whats so gr8 bout voodoo computers they are so expensive

As you quoted me, i said "I think..." So those are just my thoughts. I am by no means a millionaire, but I definitely spend money on things that I think are the "best" at times when I should be saving as well.

There are always many ways to look at a topic such as this. Just like defeating the "purpose" of becoming a millionaire. I'm sure most millionaires will burn some money, but I'm also sure many would argue that that is not the "purpose" of becoming a millionaire.

Back to the original question of this thread "whats so gr8 bout voodoo computers they are so expensive?" Answer: nothing

 

With that I agree, stallen.

I think I may have taken your comments too personally, stallen - I thought you actually meant me in particular when I read your post.

 

It's easy to misinterpret things in a forum. "It's all good!"

 

is this guy for real..... ur getting girl/life advice from people on laptop forum... and that makes the laptop worth 7500, have u tried getting freinds.. usually u dont have to pay them?.. lol that is hysterical.

 

K-Tron's a good dude... very quick to jump in to help those with computer issues, whether they are Voodoo or otherwise...

bmwrob, dont know if you know this but you've basically sent me over to the voodoo forums as being "different" and/or "unique" community and if i recall correctly, one of the main reasons for buying into a voodoo laptop.

to each his own... right? so there...

spending a ridiculous amount of money for a nicely colored laptop is interesting... at first you do buy into the hype and it does get quite exciting...

ownership experience was grand... during the 2 months that my setup was at the top of the world...

buying a voodoo is not meant for everyone... they see a niche market and it has worked for them... as did for alienware, falconnw, hypersonic and whoever gives clevo and compal a lot of business.

one good thing about my PERSONAL experience with voodoo is that i notice that i'm dealing with people rather than tech's over in bangalore that i have no idea what they are saying with their heavy accent.

over at the forums as well, at least when i frequented there, i see many of the "reds" or the staffs on the forums jumping in to assist.

one thing that i did notice is that you do need certain level of computer knowhow... some may argue, pay $7000 for a laptop and it should come with an amazing warranty... true... it should... and hence folks who have issues will get a bit more dissappointed (may be an understatement) if something goes wrong...

voodoo makes as good a machine as clevo does... does that make sense? well guess what... same goes for everything these days...

my parent's american dream was to own an All-American RCA... only to find that it was made in china.

i like my laptop... but in 20/20 hindsight... would i? maybe... because it seemed to be one of those things that you will never know without taking the plunge and owning one...

no, i cannot justify overpaying for a laptop... but then again, are YOU, in general, qualified in placing a value on my ownership experience and joy?

some buy civics, some buy porsches...

hence... to each his own...

i purchased it... i like it...

just my opinion...

 

Kinghong you made good points but your civic VS porsche analogy is not correct since we're talking about two exact same products i.e buying into the voodoo hype because of glitzy marketing and way over priced.

If you want local customer service then Voodoo is not the only one with local customer care as companies like xoticpc also provides local CC. I could've justified paying for a Voodoo when it truly was a unique product but just look at the competition and they're offering the exact same product for thousands less including a slick paint job.

To me voodoopc is now the monster cable of the laptop industry. Enough slick marketing/hype and some people will get suckered into it even if you can get the same thing for far less with another local company. So this is basically a civic vs a civic argument here. I could understand if Voodoo laptops were totally different on the outside/inside but we're talking same exact components here.

 

Sure, blame me!

The community on the Voodoo boards is different and unique, hong. And there are lots of great posters there.

Voodoo has changed during the past few years, though, IMO. Frankly, my mind changed about Rahul, the company and it's business tactics and procedures during the "Kimble" fiasco. And these days, there just isn't anything special about the company or its products anymore.

The Mutthaboards, though, still has enough knuckleheads posting to make the occasional trip to the site worthwhile. Now, if Voodoo would just fix its own damn forums . . .

 

ok ok... you are right... the two offers something different...

how about this... Some buys jeans from K-Mart, others, Designers...

there, both pretty much the same... perhaps more use of the K-mart brands... eh?

hmm... yes fun place to be... i was basically lurking their boards very often...
fun folks there...

as for the forums... yes, maybe rahul has been silent because he too has problems getting on his own boards...

i just occassionally get over here and read some threads and what i find a bit uncomfortable is the simple boutique bashing i see occassionally.

my opinion is, we should not bash voodoo or any boutique brands for capitalizing on an opportunity...
i am sure that they are aware, much dream is invested in their products and delivery of quality and ownership experience should be very high in their consideration... it seems that sometimes, it's not the case and the resulting dissappointment is astronomical for them, more than for clevo or compal.

i knew that i was buying a clevo... i knew my product will be as good as a clevo, not a voodoo but a clevo... i was even concerned that the whole dissassembly, paint and re-assembly actually made it less reliable...

so to those who argues about price, argues about dollar to dollar value... i think those arguments dont quite apply to the folks who are committed to buying a boutique... for various other reasons...

else, we should all be wearing K-Mart's Arizona branded jeans and garments...
better yet, i think some folks named Marx, Lenin, & Mao had a more novel idea...
lots of red stars and funky-boring grey clothes, funny marches, kids behaving like robots, all uniform and all... very efficient but boring a hell...
but in the end, it was just a dream...

