounds and features a 15.4” inch widescreen,  an ‘extensive’ battery life and a 1.3 megapixel webcam.

It starts out at US$3700 and climbs as high as US$4987.  At this higher end, we have some ‘meaty’ components such as the Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 and the ATI X1600 256MB graphics card.

While this is a powerful machine (as it should be for the money), it is apparent that Voodoo are reserving the most powerful components for the most expensive notebooks.

Latest VoodooPC Hardware – Envy F:121

Having finished outling the VoodooPC desktop range by covering the Hexx, I’m now going to move onto the notebooks.

First up is the Envy F:121, let’s get into it.

Envy F:121

The range starts with the F:121. This is a machine which is optimised for “basic tasks around the home or small office”.

The key selling point of this machine seems to be the portability and style. Given this, it seems odd that there aren’t many pictures of this thing floating around the web. Maybe you’re supposed to take their word for it?

It averages 4.7 pounds (2.13kg) which is supposedly light? According to hp specs, the NC6400 that I use weighs 4.6 pounds and I certainly don’t condsider it light. However, compared to the dv9500t which comes in at 7.7 pounds, I probably shouldn’t complain.

The machine starts at US$3108 and can go as high as US$3462.

At the high end, you’re pretty limited with what hardware you’re getting. The top processor is the AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-66 and graphics is fixed at the ATI Radeon Xpress 1270.

So, as they advise (if you read between the lines) if you’re interested in gaming then you’re going to want to read further down the page to some of the other machines. If you’re interested in a HP-level machine in a pretty shell, then this may be for you.

Latest VoodooPC Hardware – Hexx

Following on from our post on the omen and the aria, today I’m rounding out the VoodooPC desktop range by discussing the Hexx.

Hexx

The Hexx is a desktop which is supposedly optimised for gaming and for the home office. One of it’s key selling points is that it’s smaller than Voodoo’s other desktop options.

It’s 10 inches wide, 15 inches in length and 15 inches high (that’s 25.4cm x 38.1CM x 38.1cm for those who can identify with those numbers).

Pricewise it starts at US$3100 and ranges as high as US$4269 as a gaming machine, $4406 as an office machine and $4380 as an entertainment centre.

It’s worth noting that as of time of writing, the highest spec video card that can be added to the machine is the 8600GT. Presumably this is because of size constraints, but should be an important consideration if you’re buying this machine primarily as a gaming box.

There aren’t a lot of reviews out there, so I would personally love to get my hands on the machine and put it through it’s paces. The idea of a compact machine optimised for the home office and gaming is something that’s really attractive.

HP offers 15% discount for students and teachers

HP announced today that they would offer qualifying students and teachers a 15% discount off products purchased from the HP website.

This is a pretty significant announcement for gamers who are looking at picking up some tech for their studies and want to play a bit of Gears of War on the side.

The press release mentions a number of products that would be of interest to different individuals.  For gaming, they mention the HP Pavilion dv6500 which looks like a really solid machine, featuring DirectX 10 graphics and other nice components.  The discount would bring this unit down from $1049 to $891.65.

Unfortunately the discount doesn’t seem to include the VoodooPC hardware.

Latest VoodooPC Hardware – Aria

Last time, in the first instalment of the VoodooPC Hardware roundup, I wrote an overview of the Omen desktop PC. Next in the VoodooPC desktop product line is the Aria.

Aria

As you may be able to guess from the picture to the left, the Aria is optimised as a digital media centre.

This machine can vary in price from US$4700 up to US$8000 (only this high end price includes a blu-ray / HD-DVD drive, but one can be added to the lower priced machine).

There are a number of reviews out there about this machine.

Back in October, 2005 PCMag gave it four stars (out of five).

In December, 2006, about.com gave it a slightly less favourable review with three stars (out of five).

It’s worth mentioning that many of the specific features that were mentioned as missing in the reviews may now be part of the package, but I’m no videophile, so my analysis wouldn’t be of much help. It would seem though that the video world moves so fast that these reviews are out of date almost as soon as they were written.

Do your homework, get what you want and at the end of the day, you can always be sure of the quality hardware and service experience that you’ll get if you pick up a VoodooPC machine.

VoodooPC Launch ‘Quite’ Powerful Notebook

In news out today, VoodooPC has released a new Notebook PC, labelled the ENVY H:171.

