On Location: Voodoo PC Profile and Tour (pics)

by Perry Longinotti, Alberta Canada

For every twenty-five Toyota Camry's sold in the USA each year Ferrari sells one car worldwide. Ferrari could sell more cars, but they don't want to. They have reached a point where they can build cars to their own high standards at a pace that does not dilute the brand. It is a delicate equilibrium because there is always the temptation to cash in on the brand and make a Ferrari for everyone.' Sometimes it takes more discipline to stay small.

There are analogues to Ferrari in other industries. Envy inducing watches, bags, electronics and even computers exist for people with discerning taste. These are not always products made for the affluent. If quality and style matter to you then you can usually find a way to obtain these products. But these are most certainly not for people who do not think that the items they buy are a personal reflection of style. To some folks a watch is just a time piece, an outfit is just clothing and a car is just transportation. There isn't anything wrong with this way of looking at things, but if that is your perspective than a Voodoo PC is probably not for you.

If you want the things that you buy, including your computer, to be as unique as you then keep reading. I recently toured Voodoo PC's facility in Calgary Canada and it was a real eye-opening experience. I have also been to the Ferrari factory in Italy and I saw some similarities that makes comparison between the two companies a good one.

External: Unlike their fancy cases, Voodoo's new building was not designed by them. (view larger image)

History

Voodoo PC is the creation of Rahul Sood who was later joined by his older brother Ravi Sood. Founded in 1991, Voodoo was an early innovator in the early era of custom high-end PCs. Initially they established themselves for putting together very powerful gaming rigs. Over time, even the most powerful components began to become commoditized. Voodoo PC switched to differentiating their products through service and construction. Rather than cashing in on the brand and going main-stream, as many of their early competitors did, Voodoo PC continued to perfect their offerings.

Currently, 60% of Voodoo's sales come from notebook computers. This reflects a shift in the PC market whereby most consumers are recognizing the benefits of going portable as the compromises become fewer and less significant.

First Impressions

Recently, Voodoo PC moved into a brand new facility in one of Calgary's newer industrial areas. Ravi was kind enough to give me the tour and spend a few minutes sharing Voodoo's product philosophy and their vision for the company's future.

Upon entering you are treated to an aesthetic that definitely matches the appearance of Voodoo's products. The coolness extends from the environment through to the final product. The look is techno Tribal and it works. Rahul and Ravi have created a cool looking and comfortable work environment.

Voodoo's Foyer and entrance area (view larger image)

Voodoo PC Foyer area (view larger image)

Awards are sprinkled everywhere. Computer magazine awards, industry association awards, government awards. You name it.

Ravi is particularly fond of an award granted to Voodoo by the System Builder Summit for innovation. As Ravi would later tell me, they want to reinvent the way people look at their computers and how they choose them. Innovation is a big part of this.

Customer Service

All orders, even those completed on the company's state of the art website, are accompanied by a customer consultation. Voodoo takes a velvet glove' approach with their clients. There is lots of communication. The objective is to get to the root of the client's needs and make sure they are getting the right tool.

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"Our people are trained to consult with every client. They need to understand as much as possible about the client's needs. This includes asking detailed questions about the applications that will be used on the PC, what the working environment will be like. For examples, is it quiet? What is the temperature like? Those sorts of questions help us line of the client's need with what they are buying, ensuring a higher degree of satisfaction."

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This may seem like a smart way to identify up-sell opportunities, but as Ravi states,

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"This consultation is just as likely to result in the client buying a less expensive notebook once we fully understand what they need."

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Another good idea that Voodoo employs is sharing people between the customer service area and production line. People are rotated between the two positions. This insures that only a highly qualified support staff ever speaks to clients, and it also insures that Voodoo's employees understand how the work they do will affect the types of calls they receive. This is a very holistic approach to manufacturing that is unique in my experience.

