Blackbird 002 case

does anyone know where i can buy this separately? i just want the case on its own.

 

I did, too. However, after scouring the internet for a long time I came to the conclusion that it isn't sold separately (unless for some reason somebody buys one, strips out all the parts, and sells the case).

 

The only way to get the case, is to buy a broken one of ebay, and just either throw out teh components or fix them, and then use the case. In my opinion the blackbird case looks like crap and has a poor design.
The same goes with the Voodoo cases, they will not sell them individually cause their case is the only thing which separates them from standard desktops.
So basically you pay a ton more for paint and a case.
Obviously they will not sell the case separately.

K-TRON

 

i think you have a very bad opinion right now. its not like you, are you ok?

the design is very good. it didnt win awards for 4 years running for no reason imo.

 

I dont have a bad opinion, it just does not appeal at all to me. I was one of the first people to actually see the blackbird, and as a computer modder, it just is not well made. The rivets are very low quality, and its injection molding is complete BS. the joints are covered by plastic shrouds, so you do not see that the case is assembled just like any other case. The opposite opening panel actually makes it harder to build and work on teh system, cause towards you and not away. It is just now up to par with the Omen systems.
The quality of the case is not even that high, as a custom builder I make my cases out of steel at least 5/16" thick, so I can stand on and jump onto my case without it denting. First off, it uses low quality fans and a generic brand Hp power supply, which is most likely 500 watts, but with a 1100 watt label. Voodoo only used TAGAN and the high ened enermax psu's in their system, which last much longer than the generic brand hp ones.
Also the blackbird is said to be a system which uses parts you cant get off the internet. Well their performance tuned bios is a simple overclock, with the multiplier set up 1x more than it should. Their hacked bios to support ati and nvidia cards did not work out very well, so they actually had to go back and use the asus bios. And they now use different motherboards based on what graphics you select. This is because they could not get sli to work on an intel chipset, so the system would be unstable.

Look I dont want to get into it, but it just does not look good, maybe its me, but the older omen's before this current one looked 10x better.

The new omen looks pretty bad too, it doesnt even have a side panel to show off the amazing wiring which the Voodoo folk used to do.
The wiring in the voodoo's was a state of art, all done by their origami master. The reason they are going without a side panel on both the black bird and omen because the increase in volume of systems being shipped. As a result the little things are skipped in order to keep up with the shipping and the low prices.

It used to take 90 days on average to get a system handmade, not anymore. Their new case is annodized from factory, aka lianli, and then they put the components in. They used to have to repaint the system, and make it beautiful. It has become evident that their paint quality has gone down as of about a year ago, now only putting on 3-4 layers paint and 2 coats of clear. That is clearly not as much as they used to.

Dont tell me I dont know what I am talking about, you have not visited the voodoo place, or seen the blackbird case in real life.

K-TRON

 

I can't agree more. I got a chance to see the case of the blackbird 002 in september, and heck, took the case apart in person, and there was nothing thrlling about the case. Just because they put components in separate shiny, plastic compartments, doesn't mean the case is worthwhile. The side panel was quite flimsy, and the case itself held quite a resemblance to a traditional hp case, with plastic front panel and vertical striations. Honestly, the case itself must not have cost more than pennies on the dollar to make. If you put a turbocool 1.2kw in there, the case would probably collapse due to the case's lack of rigidity and structual support.
On the other hand, as I analyzed the voodoo desktops on display at the event, the cases were made of 1/16in sheet metal, and must have weighed a considerable amount. now, those cases are quite robust, and are laser cut, so I don't know why anyone would prefer some lowsy, overrated hp case over a voodoo envy desktop case. Having the side panel alone several times thicker than one's fingernail is also an amazing characteristic of the voodoo desktop cases. Just because the blackbird case says "VoodooDNA" doesn't mean it's a voodoo. I just don't understand how anyone can even consider a blackbird case as a plausible desktop case. If you want a case of that quality, just buy a $25 raidmax case made of aluminum foil. It would serve you better.
http://www.podtech.net/home/4131/hp-hits-gaming-multimedia-with-massive-product-launch
listen to Tyrell's quote at 2 min and 46 sec in the video. "we made it look like an omen on the inside and made it look like an hp on the outside." serves my point.

 

i never said you didnt know what you are talking about K-tron, otherwise i would not keep on asking you questions, but you are fuming a bit..... with a bit of right reason.

you just seem to be getting very angry for a professional.

 

Heya folks,

I thought I would log in here and chime in on the whole Blackbird debate here with hopes of getting the facts out there.