 

I love my Arizona jeans!

 

This is just getting out of hand, that is why I stayed away from this thread for a while. Look guys, no matter how much you bash us for buying a Voodoo, it is not going to turn back time and make us buy a clevo instead.
The next time you buy something expensive, why dont you post about it so we can bash you for buying some rebranded crap. Until then, stop it.

I appreciate King backing me, because guess what there are people out there who will overpay for something, and they can justify it. My point being, many people have bought Voodoo's, and many have whatever reason they have for justifying the extra expenditure.

BMWrob, just because you had a bad experience with Voodoo does not mean everyone does, you had problems for whatever reason, and guess what deal with it. Not every processor, and tech thing can be tested, so guess what flukes get passed down the line. If a problem occurs down the road, is it Voodoo's fault?, no. Its all in the luck of the draw, this happens to nearly every company and every product.

Initial testings and benchmarks are not going to show a problem with a capacitor which is going to blow in 2.53 years, or whatever the case, its not possible. Many are happy with their machines, and King and I are. Just because we are happy with our super fast laptops, and youre mad at your slow cheap dell or whatever does not mean you have to take it out on us. Yeah, my laptops had its share of problems and so has King's, but literally what machine has never hiccuped.

I am happy with buying a Voodoo and I will do it again in 5 years or so, depending on whether hp interferes or not.

As far as the pants go, I would never buy clothes at a K-Mart, I only buy branded pants, like Brooks Bros (their orange pants), and llbean, and Ocean's Beginning - not Lands End.

Everyone has a brand junkie in us, so deal with it.

I am not usually angry or want to put things against people, but literally its ridiculous.

K-TRON

 

Well, guess what, K-tron, that's what I'm doing in this thread. The problem( s) I had with Voodoo, its service, and the machines I bought, were NOT caused by a blown capacitor. They were caused by poorly built machines, and terrible customer service.

My desktop is now completely shot, totally beyond repair - the liquid-cooling burst and ruined the machine. It had already been back to Voodoo for repair of a bad GPU/PSU/CPU . . . Voodoo never did figure out exactly what the problem was; after two months in their hands, it was finally simply rebuilt - not that it helped much in the end. This pile of junk is now in the dump where it belongs, and has been replaced with a MacPro. It wasn't worth the time or effort needed to bother attempting to deal with Voodoo "Customer Service" trying to have it repaired AGAIN.

The laptop was total junk, and was sent back to Voodoo on two occasions for repair of broken hinges. Of course it also had two permanently stuck pixels and one which would intermittently stick right in the middle of the screen. Voodoo, of course, claimed that while in its possession, the intermittently stuck pixel never showed itself (though here at home, it popped up very frequently, too frequently not to notice), meaning it had one too few for Voodoo to bother with, even for a repeat customer.

Voodoo told me on more than one occasion, that the hinge issue had been resolved, but guess what, K-tron, it wasn't. Oh, and guess what - there are still people who post occasionally on the Voodoo boards about that very "resolved" issue: M860 broken hinges.

A true story: I put the laptop up for sale on the boards, an offer was made and I had to decline to sell it. Luckily, for me, the buyer insisted that even though he was aware of the hinge problems, he didn't mind waiting for the fix and bought it anyway (and this info can be verified on the Voodoo boards). It was sent to him directly from the Voodoo facilities in Calgary upon completion of the second "repair." He has since posted several times asking for assistance with additional problems with the machine. I don't think they have ever been resolved because he hasn't posted in a long time.

So, if you want to continue making-believe that you spent your money in a worthwhile manner and got $7500 worth of laptop, and that people like myself don't really have issues, guess what, K-tron, you're welcome to continue enjoying your little fantasy.

 

I am not blaming you that your machines broke, I said that the resulty was from design, and from defects. Yeah, the Voodoo tech team couldnt find the prob, because some little circuit probably broke from the liquid which came from your water colling system. The hinges are manufacturer engineering defect, which is not Voodoo's fault.

Believe what you want, I am happy with my system, and so are others.

BMWrob, I am sorry that you had a bad experience, but just because you did, does not mean everyone else does. There are many happy voodoo owners who frequent the boards. Problems happen like the ones you ran into, and they are not anyones fault. You cant throw the blame on Voodoo for not finding the broken piece of stray in the haypile. The M860 had problems because clevo made a little mistake, it happened to all of the clevo's the M860 was based on.

I am not living in a fantasy world, I am just a normal teenager who loves and takes care of his systems.

K-TRON

 

You didn't read or understand my post very well. You're discussing two incidents with the desktop as if they were the same. They were not related; they were TWO separate problems.

Likewise, you're making the broken hinge problem sound like it was just a minor little nuisance. I can't blame Voodoo? No, huh? Well, guess what . . . I can because Voodoo told me (and Mutthaboard members) many times that the issue with the 860 hinges had been addressed and was no longer a problem. And if you doubt me, go search the Voodoo boards. Your favorite guys in the whole world are just as quick to pass blame along as you. But, guess what . . . Voodoo sold the machine, and Voodoo was responsible for it.

Oh, and guess what, if you think I'm alone in being dissatisfied with Voodoo and its service, you're really out of touch. Do a little research on the 860, the 460 and the F5.