Customer service representatives work on location at Voodoo headquarters (view larger image)

Tech Support station at Voodoo (view larger image)

Does this approach work? When is the last time you visited any PC maker's site that had 10+ pages of client testimonials (with fresh content added regularly)? They also post their reseller rating of 9.71 (lifetime) out of ten. When is the last time you got 97% on a test? I know whenever I did I was pretty proud of it. And Voodoo should be proud; these are some pretty impressive service stats.

Quality Construction

Voodoo is ISO9001:2000 registered and it shows. Much like cool air passing through one of their custom desktop PC cases, Voodoo's facility is designed with efficiency in mind. New orders come in through the front, completed products ship out the rear and everything in between is as neat and ordered as you can possibly imagine.

The assembly line is optimized for the construction of what are essentially one-off computers. This is a lean manufacturing environment because as we all know; today's fastest part is tomorrow's budget part.

Assembly stations were clean and organized with some pretty awesome looking computers in various states of completion. You could eat off of the floor in this place.

One in particular that Ravi pointed out was exceptionally well designed. It was a dual CPU (each with dual cores) desktop with GeForce 7800 cards in SLi. These are components that create copious amounts of heat, so a water cooling system with built-in refrigeration was used. Air was pushed front to back by giant inaudible fans. I am not exaggerating when I say that there was not a single cable of any kind visible through the case window, just the blue iridescent water tubing. The exterior of the custom manufactured case (made by Voodoo, not made in China) was anodized black, with the distinctive Voodoo tattoo machined into the case's thick aluminum shell. Inside the case was anodized red. Even the rubber feet had the Voodoo logo machined into them. It would take significant effort to knock this case over -- it was solid. This was easily the smartest looking rig that I have ever seen.

These custom cases are designed in AutoCAD. Even the internals are designed with aesthetics in mind. Tasteful and subtle branding, like the feet on the case described above, is everywhere.

Yes, how the product looks is a big part of the Voodoo appeal. Custom paint is one of the features that make Voodoo products stand out. Ravi introduced me to the resident painter/artist; Joe. Prior to joining Voodoo, Joe painted custom and exotic cars. Now he paints custom PCs (desktops and notebooks) in a European downdraft paint booth (full sized) with the finest DuPont paints -- most of which are custom mixed on-site.

Joe showed me a thin and light notebook he was finishing. It had a gorgeous, mirror like pearl white color. Joe pointed out the subtle color shift in different angles of light that were the result of tiny metallic purple flecks in the paint, "the customer asked for purple sparkles.'

Joe has a partner who details the computers he paints. She sands and waxes them to a luster finish. Yes, you read that right, they wax them!

Down draft paint booth (view larger image)

Detailing -- paint booth (view larger image)

Ravi was quick to mention an anecdote that has become part of Voodoo lore. Trevor Kells joined the company several years ago. He got Ravi's attention by claiming that he could put a PC together from parts while blindfolded. Ravi let him prove it and the rest is history. Trevor is now the Production and Service Leader at Voodoo.

Thoughtful design of the product is one thing, but with Voodoo the attention to detail borders on the obsessive. One example of this is the new packaging they are planning to roll out. In a bit of an exclusive, Voodoo showed us what their computers will be shipping in soon; an awesome branded wooden crate. This is exactly like you would imagine a DC-3 air-dropping into some exotic and inaccessible jungle location -- it matches the tribal Voodoo theme perfectly. Upon prying it open, a drum beat plays. It's even scented with sandalwood! I am not making this up.

Another testament to the attention to detail in Voodoo PC's is the custom manual that comes with each computer. Inside are actual test results from your machine. All the benchmarks are done for you after a proper burn-in period. This provides a great baseline reference that is documented for you by people that really know what they are doing. As new drivers come out, and you yourself have the opportunity to tweak your system, you will have these stats to refer back to.

Voodoo PC new case (view larger image)

It takes a unique kind of person to make products like these. You need the traits of a highly technical person who is also an artist. Rahul and/or Ravi meet every person that gets hired at Voodoo. It is their way of insuring quality at every level. They have assembled a team of technically skilled craftspeople with the hearts of artists.

