Voodoo Envy u709 Bavarian Blue Candy: My Personal Experience Report...

Ok, when I started looking for a notebook, I was fascinated by Boutique brands and was compelled to buy a Boutique Branded notebook. One thing about Boutique Brands is that it is not mentioned and/or reviewed as thoroughly as the other more mass market brands. No matter what the brand was, Falcon, Hypersonic, Overclocked, Voodoo and even Alienware, I could not find enough literature about them. Of course there is couple of reviews when some magazine decides to do a “Extreme” review. But none was helpful...

I was able to find a decent amount of emotion in this forums and the emotion seems to be Love or Hate.
I did find a lot of Love for a specific brand on another NBF forum but for some reason, my personal opinion again, reading their post did not comfort me in a specific brand (namely AW, which was my first choice…) I was left doubting even more…

On this (Notebookreview Forum) my needs, desires and opinions were taken in, weighed and evaluated well by the folks here. Opinions were valuable, credible and comforting without the hormone injected raves. Some immediately pointed out that I could get better value… but others who understood my NEEDS, DESIRES & OPINIONS actually supported my decision.

This is where I started my personal research I notebook and with the reaction from you guys, this is where I made my decision. Hence let me start by saying that with this review, I hope that I can help any of those out there looking for a boutique brand and more so, I hope this shed some light to anyone looking at my specific model and brand.

This is MY personal experience I am sharing with you folks. Thanks.

I placed my order on Feb 9, 2006 to a very nice cust svce rep.
Voodoo Envy u:709
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+
2GB DDR 400 RAM
Seagate 80GB 7200RPM Sata
17” WUXGA 1920 x 1600
nVidia GeForce Go 7800 GTX 256MB
8x Dual Layer Slot DVD +/- RW Slot Loading
Bavarian Blue Candy
Cost: “Boutique” shall cover it…

All the other goodies (Video Camera, Wireless Card, Modem, Ethernet, Bluetooth, … Audio)

3DMark 2006 (1024x768x32bit) 4034
3DMark 2005 (1024x768x32bit) 7028
3DMark 2003 (1024x768x32bit) 14640
3DMark 2001SE (1024x768x32bit) 23383

Aquamark 1600x1200x32bit Very High 69470
CS:Source 1600x1200x32bit Very High 121 FPS
Doom3 1600x1200 High Quality 62 FPS
Call of Duty 1600x1200x32bit, Max Textures 172 FPS
FarCry 1600x1200x32bit Very High HDR 49 FPS
Unreal Tourn 2003
1024x768x32bit Flyby 357 FPS
1024x768x32bit Botmatch 121 FPS

Quake 3 Demo 1600x1200x32bit, Max Textures 307 FPS

SiSoft Sandra 2005 SR2A
CPU Benchmarks
Dhrystone ALU 20230 MIPS
Whetstone FPU 7561 MFLOPS
Whetstone iSSE2 9793 MFLOPS
Integer MMX 45530 it/s
Floating Point 49255 it/s

Drive Benchmarks
Drive Index Voodoo: 35MB/s

Memory Benchmarks
Int ALU/RAM 3917 MB/s
Float FPU/RAM 3914 MB/s


I noticed immediately at the start of my search that there is an apparent heat issue on similar models from AW and other similar builds. I think I might have also read in the NBF forum and actually saw a picture of someone’s P4 based lappie melting something because its too hot.

I’ve expressed my concern over the heat issue and they reassured me that the problem is not an issue on the AMD base and it was more of a P4 system.

My cust svce guy also indicated that they are really busy and so there is a 20 day delay on the systems.
As long as I was told in advance, I guess I am not building up any expectations and so it was more acceptable.

The wait was bearable, but of course, I grew impatient.
The est ship date on the order status came and went by… I basically used my time to hang around the Voodoo forums and see if anyone else has my same ordered machine. There was one guy who also gave his personal review and I found it very helpful. The folks there were also good in answering my questions as well. What I really liked about the forum is that there were folks who work for the company, CLEARLY IDENTIFIED as EMPLOYEES (RED NAMES) and they were actively interacting with the customers, friends and new members. Technical info was passed along quite freely and in depth. I WAS ABLE TO GET HELP ON MY NON-VOODOO BUILDS TOO.
Ok, enough about their website…. Going on to the product review.

Shipment finally arrived on March 24! Only one week later than my original ship date.

Packaging:
The packaging is nice, carton sturdy, nothing that needed to be secured was loose in the carton
The outer carton is nicely marked with good logo, single corrugate carton on the outside but the inner carton fitting so nice made the entire box quite strong. There were 2 inner cartons, shall we say, upper and lower.

[IMAGE OF OUTER CARTON]


Upper Carton:
This carton contains my literature, a lot of straw (I guess this is a part of the voodoo experience) inside was my manual, mouse pad, disk, tech ref document, and my power adaptor.