Nice edit, BTW. Change you mind about posting? Voodoo needs support from guys like you, you know - just to keep the fantasy rolling.

 

Ok bmwrob, sorry to hear you had such a horrid time with your voodoo...

K-Tron, you and i are satisfied with our machines but you do have to acknowledge one thing tho... and when you do look at things from their point of view, you can also understand their sentiment.

boutique brands builds up a tremendous amount of expectation... i am sure many "educated" consumers are aware, that they are paying a premium... and in return, we have built this expectation based on this "premium"

in some cases, it may be denial... we know it's a clevo, or a some other OEM, ODM or IDCWTF... we we believe that we are getting something different... and this is a tremendous shoe boutiques have to fill.

with much respect for voodoo, i do notice a couple of things... aside from their stupid forum issues, but in regard to tech and service...

the folks are nice... matter of fact, great... they go above and beyond to help...

but when something goes wrong... i see certain "solutions" where the owner has to diassemble and re-assemble... easy task for those who are familiar with the computer... but to others... this is a daunting task...

and i am sure the company does their best to service the machines... but sometimes, it cannot be resolved... hence the dream and fantasy suddenly sours and the nightmare begins... all the joy and pleasure turns into sour emotions, anger, frustration, in exponential folds... why? because a boutique such as voodoo is purchased with emotion and passion...

i still give voodoo much credit for their success in a niche market and making a name for themselves... i'd love to get my hands on a Omen and i see the amount of attention and detail they put into my laptop...

i know that if i come to these boards and make dumb statements such as my laptop is the fastest cus it's a voodoo... or it's the best because... that's worthy of all the flames and cussing bound my way... my laptop is as good a machine as a voodoo...

now, at the same time, when folks say we are dumb for spending so much money on such a clevo... and starts blindly bashing boutiques when comparing simply, dollar for dollar... well...

Arizona jeans, i'm sure are nice... i get my working suits from Men's Warehouse... but put it next to a fine italian wool suit by Brioni or Etro... heaven and earth... heaven and earth...

 

I have had my share of problems with Voodoo, but I just took it as a luck of the draw thing. In the first six months of owning my system, my graphics card died. I diagnosed the problem and found with my handy voltmeter, that three surface mount transistors blew near the G72 core of my Quadro. I talked to Tyrell at Voodoo about my problem, and I told him what went wrong. I highlighted the broken transistors with a yellow sticky, and I took a pic to show him. I talked to Tyrell, and he had me just ship the graphics card to him. Since I highlighted the problem, which 99% of people dont do, I only had to send back my graphics card. While I sent my card back to Voodoo, Tyrell and Luc, took the time to hunt down a replacement Quadro, which they sent to me before I sent my broken one back. After shipping times and such, I was only down a week and two days. I only had to pay the $38, to second day my card to Voodoo. But like anyone, I was pissed. Yeah, I was out of a system for a while, but what are you going to do. They could not have known that the transistor would have blown 180days after the sale. I used my knowledge and found what went wrong, and that helped save me from shipping my entire system back, which would have taken nearly an entire month.
WHen I got my new card, I benchmarked it with 3d mark, and everything was fine.
I knew when buying my system that I was taking a risk buying a desktop replacement with very power consuming parts, but I took the plunge anyways.
When I first got my system, the first thing I did was crank the fans to full, and lock it that way in the Bios. Then I went and found temperature monitoring software, like hdtune, coretemp, GetThermal, and rivatuner, so I can always see what is going on. I dont let my system run over 60C, because I dont want anything to break. In order to maintain in my range of temps, while crunching numbers to fight cancer when the cpu is running at full speed, I knew I had to modify my chassis. I installed rightmark, and undervolted my processor, so that it uses 10.6 less watts, then I made feet for my laptop to lift it up so air flow can be maintained, then I bought new fans for my laptop, so that my harddrive, mainboard and memory could be cooled properly. I had to cut and modify the memory bay and harddrive bay, with the addition of a new harddrive caddy and enclosure i made. Clevo did not do that, they knew the harddrives would get hot, but they never fixed the problem. I spent about 100 hours modifying the shell of my system, because I knew a few U709 owners, had had overheating issues, which resulted in motherboard failure. I knew this before buying my system, and I went in with a strategy to fix all of the problems. After fixing the temps, I found that standby never would work properly, so I hacked cpu rightmark and forced my bios into the S2 sleep state rather than S3, which enabled me to wake my server processor up. All of these problems have plagued the U709 chassis, but I went in with the goal to fix them, and I did. I now have a very stable, and probably the coolest running U709, and you know my efforts made the difference between my D900K and all of the others in the world.
Its not baout blaming the company/vendor, I could do that and so could everyone else, but crying about it wont do anything.

Rob, I dont know your circumstances with the M860, because I am not you. I am sorry if what I said, made it sound as if it was youre fault. I have to ask though, if you ever looked to see what was causing the hinges to crack? Did you ever go in to find out? Well I would have, because I am handy and I dont give a damn if taking my system apart nulls the warranty. You either fix it at the cause, or just stupid external mends do nothing. It is like patching a water tower with putty from the outside, it is just stupid to continually replace the putty, when all you have to do is replace a piece of steel. I hope this makes sense.