If my title sounds a bit anti-HP, then blame it on what seems like hyperbole from whoever writes these press releases. The title of the press release was “VoodooPC Smashes Industry Records with Next-Gen Notebook PC” however these ‘industry records’ were not mentioned and even Rahul Sood, CTO of HP Gaming even called it “one of the fastest and most powerful 17-inch notebooks on the market”.

The is undoubtedly a rock solid notebook. The processor is one of the best available, and the machine comes equipped with an impressive 600GB of storage via three 200GB drives. Along with the next point, this abundance of storage leads me to believe this machine is not primarily for Voodoo’s gaming market. After all, this sounds like a superb machine for graphical design, video editing and other content generation. But onto my uninformed theory.

It’s a fact about technophiles that when you see a list of hardware specs, you look for what’s not there not what is.

This machine is aimed towards high-end gamers and what’s top of the mind for gamers at the moment is DirectX 10 support. However this unit features Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7950’s.

“So,” I thought “why no DirectX 10 chips?”

“They’re out.”

“They’re even in another HP notebook.”

“Or perhaps it could have something to do with the rumoured problems Nvidia was having with these chips,” (which Nvidia denied).

Many desktop PC gamers (including myself) have been waiting for a shakedown in the DirectX 10 market before they jump in. The fact that VoodooPC is shunning the DirectX 10 chips in favour of high-end DirectX 9 should encourage notebook gamers to do the same.

Update (19th July):  I’ve received a comment from Rahul regarding the lack of Directx 10 chips.  Apparently this notebook has been available for a few weeks from the VoodooPC site.  The new chips have just become available and should be available for this notebook soon.

Pete Corin is an HP employee but works outside of HP Gaming and has no knowledge (unless stated otherwise) of any internal decisions, strategies or policies related to HP Gaming. Any opinions written here are those of Pete and not Hewlett-Packard Ltd.

Latest VoodooPC Hardware – Omen

This series of posts isn’t revealing any ‘earth shattering’ news, but for completeness, I thought HPGB should cover all the latest hardware available from VoodooPC. In this first post, we’re covering the Omen.

Desktops

As VoodooPC fans will know, they offer three base sku‘s in their desktop range; the omen, hexx and the aria.

Voodoo simplify things in a way I wish more retail outlets would do, instead of comparing their systems based on price and components, they talk about systems being optimised for different purposes. It’s ironic that Voodoo’s audience is probably the one that least needs this sort of simplification.

Omen

The Omen desktop is the ‘top of the line’ machine in the VoodooPC range.

It’s optimised for gaming, digital content creation and as a digital media centre.

It’s price starts at US$5800 and will range over US$10,000 depending on your choice of components.

Back in November 2006 the Omen won the Ultimate Game Machine competition in the Games for Windows magazine.

ExtremeTech also had a pretty favorable review of that machine. “It’s clearly built with craftsmanship and care, and it’s damn near the fastest shipping PC we’ve ever laid eyes on.”

While the components available for the Omen will have changed drastically since these 2006 reviews, you can be sure that the engingeering, quality control and other production processes behind these machines won’t have.

I’ve never owned a boutique PC, but from what people are saying, if you buy the Omen, you’ll know that you’re getting more than just a white-box system off the shelf from your local store.

HP’s Gaming Vision

On the 28th of September 2006, HP announced the acquisition of VoodooPC, a boutique computer System Integrator. This was one of the first significant steps in HP’s gaming strategy which was announced in April 2007.

HP recognised that gaming was a growth industry:

Gaming applications demand massive amounts of raw computing power and scalability to achieve high levels of interactivity. HP will focus on providing the technology that powers PC, online and mobile gaming, including infrastructure and workstations for gaming companies, content developers and service providers that participate in this demanding and rapidly growing market.

Further than just seeing themselves as providers of high-end gaming focussed PC’s, HP sees the opportunity to utilise it’s experience and technology right across the gaming industry:

“HP’s broad technology portfolio enables us to contribute in nearly every segment of the gaming market,” said Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer. “As the world’s leading technology provider to the communications, media and entertainment industries, HP is uniquely positioned to marry content, networks and IT infrastructure to take the immersive gaming experience to the next level.”

In July 2007, months after the announcements and many miles away, the HP Gaming Blog came into being. HPGB will be focussed on highlighting and commenting on HP’s latest moves in the gaming space and on gaming industry news in general.

So, welcome to HPGB. I hope you enjoy the content this blog provides and that you have reason to return. If you have any comments on any post, I’d love to here them.