HP Takes on Apple with the New Voodoo
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 11, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
The Most Mac-Like PC Notebook Ever Made: The Envy 133
First, the most interesting one, the Voodoo Envy 133:
Built on an all carbon-fiber chassis (Rahul Sood, founder of Voodoo, is a car nut) the Envy 133 is the closest thing we've seen to an Apple-designed notebook that didn't have fruit on its lid.
HP will say that it's thinner than the MacBook Air, but that's only true at the Air's thickest point. The Envy 133 is a constant 0.70" thick whereas the MacBook Air goes from 0.16" at its thinnest point to 0.76" at its thickest. Arguing about thickness is entirely missing the point, the new Envy is a very cleanly designed machine with a constant thickness, clean lines and very elegant design. Honestly, the only detractor from its elegance is the Voodoo logo which is still a bit more gamer and less "lifestyle PC".
The internals are virtually identical to the MacBook Air; it uses the same 1.8" 4200RPM PATA HDD (a 64GB SSD is optional, just like on the Air) and there is no internal optical drive (the system ships with an external eSATA DVDRW drive). The Envy also uses the same CPU as the MacBook Air - a 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Merom based Core 2 Duo built on a smaller package.
Also like the MacBook Air, the Envy lacks a built in Ethernet port - but here's one area where Voodoo actually out-innovated Apple: the Ethernet port is built into the power brick. If you have the power adapter plugged in, you can plug in an Ethernet cable into a port on the brick and it will communicate wirelessly with the Envy; the power adapter acts as a wireless access point. You can't use the wired Ethernet and the built in 802.11a/g/n at the same time since the integrated wireless is used to communicate with the external Ethernet, but in most cases you wouldn't want to. Voodoo tells us that the efficiency of the external 10/100 Ethernet is around 80 - 85% over wireless, which is about right given normal OS and network stack overhead.
There's a LED backlit keyboard and integrated webcam like the Air, but Voodoo goes on to add an ExpressCard 34 slot and a HDMI output. There's obviously an eSATA port but it's actually powered via USB.
The 13.3" screen is LED backlit and has the same 1280 x 800 resolution as the panel in the MacBook Air and Voodoo also built in an ambient light sensor, presumably to control the brightness of the display and keyboard.
The battery is removable but it is a lower power unit than what is in the Air (33Whr vs. 37Whr), so battery life should actually be lower than what you'd get on a MacBook Air.
The feature list is damn impressive, not only was Voodoo able to virtually clone the MacBook Air but there are also improvements. On paper, it's the most impressive notebook design we've seen from a Windows-PC vendor.
Priced at $2099 with a PATA drive, it's a bit more expensive than the MacBook Air. It ships with a custom Voodoo version of the Splashtop pre-boot OS similar to the ASUS Eee Box or some ASUS motherboards. Availability is scheduled for later this summer.
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hamiltonguy - Friday, June 13, 2008 - link
hi there,i am glad you are having a good experience with dell. I am actually an IT manager at a mid-sized company and have primarily purchased dell for the past 5 years. I am replying on a dell xps 1530. I do however, stand by my comments about dell support. We have approximately 300 dell pcs plus servers and desktop/laptop support gets worse every year -to the point where it is almost unbearable to call them.
As for crapware, dell is no where near as bad as HP, but Works, google toolbar, symantec av 90 day, crippled roxio, google desktop are crapware and I don't want them on mt system.
Dell support website is ok. Dell's automatic driver update tool is a joke. it can't identify your video card, nic, wifi card etc. it brings you a list of all of them, and there are a tonne.
As for Mac OS, i am not a mac basher, I use leopard occasionally at work and it's ok, just not my cup of tea. I do however love ilife.
I just don't see the innovation. Apple can do somrthing as simple as a mag connector for a power supply and people say coooool! why, it's new, it works, and no one else has it. Dell and HP don't need to re-invent the wheel just think outside the box.