Rob, you seem to be expressing your hate to Voodoo, but you know many people do, I am not saying everyone is happy with theirs. You just unfortunately had two systems which had problems. I dont know why the watercooling system leaked in your desktop, but you know just a little maintenance on the ring clamps could have avoided a system failure. I have dealt with a few motherboards which had leakage problems due to faulty water blocks, but you just have to find what the problem resulted from, and try to fix it. I am very handy, mainly because i have the tools and facilities, so I went and found the broken caps/mosfets/transistors on the board, which shorted from the liquid, and I replaced them. It is much easier to buy a new motherboard, but then you have to pay a ton for it when the transistors and such are nickel parts.

Every thing has its problems, nothing is perfect, so when things break you have to find the cause of the problem. That is just my opinion, and I have used that to find and fix all of the problems associated with my systems.

If I was a normal joe buying a laptop, and my system melted yeah I would be mad for having a very expensive system break. I can agree that my system probably would have been in the shop a dozen times in the year I have owned it, but it hasnt because I took the initiative to fix any flaws I found.

K-TRON

 

Of course I know what was wrong with the laptop - Voodoo, eMachines and another reseller or two were buying machines from the ODM (the model was an Arima 730) with an obvious defect. Rather than actually doing anything about the problematic machines it was selling, Voodoo simply put the blame on the ODM. No refunds, no replacements, just repeated excuses and claims that the problem was a single batch of machines with bad hinges. In other words, Voodoo refused to admit an ongoing situation and offered no real solution. "The ODM has come up with new reinforced hinges." was one BS claim; my machine and several others broke immediately after the supposed new hinges/lids were installed. And these kinds of stories were posted repeatedly on Voodoo's boards, as well as here at NBR and NBF by eMachines 68XX owners.

The desktop blew without warning, and I'm sorry, I don't do preventive maintenance on my machines' hardware. Cleaning the system, dusting with air, etc, is fine. Keeping the OS up-to-date and clear of malware and junk is fine, but I don't break open the machine to check on mechanical parts. I'll give you that doing so may have helped, however on a system less than 18 months old, which was never moved, jostled or abused in any way (other than its return back to Calgary), should not have had so catastophic an incident occur. Luckily, I was able to replace the system without it being a major financial burden. Suppose though, that I'd been strapped for cash - then what? Fortunately, I'm not a youngster cutting grass and spending my entire fortune on a damn computer, Voodoo or otherwise.

And just to add a bit of personal info, I bought from Voodoo as a total computer n00b. I didn't want to have to work on the machines due to physical problems, which, at the time, made so much as using a screwdriver nearly impossible. I bought into Voodoo's hype about buying an experience which was supposed to include impeccable service as well as impeccably built, totally reliable, super clean machines. I willingly (and knowingly) spent the ridiculous premium Voodoo charges to avoid service hassles. However, the other problems and runaround dealt by Voodoo from the start of my own "experience" is too involved to discuss here, but it's all in the Mutthaboards archives.

When our argument began, I didn't realize how young a person I was dealing with here. You're much younger even that my own youngest son, so I will now apologize for the tone of my posts addressing you. I understand devoted "fanboyism" . . . I've become a bit of an Apple fanboy myself, though, frankly, not to the same degree as you with Voodoo. I've had issues occasionally with various Apple products, BUT THEY'VE BEEN DEALT WITH PROPERLY AND FIXED without any BS or broken promises. For the record, I had a miserable time with a MB, but in the end it was replaced by a MBP (yes, I paid the difference in price but got a FULL refund on the MB). Such service just is not the norm with Voodoo, despite its claims to the contrary.

@hong: I appreciate your civility; I know you love your machine, the Voodoo boards and all the folks there - red, green and black. Reading my rants was probably grating on your nerves but you handled the issue well - better than I in my own effort to discuss my thoughts and experiences. Kudos and some rep to you. You, like nearly all the Voodoo posters from the Mutthaboards, are a class act.

 

Now that you mention about the hinges and their lack of replacing them and such, than Voodoo is at blame. I didnt know that they refused to put the new ones on. As I said I am not you, so I dont know the story.

I too wanted a system which I wouldnt need to be bothered with breakdowns, and that is why I picked the U709 branded D900K. I only heard problems which were related to heat. Once I fixed the heat issue, than hey I shouldnt have any problems. I am very greatful that I have not had major problems, and I pray that I dont have any.

I am a young guy, but I am not stupid. I bought the D900K, just as news about Clevo's D901C surfaced. I went with the D900K, because I read about dozens of people's experiences. The only Voodoo review I ever found, was by King, and that really made me get the Voodoo over the Sager. I also did not go with the D901C because I am an AMD fanboy, and I hate Intel for using slave labor in Vietnam of all places to make their chips. I dislike everything about Intel, and I will not buy another one of their chips. I am happy with my Opteron, it may kill my battery life, but then again desktop replacements are not known for good battery life.

I am not a Voodoo fan boy, I have never told anyone to buy a Voodoo, because 999 out of a 1000 people have never heard of them. Through these board I have argued and help people choose from Xotic, Dell and Sony. It is hard to vouch for Voodoo on a forum like this because many cannot justify the extra expenditure, with everyone here leaking and spilling the secret that they are just rebranded and repainted clevo's. I am just a Voodoo owner who has had good experiences.