[IMAGE OF UPPER CARTON]


Lower Carton:
This contained my precious laptop. I found it interesting how my laptop is suspended in between 2 sheets of plastic… this was cool. I did not throw this away…

[IMAGE OF LOWER CARTON]


[IMAGE OF EVERYTHING LAID OUT]


Paint:
The paint job is quite exquisite! Really nice job and I was concerned about the quality of it and the durability of it. It is quite nice, its like a car paint. IT IS METALLIC. It is so glossy, it reflects like a mirror. I mean really, the paint sparkles!

[IMAGES OF MY LAPTOP]










Screen:
The screen is crisp. Voodoo does not have a “no pixel guarantee” they have a 6 pixel tolerance policy I think. My laptop was flawless. Images are so crisp, the image looks nicer than my 20” Samsung LCD.

Keyboard:
I like the keyboard. It is nice and smooth. It feels solid, not like my Dell, the keyboard panel moves 1-2mm when I press on the key and the key is very light with a clackity clack sound…
The Voodoo keyboard makes less noise and it is smooth.

Heat & Fan Noise:
This was my main concern. I know I am buying a system with a desktop CPU and it will have bit of a heat issue.
To my surprise, this runs cooler than my DELL. My dell is very warm / hot to the touch when I use it a lot. After hours of WoW every night, my Voodoo is warm. It is not cold, but it is not as hot as my DELL.
I was really surprised!
Fan noise is not bad either. My DELL just kicked into high gear and people across the room can hear my fan. My voodoo is quieter. Thank GOD.

Sounds:
It is an onboard sound but it does sound nice.
Even over the fan noise.

Size:
This thing is HUGE! 15.5” x 11.75” x 1.95” sound not bad but in one solid mass, it is big.
Don’t make this decision lightly folks. This size lappie meets my needs (or my desires) but make sure you know what you are getting into.

[PICTURE 1 OF DELL VS VOODOO]


[PICTURE 2 OF DELL VS VOODOO]


Hits:
LIGHTS: Love the blue lights around all, I wished that the other status LED on the middle of the screen frame and the back of the screen was blue also. It is green/orange and it really throws off my color coordination. My paint job and most of the lights match nicely tho.

DVD: love the slot load!

FANS: I am putting this on the hits because I am used to the high pitch whizzing sound of my Dell Inspiron 8500, this is a lowly hum. It does throttle up and down as needed but I did not find it distracting.

SPEED: this guy is fast… really fast…

Misses:
Power supply is too big and heavy
[PICTURE OF ADAPTOR AND BRICK]


USB: the ports are upside down so I cannot see any lights
[PICTURE OF USB PORTS]


WEIGHT: this is no joke, it is 13lbs. it is fine for my use… not for one to carry around a major part of the day.

Conclusion:
I will try this and not be too confusing.
Voodoo offers ME, not only a laptop with great technology, great customer support, and a great overall product, it offers me an experience. I am going in a tangent here but I see the market these days taken over by HUGE commercialized companies that rubberstamps anything/everything based strictly on numbers alone. That is why there is no more emotional response to a product any more. Think about it folks. A 1969 Ford Mustang, it did something to the one who owns it. Buy one now and you still have an emotional experience. 2006 Mustang? Lease it and get one newer when your lease expires, right?

Ok, apples and oranges here but bear with me… I’ve always wanted a Boutique, I’ve even wanted Alienware before anything else. People who look to boutique laptops are looking not only for a machine but an experience. That is why people are so into MODs right? Remember when it was only about drilling in blowholes and OC’ing it? Now it is about making it more personal! Personal colors and personal images.

Voodoo offers me a emotional experience. The wait, the anticipation and the feeling that I got a beautiful machine I’ve always wanted all my life. This is what I value and this is my reason for getting a Voodoo.

If there are folks out there who feels the same way… I hope I helped them…
If you wanted a Boutique, you wont go wrong with a Voodoo. Of course I cannot guarantee but my experience was OUTSTANDING!

If you are going to reply to my post saying I overpaid… well, here’s my reply in something you and I can relate to…:

That North Face jacket you wear in the winter because it is so popular, you probably paid $120-190 depending on season? It only cost $30-45 to make it.
(Patagonia (a true brand with great philosophy and will not bastardize their belief company), Feathered Friends, Marmot are far far better quality and brand)

Denim Pants: are made from as low as $4.00 to as high as $20.00, but sold on retail market for average of $80.00 to now even $240.00

Reebok sold these sneakers called Reebok Classics: it was made in china for about $5.00 a pair.

NEED I SAY MORE?
Look no matter how you put it, no matter how much we deny it, we all have a brand junkie in us.

One More Thing... i know Voodoo, Alienware, Falcon, Sager, Hypersonic may use the same ODMs... but my laptop does not come with a CLEVO sticker at the bottom... that makes me smile for some odd reason...

