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Voodoo Envy 133 unboxing and impressions
HP's Voodoo Envy 133, first announced in June, has struggled a bit off the blocks, with manufacturing problems keeping it out of buyers hands until last month. Of course, HP has a good excuse: carbon fiber. The notoriously difficult material wasn't used sparingly on the Envy 133, and if you've been looking for a laptop dripping with the synthetic material, HP's got your number. We mention this to remind ourselves that, like the MacBook Air before it, this laptop is about looks first, function second, and the Envy 133 succeeds in that regard wildly. There's always room for taste in these things, but HP makes quite a statement here no matter what your persuasion. We're not going to run through a full review here, but we'll let you know our first impressions after the break.%Gallery-33602%
Voodoo's latest Envy hiding in plain sight?
See that? We could be wrong but that's not a 13.3-inch Envy 133 laptop -- it's bigger. In other words, while the video titled "Voodoo Envy: Carbon Fiber Closeup" is certainly an Envy, we're guessing (or at least hoping) it's the recently teased model. Widescreen Envy 184 anyone? Hit the read link for the full video. P.S. Yes, the carbon fiber micro-weave is smokin' [Thanks, Anthony M.]
HP making changes within Voodoo?
Here's a curious one -- merely months after HP essentially revitalized the Voodoo brand and cranked out the undeniably sexy Envy 133 laptop / Omen desktop, in flies word that the branch may be broken in the foreseeable future. In response to rumors that the Voodoo PC division would be canned entirely, Rahul Sood (yeah, the same guy that pimped an undisclosed new gizmo barely a week ago) stated that "HP is working on a plan to better leverage its existing resources to bring Voodoo products to market faster and make them more accessible to consumers." An HP spokeswoman was also quoted as saying that "[it] continually assesses and re-balances the size of its work force relative to the business environment and market conditions." In other words, no one is denying nor confirming the whispers, and while we have our own suspicions about what that means, we'll let you make of it what you wish.[Via CNET]
Voodoo can't just come clean, has to tease yet another new product
Most everyone digs a surprise, but the novelty tends to wear off after the third or fourth iteration of the same trick, wouldn't you say? Rather than just coming right out and showing us the wares, Voodoo's Rahul Sood is playing the tease card again with an obviously undisclosed new product. In an apparent attempt to keep the wave (started by the Omen and Envy 133, by the way) rolling, Mr. Sood has dropped a sliver of a hint on The Next Bench. He states that "there's also this other thing [Voodoo is] working on right now," but he very purposefully fails to elaborate. Just keep it sexy and overpowered and we won't kvetch about the build up... too much.[Thanks, William]
Voodoo Envy 133 unboxed on video, lookin' good
Right, so Voodoo's succulent Envy 133 looks a lot better in high-res images than in some highly compressed, artifact-laden YouTube clip, but that's what your imagination is there for. For those still waiting for their freshly shipped machine to hit the doorstep, hop on past the break for an unboxing sure to make you even more impatient. Or just restrain yourself and experience it first-hand in a few days. Totally your call.[Thanks, Bernt]
Voodoo Envy 133 starts shipping, corrugated boxes seen sweating
Not a whole to say that we haven't already summed up in the title, but that hot little Voodoo Envy 133 is finally shipping right about now. A whole host of to-be owners have already received tracking numbers, and some folks have already had the pleasure of peeling away the tape and gettin' busy. So, are you still waiting for yours to leave the dock, or is it already halfway to your abode?[Via CNET, image courtesy of Playername]
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a troll
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the third in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself.Trolls are based on the "wild savages" you've seen in the movies or on TV, from King Kong to Discovery channel. If you've seen people hunting with spears, walking around in the forest without many clothes on, or dancing around in costumes and face paint in some kind of ritual you've never heard of, you've seen the apparent inspiration for trolls in World of Warcraft. The culture of Warcraft trolls are a mishmash of all the different myths and rumors that have grown up about some of the earth's indigenous peoples that live outside modern society: Strange voodoo beliefs and rituals? Check. Bloodthirsty headhunters with a taste for cannibalism? Check. Witch doctors, shrunken heads, human sacrifice, and rampant superstition? Check on all counts.It's important to note here that troll culture is based on the myths about some indigenous people, not on their reality. Cannibalism, for instance, has been rare among human societies, nearly always viewed as anathema, but among the trolls of Azeroth, it appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Unbiased study of the world's primal religions has shown them to be far more sophisticated than early (and prejudiced) Western explorers ever imagined. Don't listen to the Jamaican accent trolls have in the game and assume that trolls are based on real life Jamaicans. There is nowhere near the correlation here that we might find with the dwarves and the Scots, or even the draenei and the eastern Europeans that they sound like. Indeed, one could argue that the choice of a Jamaican accent to represent the trolls and their culture reveals a great deal of ignorance we Americans have regarding Caribbean islanders -- but that's a discussion I'll not go into today.Suffice it to say that as a member of the Darkspear tribe, the only tribe of trolls to join the Horde, your character living in a time of great change for your people. Your tribe is the first to embrace the more modern values promoted by Thrall, to take up the spiritual practices of shamanism, and to integrate itself with other races. Although the Darkspears have officially given up human sacrifice, cannibalism, and now tell you to "stay away from the voodoo," these practices are all elements of religion and superstition that your character would have grown up with, and may find it hard to let go of completely.