K-TRON

 

lets not play the "I can afford a "better" laptop than you can" game

 

"A fool and his money are soon parted". I learned that pretty quick after I bought an expensive "boutique" gaming desktop that was pretty much old news after about 6 months. Live and learn!

 

Were not playing a who's richer game, we are trying to share ideas on why Voodoo is good and bad. Plus I would loose the game in a heartbeat, I dont have a job. Rob shared his bad experience, and I shared my good experience, and then we fight a little, but hey someone down the road may find this thread helpful.

K-TRON

 

I find myself split between the two points. While I can't understand why someone would spend double the price for a laptop that just has some fancy job and supposedly has "premium support" (I bought a Dell Vostro (Bussiness grade laptop, not XPS) the keyboard was faulty, got a new keyboard the next day, turned out the laptop was faulty, got a new laptop 2 days later, much faster than you 9 day ordeal with Voodoo) someone put forward a valid point.

I don't buy my jeans at the local supermarket, I don't spend under 150$ for my jeans when I could buy some for 20$ at Walmart. The thing is, you can't really compare laptops with Jeans. Those laptops are made by the same ODM, it's Intel's same CPUs, Nvidia's same GPUs. Difference between a pair of Diesel jeans and Walmart jeans is that they are made from two different companies, the quality is generally better, they look better and fit better. It's a also on a smaller scale. You say I pay 7 times the price for the more expensive jeans, it's only like 130$ compared to 3500$ more for that Voodoo. This is also valid for people comparing cars to laptops, the cars are totally different.

I remember once my sister bought some sunglasses from Chanel for 600$, I couldn't understand why. I also like to buy expensive stuff. Right now I have a kick ass desktop (C2Quad, 8800 GT etc...) and it's good for anything I throw at it. So you are telling I don't need anything else right? Maybe a cheap Dell Vostro for classes? Well I just bought an Alienware m15x for 3000$. Do I need it? no, so why did I buy it? Simply because I can. I have no real need or reason to buy it, I just want it. So like K-Tron, you can technically bash me for shelling out 3000$ for something I don't need.

I always look for the cheapest possible within reason when I buy laptops. It's a Clevo with a fancy paint job for 3500$ more, same Intel and Nvidia parts in both laptops and no real advantage in customer support. But if that's his thing...

However I don't understand how you can say that by buying that laptop you gained access to some fancy forums with people that could understand your troubles and so on. Well there are many forums like that on the net and you don't have to pay 7500$ to gain access. Also, that's what real life friends are for.

Next time someone asks you why you spent so much money on a laptop, just say "Because I can" and nothing else.

 

that's precisely it... that is HIS/HER thing...

you have your way of doing things... i am in no position to say you are right or wrong... most of the times i see a dung-flinging contest on the boards, it's usually because one person is trying to force their opinion as being correct over another...

hey, you are very smart in terms of spending money... good for you!

some value certain aspects more... and for them, as long as they appreciate it... good for them as well... and if their hard earned money gives them the satisfaction they were aiming for... that's a valuable purchase... and again, opinions will vary... and we have to look at each case from a different perspective...

*GASP* are you accepting the possibility of spending more money for a product that "looks better" ? um... they both got 2 legs, 5 pockets, choice of button or zip fly, and is made of 100% cotton denim ranging from 11oz to 14.5 oz, right? what will your Vostro say? just kidding...
i couldn't resist the temptation... but then if you look at it, a pair of K-Mart jeans may cost $5-10 FOB factory whereas the pair of Diesel, Seven, AG, or any other designer brand may cost $10-100 FOB... but then they are both pants... simply pants... and in more cases... are manufactured at the same facility or type of facility...

buying a laptop does not grant some access to special forums... the voodoopc forum is an interesting mix of folks... and i was a member even before making the purchase... but i believe K-Tron is trying to point out that being a member of the forum is an additional perk to the ownership experience, in addition to his satisfaction of his product.


oh, by the way, about Diesel jeans vs K-Mart jeans...

have you ever been to India? they all manufactured for diesel... hard to believe?

Diesel Jeans may have nicer fit and may use more detail in their rivets, shanks and etc... but then again, it has been widely knocked off and pretty much you can say Diesel Zathan and the factories in india and china will know the fit...

it all comes down to being a piece of fabric, that is held together by cotton or poly threads... and i've seen stricter standards of quality from K-Mart vs some other branded goods...

and there are many cases where "branded" goods are manufactured from same contractors that make P.O.S. goods... ie;

garment factories that make Expedition Grade outerwear for The North Face also makes $10 (FOB) P.O.S. garments as well, as well as garments that surpasses TNF in quality but not in price...

garment factory that manufactures for Descente Ski Wear also manufactures for other brands of wide price range...

oh, and i did work with factories that made Diesel tees, and at the same time, made $1.50 tees that were used as a freebie promotion...

grats on your Alienware purchase... i hope it brings you many joys of owning it...

ha ha ha... dont look at computer magazines for 6 months after purchasing one... it helps a bit... else, find something to numb the pain...