 

Excellent review, as far as I know there aren't any reviews of VooDoos on here, not much is really known about them, mostly because of the price, I think. I would love one of their computers though.

I really liked the comparison to other things near the end it really pusts things into perspective.

Although I didn't read the review thouroughly, I will later, but now i don't have enough time to do that, I really hope to see more about it from you.

Thanks for posting this,

Reize

 

Reize, thanks for your feedback...
i admit it was not the easiest decision i made but there's no regrets. if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask....

i am not a tech guru... am a dabbler at best but i am willing to help any way i can.

you are right in that there is not much said about this company... that is why i felt i needed to post here... in case there are folks who want one or want to know more...

thanks.

 

Great job! We're glad to have helped you out.
Your Voodoo u709 looks very similar to the Alienware Aurora M7700 I recently tested, and your specs + benchmarks as almost dead on.

The paint job is gorgeous, as Voodoo's are known for. You pay a premium to get a notebook like that, but for many including yourself, it is well worth it, and I have no qualms about that. I would pay $300 or more to have a nice paint job on my notebook.

Have a great time with your new toy, and we really appreciate you coming back and posting!

Cheers,
Chaz

 

Thanks ChazMan421, i really appreciate it, especially coming from you.
This forum was quite valuable in making my decisioin and i felt it is the least i can do.

Just read your AW review. that is nice system. i was also considering that system... tho back in my mind,... something about voodoo that i really wanted to have one.

One Great quote from your review, the Ownership Experience.
not too many products these days that give you that.

Thought the FX-60 was great but the cost was too much for me...

is it a test system or you keeping it?

 

That was a test unit, so I had to send it back. You made a good decision going with the 4800+ - the performance gain with the FX-60 is not worth the ~$500 or so premium you pay for having top-of-the-line components.

Chaz

 

Thank goodness, imagine being stuck with a 17" screen with a lower resolution... that would be a crime!

the 1900x1200 is just gorgeous...

gotta try the light leaking thing tonight... when everyone's asleep...

 

My next notebook is either a voodoo or a falcon still haven't decided (leaning voodoo) they're a great help to speak with. That paintjob is seven layers and takes 11 steps to complete, definetly great.

Why did you decide not to get a tattoo? Love the tattoos myself. My favorite is anchient forrest (green) with an anchient evil tat. You know they'll even let you stop by in person to get your machine and take a tour? Photos and everything. I've even spoken with Rahul sood the owner. Definetly an experience. I'll do a review if/when I buy one as well

Congrats on the notebook man and enjoy! Did you bother with extending your warranty or upgrade insurance?

 

Thanks Otaku for your comments.
the folks at Voodoo sure are real pleasant to talk to.

you want to consider one, i recommend also to look at their forums. there you can find owners of voodoos, non-ownders, employees and you can also ask about a specific model. some have them they can give you first hand comments.

Tattoo, well, it's not me...
actually, rather than the paint, i would have much rather have the BAM finish on a laptop. this is the Brushed Metal look...

a matte/satin black brushed aluminum case... wow!

they are offering a special color now, gold, metallics, two tones...

What i really like about this company and their forum is that the folks are straight upfront. Employees are there, you know that who they are. No in house advertisement via word of mouth over there... as a matter of fact, they talk more about other stuff... when someone has a problem, they do jump right in.

Rahul has been known to linger around the forum as well....

one thing, is it ok to talk about another forum over here?
it is product related, right?

don't want to cross any lines.

at first, i did not get extended warranty but i just singed up for the 3 year.
reason, i travel a lot and i really travel a lot...

its nice to have folks up front...

 

I don't think anyone minds if you talk about other forums here, it's not crossing any lines, to me at least, others opinions may differ. There are ythough some forums who'll ban you for even talking about other forums and make their own insecurity sound OK by saying you were trying to bring therir members to your forum... Really stupid people out there...

I'd really like a VooDoo, maybe I'll be able to dish out the several grand sometime before I go to college, then pay the same amount for tuition ^^;

 

it is a lot of money... the sad thing is that lappies are not so upgradeable...
don't know when i will be looking at a computer magazine and hitting myself on the head because the price dropped sooooo low...

in regard to some other forums out there, the dumb ones, yeah, i've seen those too... and it feels that the more i read the posts over there, the less credible they sound. i mean there were these folks who really rave about one brand... that recently got taken over,... and really, i was looking at a lot in there to support my desire to buy the AW machine... they rave so much that it feels awkard...

anyway, thanks for the reveiws.
i really like this forum because it too is very straight forward and very very helpfu.

 

Well you have a pretty good setup there and it should serve you well for awhile, I mean you have desktop power that is near top of the line I'd say a few years. The upgrade factor does suck but its nice to get new ones Personally I think I'd be happy with that voodoo for at least 5years (and your guranteed 3 with the warranty)

All laptops are expensive considering what you get compared to a desktop but the desktop isn't as portable and for you it sounds like that just wouldn't do.