SplashTop instant-on OS hacked to run other programs, boot off flash drives
DeviceVM's SplashTop "instant-on" OS is based on Linux, even though it's locked down to only run IM, Skype, media software, and Firefox, and you know what that means -- it's already been hacked wide open. Yep, the clever kids at the Phoronix forums have managed to open up the BIOS-based OS and make it do all kinds of tricks, including run other programs and boot other machines off a flash drive. The hacks are still a little complex, but with ASUS shipping tons of ExpressGate-enabled mobos and laptops and HP's support in the Voodoo Envy 133, we'd there's a one-click unlocker in the wild fairly soon. Anyone brave enough to install it on their machines?[Thanks, george85]
HP merging Voodoo with consumer PC unit
Just weeks after "reinventing" Voodoo with the Envy 133 laptop and Omen gaming desktop, it looks like HP's had enough -- it's decided to straight-up merge the specialty PC shop with its core consumer business, and sell its products alongside the Compaq Presario and HP Pavilion lines. Yeah, that'll make Voodoo seem totally hardcore. For it's part, HP says it's always been planning on this kind of merger, and that the move will make Voodoo product easier to buy worldwide and faster to get with no change in service for existing customers, but it's also oddly ambiguous on whether the Voodoo name will live on -- saying only that it's "likely," but that a decision hasn't been reached. All this means that it's even weirder that HP has both the Voodoo and Blackbird gaming lines, of course -- any bets on which one gets axed first?Read - PC World articleRead - HP CTO Raul Sood's blog entry on the merger
Voodoo's Envy 133 gets handled by Maximum PC
The folks over at Maximum PC have gotten themselves a chance to go face-to-face (and tongue-to-laptop) with Voodoo's newest show-off -- the Envy 133 -- and they've shared with the rest of the world. There's not much to say based on these pictures, save that they clearly were stoked to be getting this close to the sexed-up excuse for maxing out a credit card. If you hit the read link, you'll catch a slew of pictures, some size comparisons with a MacBook Pro, and first impressions of what Voodoo's instant-on OS looks and feels like. What are you waiting for? Get!
First look at the Envy 133's instant 5-second OS
For those of you still able to focus, able to avoid a gobsmacked trance evoked by the unabashed sex of the Voodoo Envy 133, listen up. LAPTOP went hands-on with a pre-production Voodoo Envy 133 running the instant-on, Linux-based IOS (aka, DeviceVM's Splashtop) and came away "really impressed" by the "game changing" technology. Instead of waiting for Vista to steal another boot-minute from your day, IOS boots in just seconds letting you surf the web in just 15 seconds from a cold start -- 4-5 seconds for IOS boot, another 10 or so to launch the Mozilla-based "Splashtop browser." The IOS also presents users with a Pidgin chat (AIM, Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo, and more) client, voice-only Skype, and multi-media playback of photos and music. Let's face it, often, very often, this is all the functionality we need from our laptops, right Eee PC owners? Of course, you can boot to Vista from IOS or shut the laptop down if that spreadsheet can wait another day. Now hit up that read link to check the video hands-on.
Voodoo Envy 133 packaging revealed
As if it wasn't already clear enough, Voodoo is really going all out with its new Envy 133 laptop (and Omen desktop), and it looks like that extends right down to the packaging as well, as evidenced by this latest batch of shots provided by Voodoo founder Rahul Sood himself. As you can see above, the company has even gone so far as to include a microfiber sleeve with the laptop to add one more layer of anticipation as you unbox the thing. Be sure to hit up the read link below for the rest of the pics, including a peek at the acessories and some close-up shots of the keyboard.