 

Hehe I don't actually buy Diesel, I buy Levis but it's probably the same thing, 10$ to make, same as some K-Mart jeans, but however, they do fit much better and have a better shape than supermarket jeans, they also have cool bleached designs and the lot, they probably have these at K-Mart too, but Levis pants fit much better and have a better shape. Although they cost 7x more, it's still only 120 bucks more whereas the Voodoo was 3500$ more, that's what I was trying to point out. But to each his own, I also probably wouldn't really be able justify a Voodoo purchase to others, I would just said "I bought it because I could".

 

this thread is mad funny...

i think spending $7500 on a laptop is silly (coming from a guy who just spent 2300 on an AW)... unlike a car, its going to be outdated very soon, no matter how many cool parts you get for it. unlike cars, there's no such thing as 'cool-retro (classic), but still high performance' laptop.

that being said, I DO think there is a market for highly priced FULLY customizable computers with excellent customer service.

I've thought about this... if i was RIDICULOUSLY loaded and wanted to spend 7500 bones, I'd want someone at said company to PERSONALLY walk me through my purchase. They should be able to do ANYTHING you ask... for example:

-offer any AND ALL combination of parts: cpu, gpu, ram, etc... and if your not a total computer nerd, be able to explain to you the pros/cons for every part.
-overclocking- however you want/ask for
-installing any OS you want w/ ability to dualboot out of the box
-any and ALL drivers updated and ready to go out of the box
-custom paint jobs
-tons of freebees, like gaming mice, laptop bags, etc. (not just tshirts and stupid things)
-a PERSONAL customer service rep. as in, 1 person assigned directly to you!

basically, fully customizing your own computer without the hassle of putting it together, testing it, fixing bugs, etc. put this together in a slick package and personal customer service, and its worth $7500.

im not totally familiar with them, but im assuming voodoo pc and falcon nw are NOT like this... are they? if they are, then i think the premium is justified, FOR SOME.

 

King knows what he is talking about with clothing, he works in the fashion/clothing industry.

Like anything, the difference between a $5 pair of pants and a $70 pair of pants is the name, and maybe higher quality fabrics. But in the end both are probably made at the same factory. Appearance sells, and thats why people by expensive jeans, and other buy expensive computers.

I didnt buy my laptop for the paint, I bought it unpainted, so it scratched like hell. I modified the entire case and now one wouldnt even recognize it as a D900K chassis. It is now one of mine. I bought the D900K chassis because I think it is the most beautiful laptop design. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so is value.

K-TRON

 

ha ha ha.. you should... Diesel makes some nice jeans... looks nice... but you know, once you wear em for a while... it all becomes the same faded blues that's shoved in the closet corner...

and a better reason for buying an Alienware? well how about this... to be different? to gain self satisfaction? to be an individual?

whether you guys realize or not, we have become organic billboard for the mega-brands... Intel, Dell, Microsoft, Nike, Gucci, Prada, Luis Vuitton... whatever wherever, we are walking billboards... there's been minor movements supporting un-branded fashion but it did not last long... cus in the end, people justify outrageous price for recognizable brand...

funny how in the end, brand is preceived as quality... and it determines where our money is spent.

and lets look at products...

damn.. i always dreamed of a 69 mustang... to love and to cherish... and those who lived in that generation, had a personal ownership relationship/bonding with the product... i still see old folks driving their caddies that are so well maintained in it's full glory... IT's 2008 and they still look better...

what happened?

product has no value any more... and the manufacturers realized this and hence they took a gamble and bet on the fact that this product will be "transient" at best.

i remember the old Nike, the waffle bottom just came out, as a co-invention with Prefontane (?) and i used to have one.. anyone remember Nike Oceanias?

that was quality...

compared to the $200 retail (in the late 80's to the 90's) for a pair of Mike Jordans... um... yea, sneaker catered to the professional need of Mike... but they fail to mention... Mike probably can and does wear a pair a game and hence the product looked like crap after a while...

i remember Reebok salesman showing me a pair of running shoes "that was meant to be used on the day of the race..." so what about the rest? hmm...

and cars... i had a bmw 540iA E39 body... nice... prolly the best looking 5 series to date... but you know what... after a while, it felt and looked like a honda... i'm sure same goes for the Mustangs, or whatnot...

hence there is a tremendous drive and need for individuality...

digressing a bit but again, a computer... yes computer like cars all depreciate in value...

but i purchased it to be different... i purchased it for the gratification that it gives me as knowing that this is something i went against the general consensus and "won" (win nothing but you know what i mean... it did what i wanted it to do...) so in a meeting, while the folks are pulling out their vostro's and hp's and compaqs...

BAM!

and in the airport... they say put my laptop in the tray...
my reply?...

"You aint got a tray big enough..."

they are in awe...

yea, not the only reason for buying it... but you have to admit... it's a fun feeling...

mr_fro2000, i dont think many folks who have a voodoo or a boutique are millionaires... i know some celebs and athletes own voodoos but a majority of the folks who have a voodoo are your average joe's that worked hard for their money and spent it on something they believed in... may not be the product, but the concept or a dream...

and more importantly, it has less or no meaning if one was "RIDICULOUSLY LOADED" as you say...

as a kid i wanted a matchbox... i had to save lunch money or get a job for it... took a month... but made it more worth while...

and correct me if i'm wrong... but in desktops, voodoopc and i'm sure falcon as well as other boutiques, are as you described...