CSMR - Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - link
Yes the OS is not apple's key advantage, it's the system designs. How many people would buy a apple system inside a dell case over an identical windows dell? Some, but not many. Apple's advantage is a nice combination of hardware in good form factors with simple designs, painted white.This is exactly what the OEM manufacturers could do if they want: produce good windows systems in good form factors with simple designs, and paint them white. :)
The OEMs can easily compete with apple by producing a range that focuses on style and simplicity: forget about appealing to the aesthetic tastes of gamers and leave out the legacy connectors and supporting chips: leave these to other ranges.
segerstein - Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - link
There are two computer companies that I really admire: one is HP, the other is Sun.They both make excellent computers, HP printers, scanners, while Sun's Solaris is top notch.
Apple is for shallow people :-$
michael2k - Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - link
If Apple is for shallow people, what is the Envy, Omen, and Touchsmart for? Rich, shallow people?krnmastersgt - Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - link
I'll agree with some of those points, but Vista had a horrid launch, there's no arguing that, most programs couldn't even run on Vista until SP1 or a rewritten and updated code for the programs was released. Even Microsoft's own Visual Studio had problems running. Sure, some stuff is the hardware and looks, but if MS can't even have all of its programs and apps from the past run well or even at all on Vista, you can't expect the majority of developers out there to like it very much. Most people I know who've used Vista have switched back to XP, and so have a lot of people I've only talked to. That spoke volumes to me.Griswold - Thursday, June 12, 2008 - link
"... there's no arguing that, most programs couldn't even run on Vista until SP1 or a rewritten and updated code for the programs was released."Yes there is arguing about that because its a truckload of bullshit. Most programs ran and run just fine. Fact. End of debate. There were and still are crappy written programs that cause trouble or wont run at all... so what? If you depend on that particular piece of shit software, run it in a (free) virtual machine of your choice with your previous edition of windows...problem solved.
Please stop talking about vista when you obviously never touched it for more than 5 minutes and depend on "what you heard" on some forum...
Steve Guilliot - Thursday, June 12, 2008 - link
It gets even better. We all remember Apple's migration to x86 and Rosetta. Old apps either crashed or used 5x memory while running 5x slower. Almost all of the biggest software titles were affected until they could produce a native x86 binary, which often took a year or longer.Now let's talk about the blame-Microsoft BS floating around. The pro-Mac sentiment created by Apple's admitedly supperior industrial design, combined with the "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" commercials, is being transferred to MacOS. This is swelling the pro-Mac bandwagon, while increasing the anti-MS hype. Anand has apparently succumbed. PC's are not being held back by Vista. They are being held back by inferior industrial design.
Bashing Microsoft is just trendy. Most geeky bloggers and webauthors will find a way to either attack MS, or compliment it with a backhanded insult, even if the issue at hand has nothing to do with MS. For a good example, see the intro to this very article.
preslove - Thursday, June 12, 2008 - link
Now let's talk about the blame-Microsoft BS floating around. The pro-Mac sentiment created by Apple's admitedly supperior industrial design, combined with the "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" commercials, is being transferred to MacOS.
You sir, are an idiot. Every single mac switcher I've talked to raves about OSX. It is the reason Apple is successful, not the design. The design obviously helps, but having an awesome OS is what differentiates Apple from every one of its competitors.
Steve Guilliot - Saturday, June 14, 2008 - link
Mac users raving over OSX doesn't contradict my point, it's because of my point. How many Mac users are going to spend big money on a Mac and then compain about OSX? They bought into the Mac lifestyle, and viewing everything Apple in the most favorable light goes with the territory. OTOH, there is no Microsoft lifestyle to buy into or identify with.Apple really started taking off with the iPod success (wow, no OSX). Then Apple released the unbelievable cool MacBook Pros (they still appear in almost every TV show and movie today, and don't say it's becuase of OSX). Then the restyled iMacs and MacPros. Now the MacBook Air, again being driven 99.99% by design. Almost everything Apple is renowned for is hardware related. The popularity of OSX follows as a result. It's a good OS, without any major objections. Just good enough to not impede the desireability of the hardware.
On the otherhand, you've offered a thin (and unconvincing) line of anectdotal evidence to conclude I'm and idiot...
Sir indeed.
Thorsson - Monday, June 16, 2008 - link
LOL. No using logic with a fanboi.Anyone who doesn't understand the importance of marketing needs to study the success of brands like Coca Cola and Budweiser. Did they get to be successful through having superior products?
Guys & Gals, Apple has sold you a lifestyle. And you want it.