Voodoo now accepting Envy 133 phone orders
Alright, it's finally here -- Voodoo's configuration page for the Envy 133 just went live with pricing information, and we're being told that orders are being accepted over the phone. Depending on options and paint jobs, you're going to put a dent in your wallet anywhere from $2100 to $3400, but it's still not clear exactly when units will be shipping out. Anyone taking the plunge?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Ask a Lore Nerd: Faith and religion
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, the column that answers your questions about the story and lore of the Warcraft universe. Click the Comments link below, ask your question, and blogger/columnist Alex Ziebart will answer you in a future installment!Two weeks ago, when I was going through my queue of questions, one stuck out as especially complex. Sean Riley inquired about the beliefs and practices of the various Azerothian religions. This topic really excited me as I kind of have a thing for analyzing religion and faith. I would never claim to be an authority on theology, but it's stlil something that is very interesting to me. Warcraft lore combined with theology? Yes please! Obviously this isn't really the place to analyze and debate religion, but taking time out to research the gaps in my knowledge on this particular topic was incredibly fun for me.Unforunately, I didn't have the space in that week's column to fit the answer to that question in, nor did I really have the time. It was a broad question and needed to invest a hefty amount of time into it. This one question has filled today's column, and while that may be disappointing to some that are waiting their turn, I hope it's an interesting read regardless.
Voodoo Envy 133 photographed gloriously in the wild
No frontin' here: this is the most excited we've been about in the wild shots in quite some time. Not only do we have a veritable plethora of Envy 133 shots to glance at, but each one is high resolution and sharp as a tack. If you think your heart can handle checking out this slab of sexy from all angles, head on down to the links below and give it a go. From here, the only thing we're down on is that mirror they call a glossy display; otherwise, this thing looks downright heavenly.Read - TheNextBench message boardRead - Envy 133 gallery
Customized Voodoo Envy 133: a sin worthy of death
Anyone else feeling the rapid palpitations of desire is their cold, pawne-shopped hearts? You're looking at a pre-production, Scuderia-red Voodoo Envy 133 with "Rahul Sood's Racing Edition" engraved underneath. Mind you, this level of customization isn't just limited to Voodoo/HP execs. Both the Omen desktop and Envy 133 will launch with "extensive personalization options" for even the lowest of the lowly cubical monkeys.[Thanks, Muhri]
Voodoo Omen gets examined from the inside
We've already seen plenty of official pics and videos of Voodoo's pricey new Omen desktop, but if you've been hankering to know what's going on under its shiny hood you can now get your fix courtesy of Pocket-lint, which has cracked one open and snapped a couple of pics. Not surprisingly, the Omen's insides are decided more cluttered than its minimalist exterior, not to mention considerably more brightly colored. Hit up the link below for a closer look.
Voodoo's Omen and Envy get talked about on video
Let's face it: a photograph is only worth a thousand words, but a video... well, it's almost always preferred. For those still hungry for (even) more details on Voodoo's latest duo, the HP VoodooPC channel is now home to a host of fresh clips to satisfy your insatiable appetite. The goods are in the read link, kiddos.[Thanks, William]
Voodoo's Envy 133 using custom MacBook Air CPU?
We heard they were coming. Now it looks like we've got a second ultra-thin laptop sporting Intel's custom-built, 65-nm processor first unveiled in Apple's MacBook Air. At about 3:00 minutes into the Envy 133 video, Rahul Sood, Voodoo founder, says that his new Envy 133 uses an "off roadmap chip" of Intel design which consumes 20 watts of power. Looking at the Envy spec sheet reveals a processor running at either 1.6GHz (SP7500) or 1.8GHz (SP7700), with 4MB L2 Cache and 800MHz FSB. Right, those are the exact specs as the custom CPU found inside of Apple's MacBook Air. Also of note, LaptopMag says that Voodoo's instant-on IOS is none other than DeviceVM's Splashtop which ASUS is currently bunging into all of its motherboards. Make no mistake, this hunky chunk of carbon fiber is still magical, it's just not the mystery it seemed when launched this morning.Read -- Splashtop Read -- MacBook Air processor Read -- Envy 133 specs
Voodoo Omen and Envy press shots galore
You think we're tired of Omen and Envy 133 yet? Fat chance. That LCD-bedecked desktop behemoth and thintop contender (pictured) are both quite a new direction Voodoo, and their launch seems particularly good timing given Dell's apparent reshuffling of its XPS and Alienware lineups. But forget market appropriateness, let's concentrate on the sexy...%Gallery-24807%%Gallery-24806%