 

For the technology that fits in the small laptop, I just want a piece of it.

 

I also own a Voodoo laptop , Envy U734. I purchased a Voodoo because of their reputation, brand name appeal, the fact that I live in Calgary, and most importantly, because I can afford it.

 

A side note;

@ K-TRON; You need to get a life.
Anyone who posts what you do (I've read this thread's posts), is lacking something.... as in a life ... as in outside your bedroom or where ever it is you spend your time with €7.5 of laptop.
But thanks though I've laughed hard while reading this thread.

Actually ignore what I said earlier - don't get a life. Maybe then when I check back in a few months even more funny posts will have come up!


72oo

 

Don't be immature mate. Aren't you spending loads for a Dell XPS M1730? I hope your friends that aren't computer savvy tell you to get a life.

 

Immaturity is a very relative measure.

And what's wrong with being told "to get a life" - surely its positive criticism. Some ppl do spend waaayyyyyy too much time on PC's and not enuf away from them.

In any case what I did find really funny about K-TRON's post is that there's something very odd about his posts, hard to describe, but definitely odd.

Maybe eccentric would be a nicer way of putting it.
Yeah lets just call it that - eccentricity!

That way " ...we can all just get along" - hahaha

 

and also how one chooses to live a life and the measure of quality of an individual's life is also very relative... eh?

opinions, great... when expressed as an opinion...

yea, lets hold hands and sing Kumbaya... lol

 

I think Voodoo would be awesome to own because so very few people DO own them. Sure its rediculous money, but they actually have a reputation for treating people like they SHOULD for the money. Read the forums and the reviews. People seem to be very taken care of for buying from them. Sure Dell, HP, ETC ETC take care of you in the end, but the stories about Voodoo are pretty solid accross the board. I don't own one, but if I wanted to waste a little cash it might be cool to do one time. Come on...people blow 5-6 grand on a cruise or a 5 day vacation. At least this lasts! (and im not saying its financially smart...its not. You can get the same speed for way less from Dell, but its a "fun" factor)

 

People see your Porsche, and they know what it is/means.

If the majority of my friends saw a Voodoo PC sitting on my desk, they wouldn't have a clue that it was an absurdly expensive boutique laptop.

Purely out of interest, does anyone have any benchmarks from the fastest 17" notebook Voodoo make? How does it compare to Dell's latest XPS M1730 offering with the SLI 8800gtx's? 3dmark06 scores anyone?

 

Voodoo does not make notebooks, they re-brand them.

Read the Clevo Guide for better vendors.

 

the laptop looks nice but i think the voodoo desktops looks wierd.

 

I am going to reply to this based on the fact that K-TRON helped me with a question i had on here earlier and i noticed in his signature that he owned a voodoo laptop and i thought to myself what the hell is this? so i started looking into it and to make a long story short i found this thread somehow.

But what i wanted to say is this, I would like to know if any of you out there have any hobbies, what do you people do for fun and what you folks spend your extra cash on?

First of all i will tell you this as well, i am from Nebraska (go ahead and make the jokes, ha ha ha) anyways I just wanted to say the following:

Where i come from (Nebraska) we work, or work and go to school, and pay the bills, if you have extra cash left over or you have had your eye on something that you want you buy it, after your bills are payed.

for example: some of my friends have $1,000 Mathews bows, and this is just for the bow, you cant do nothing with it untill you add sight pins, a peep sight, stabilizer, release aid, quiver, arrows, a target and so on. so in order to get a working bow from Mathews you end up spending about $1500-$2000 depending on the brand and type of accessories you choose to outfit your equipment with.

other friends have needed new tires for their vehicles, they have chosen to buy tires that go all the way up to $400 per tire!

we ALL have an ATV, mine personally costs 5,000 i paid cash for because i was lucky and sold some stocks and this is what i chose to buy, was it necassary to buy this machine, absolutly not, by all means i could have bought a comparable machine that would do the same tasks for around 3,000 cash. the point is the thing gets used on a daily basis (much like a laptop for some people) so i wanted one i would be comfortable on, and had a big engine so i could screw off at the same time!

Other more extreme examples much like the first one (a Mathews bow) like i said i live in Nebraska the biggest and closest thing we have to a water source (other than drinking water) is the Missouri river, however there are people here who have $75,000 plus Elliminator boats, is this necessary, not if you live here it sure as hell isnt.

And i could go on and on with examples but i think you should have gotten the picture as of now, maybe K-TRON is into laptops, much like Jay Leno is into cars, and he had some extra cash laying around, and this is what he really really wanted, like i said in my examples i would love to of had an Alienware laptop, just one of those things I WANT, but i get a discount from dell through my company and thus it was enough to justify me buying this computer and the fact that i am not into laptop performance as much as i am into other things.

Get the picture guys, i am sure there are people out here that pay a lot for what others would call stupid "stuff" but to you it just may be the cats ass (for lack of better terms) .
and to be frank i dont see why you people care so much about him spending HIS 7500 on HIS computer, its not your money it aint your computer.

im done, i tend to rant on and on when something irritates me, this is one of those things, and i appolagize but geeze people give the guy a break!