First off, to address the OP, unfortunately we do not sell the cases separately. K-Tron is right, eBay would be the only place to get just the case. Will we sell them on their own in the future? I'm gonna have to say no, we won't.

Now to the rest:

1.) There are no rivets holding the chassis together. There are, however, rivets that hold say...the PSU housing to the inside of the case, but they are not in any way used for structural integrity. Everything else is bolted on.

2.) I am not sure what is meant by "The opposite opening panel actually makes it harder to build and work on the system". All I know is my record for building one from shrink wrapped components to a unit posted and softwaring is 1 hour 12 minutes.

Having built quite a few of them, they are very easy to build and work on.

3.) I dunno who would want to stand on or jump on their unit but if that's what people call a fun weekend, then who am I to argue? Actually, the case is very sound and can withstand around 500 LBS weight. (Remember, this case is elevated by a 'foot') We actually had a Rahul and Mark (The case designer) sitting on the case. Mark being on Rah's shoulders. Ok the clip looked a bit silly, but it proved it's point. (Never mind the drop, and "Shock and Vibe" tests the case was subjected to.

4.) I am not sure where the information about the fans and PSU, et al, came from but this isn't in anyway true. The PSU used in the BB is not, in anyway a rebranded HP 500watt. They are custom TopPower PSU's.

5.) The BIOS wasn't hacked to support both ATI and nVidia. And we have not gone back to to using standard Asus BIOS'. Again, inaccurate info there.
SLi doesn't work on Intel chipsets. Neither Intel or nVidia support it, IIRC.

The BIOS for the mobo are customized for us, though. (HP Logo et al.)

6.) The new Oman will have the option for an open side panel as well as many other custom options. The implication of cutting corners is again, not true.

7.) The new Oman Case is not made by Lianli.

8.) The folks that painted the system in the past are the exact same people we have now. Only difference is the paintbooth is now double the capacity. The layers of paint and clear is dependent on the colour and finish. (Not a painter, so I am surmising here.)

 

iMaxx, I think you should give some background info about yourself .

 

LOL ok.

I work for VoodooPC\HP Gaming.

Been there for a few years now (Pre-Acquisition.) so I am one of the semi-old timers. (There are a few here that have been here much longer than I.)

Started off as a simple tech and was made the Lead for Service within a few months and have been there ever since.

Done a little R&D with the team and helped redesign what we called the "Omen Refresh" case which was used just before the new Oman was announced. (What that really means is we spent a lot of late nights with a screw driver and a hack saw to come up with a rickity prototype to be sent off for final production. )

My only real claim to fame was coming up with the location and placement of the custom name tag that the Omens have. It it thusly on the official books as the "iMaxx Vanity Plate". *ego throb*

Been working on PC's since I was about 7, (I'm 35 now.) but it still astounds me the amount of knowledge that K-Tron has jammed in that head of his...if he only lived closer I would have tried to pull him on board ages ago.

That's really about it.

(Spelling corrected...nit pickers. )

 

iMaxx... dude... so many years at Voodoo and still... OmAn?
dont you mean OmEn?

 

LOL Yeah yeah, I know. I have to train Firefox's spell checker a bit better.

 

Every day I see blackbird cases at the Voodoo / Blackbird shop, and I am still impressed with the solidity, quality and cool factor they hold. I love touching them and opening the side door to peek inside!

 

K-TRON, you need to be consistent man. You bought two VoodooPC for some reason.

Indeed the VoodooPC you show on you sig, it is not made from VoodooPC tech, just assembled by them. It is Clevo tech, that you can buy from RJTech much cheaper.

The case of your lappies is very good, just overpriced by VoodooPC.

As fo Blackbird 002, I like how it looks in the pics. But you can also buy extremely good cases elsewhere.

Trance
PS: Aren't most steal cases lazer cut nowardays?

 

I'm gonna have to agree with Max on this one, I don't know where you got your information k-tron, but most of it seems like it came from poor-observations...

I myself had the chance to review one of these bad boys and I don't see how anyone who has actually handled one of these cases can be so negative about it. The design is pure eye candy, with a a few exceptions but those are solely based on taste. I don't recall seeing any of the imperfections you claim it has, so maybe the case you saw was a prototype? The performance the case gave it's components were nothing short of amazing, it performed better than my Cosmos S, with identical components, scoring high in 3d mark, as well as handling any game thrown at it.

It's too bad this case wasn't for sale separately, because this case truly delivers, regardless of opinions. Guess people will have to just see it for themselves to determine how well it works for them.

 

um... it is out for sale for limited supply... 25 of em... go check out the voodoo forums...

but be prepared for the price...