 

The gr8est of the gr8 things bout voodoo , that the way it can separate FILTHY rich ( may brainless) from a Normal guy .
but the uncool thing that voodoo does NOT separate the 2 in the TECH feild (because the FILTHY rich dont bother to know the latest hence he wouldnt know what inside his rig )

 

Well said Chevy... i really enjoyed reading your post... i'd love to see one of these Mathews bow...having lived in NYC or vicinity of, all my life, i long to go somewhere that is more natural... and perhaps ride an ATV or something...

i tell my wife that after i retire, we're going to live in the woods... one battle i've yet to overcome.

zeemona...
you're missing the point... voodoo or any boutique laptop or any items of "personal gratification" is not about wealth...
take a look at the voodoo forums... if you can get in... it's normal folks who own it... yes there's some celebs who own it... but most of us are just your average folks...

Pommie...
i had voodoo sit on my desk every day in the office, in China, Japan, Korea, India, Germany, Italy, UK and many more... dude... it's different...
as for your benchmark question... read Grophn's post right below yours... i'm sure you can find benchies off a clevo equivalent...

but then if it is performance you're looking for... and absolute numbers that is off the charts... perhaps you can look into the enthusiasts are doing with LN2 cooled overclocking madness... but i would not use that as my daily PC, nor will it last as long

and as for porsche, nice car, me but i see another prick on the road...
excuse my narrow mind...

why do so many lawyers drive porsche?
why do they get silly plates like Legal One or some**** like that?

 

This Is Whats So Great About Voodoo!

 

ha ha ha... Wassup Kaiser!

as always, nice pics!

 

Hey sup Kinghong, yeah thought ill show-off abit

Looking for a laptop now for LAN LOL

 

what are the candidates for your laptop?

 

Oh yeah it would be great if u could PM me your opinions.

Gateway P-172 series. Why? Cheap! Best bang for buck
Sager 5793 Why? Good size, good weight, seems nice, quite customizeable, again good value for money.
M15X...maybe...having doubts

Primary use: Mobile LAN gaming

 

That Poison Purple Omen is a show stopper. Its one beautiful system.
I would stay away from the gateway, cause its a gateway, the sager will be a much better alternative. Alienware is Voodoo's weak enemy, you should stay away
Alienware has pretty bad tech support, so you would have tyo compromise a bit if you bought it.
The Sagwer 5793 is a Clevo rebrand of the M570ru chassis. Its a nice system, which has plenty of cpu and gaming power.
The Voodoo H172 is the same system as the Sager NP5793 just so you know.

K-TRON

 

Hi K-Tron hows it going? It seems that the thing u wrote on my wall in FB dissappeared???

Anyway, yeah im aware of the voodoo offering but they dont offer the 8800 cards which is crucial for me

 

Alienware is fine, tech support is fine.

 

That really explains it all when you say the Sager NP5793 which starts at $1500 is the same VooDoo system that starts more than a thousand more..(not sure if you meant the H171 or M172 but I don't think there is an H172..so starts at $5000 or $2600 in comparison) you pay for bragging rights.. or for the right for other people to point and laugh at such a waste of money.

 

angelicvoices, that extra payment, pays for many extras:
1) top notch paint job
2) one on one personal connections with the Voodoo tech team
3) a personal note between you and the owner,
4) kick ass tech support
5) I can call the company and talk to someone who knows what their talking about (aka, tyrell, luc, rozzie, ryan, rahul, nick g, chris s, kristin o, or ravi)
6) gaming events, such as voodoopalooza,
and like all of us know
7) the great mobius of the Voodoo mutthaboards

I personally love my system and felt that these extras was well worth the price differences. In fact I have met many great people from being a member on the mutthaboards. King hong, kaiserpheonix, and mrblur are nbr members and members of the mutthaboards, and I feel that I have made good friends with each of them, especially king, he always has some awesome advice.
Owning a Voodoo has given me many great oppurtunities. I have met one of the best professional auto body painters, and he is currently painting my system. I met Glen, the owner of edmonton bytes, he has always been there to help share some of his knowledge. I have had numerous chats with the rozzinator, and she is currently my favorite person at voodoo. I have also had the chance to talk to Dave Gordon and his brother Jeff the professional race car driver about computer upgrades and engines. Having a voodoo is awesome, cause for one, I can call Rahul and talk to him personally if I ever need to. I had him even sign my laptop . Its not like you can get that from xotic or sager.
My experiences have been good. When I needed a replacement graphics card, cause the original one was defective, I emailed Ryan, and I had him hook me up with a new graphics card. He overnighted one to me, before I had to send my defective one back to him. It has been a great experience, and sometimes personal connections, can have priceless results.

K-TRON

 

I can see where K-Tron is coming from. I have bought many musical instruments over time, whether I was on the road, or home, that have been to IDENTICAL specs to another instrument, but that's the one I wanted. You can't fool yourself. No doubt, I LOVE saving money, but sometimes when I save money, I feel like I cut corners. Maybe not so much in the Voodoo-Sager-Clevo situations, but in others, yes.

But on the K-Mart pants thing- c'mon. I wouldn't buy any article of clothing because it had a name on it. I am still wearing the same jeans from '04. I make a good living, and have what I consider a fantastic life, but I can't imagine paying $100 more for a pair of pants for a name. On a laptop, you get something out of it. Pants?! They're all gonna wear out anyway.