You simply can not put this sort of effort into something unless you are really passionate about the product. Voodoo's people have pride in their work and it shows.

The Future

Voodoo has only been in their new building for a year and they made sure that it has a lot of room to grow into. They currently generate eight digits of revenue and the new facility has capacity for $100,000,000.00. As they go into their 15th year, they have a clear focus and their determination to change the PC industry is as strong as it ever was. Buying a Voodoo has gone from a numbers game where the results where measured in stats and raw performance to more of an experience. You get the fastest PC your money can buy -- Voodoo is always vigilant when it comes to new technology -- but you also get a service and out-of-box experience second to none.

Somebody is going to love this desktop! (view larger image)

Back to the previous analogy, Ferrari has become a very profitable company by providing an overall experience in addition to really fast cars. You might even say they are the model for how to succeed in the enormous auto industry by building a relatively low volume high quality product. They know their market. I suspect that Voodoo will continue to be similarly successful in their market. I saw nothing but a singularly focused and uncompromising approach to building the best Windows PCs on the market.

But Voodoo is about more than just building the fastest computers. They want people to have computers that reflect individual personality. Voodoo PC wants to give us tools that we can be proud to use and are built for our specific applications.

Personally, I hope they succeed. There are too many beige boxes out there. As someone that sees products from many vendors, I have to be honest; It is hard to get excited about technology that the designers themselves probably would not buy. This makes Voodoo computers all the more refreshing. You get the feeling that at Voodoo the person who made your computer is as excited about building it, as you are about buying it.

We at NotebookReview.com will work to bring some reviews of Voodoo's notebooks in the near future and determine how well they are succeeding in their quest to change the way people think of their computing tools. Stay tuned!

Thanks goes to Voodoo PC for allowing us to visit and snoop around their headquarters!

Some Current Voodoo PC Notebooks

Envy i:522 (12.1-inch screen, 4.0lbs)

The Voodoo ENVY i:222 is a fantastic featherweight, featuring a 1.3 megapixel rotating video camera. This is a great feature for video conferencing and keeping in touch with family while on the road. The ENVY i:222 also features carbon fiber construction and a fantastic allure finish. This notebook is great for business people on the go who want to stay in touch with family, college students, movie buffs, those who care about maximum portability, ultimate style, and battery life.

ENVY a:522 (15.1-inch screen, 5.4lbs)

The Voodoo ENVY a:522 is our sexiest gaming capable notebook. Featuring ultra thin featherweight carbon fibre constructions, this notebook is great for gamers, business people on the go who want to stay in touch with family, college students, and those who care about maximum portability, ultimate style, gaming performance, and battery life.

ENVY u:522 (15.1-inch screen, 5.4lbs)

Our most upgradeable platform, the Voodoo ENVY u:522 notebook features an incredible 1600x1200 display, upgradeable graphics card, and performance to die for. This notebook is among our best for professional gamers, graphic artists, animation, CAD design, professional content creators, those who care about extreme performance and want decent battery life.

ENVY u:709 (17-inch screen notebook, 13lbs)

The Voodoo ENVY u:709 uses the AMD Athlon FX desktop processor as well as a selection of Dual Core processors from AMD. This makes it the worlds fastest notebook, period - nothing touches it. (This Voodoo Notebook is currently on pre-order at the moment. Stock should arrive at the end of October.)

 

Nice, at Voodoo HQ!

I just noticed that alot of the ENVY model's are ASUS's!

I can't wait for the pictures in the reviews!

 

I never looked into Voodoo much, but now I think I want one! Looks like a great company and well run, the fact they rotate people among jobs so they know how it all works is just great. Top knotch machines with personalized looks is a refreshing thing. If I lived in Calgary I'd be knocking on the door to work here, looks like a bohemian yet clean cut crowd that care about the product their producing. Awesome!

Thanks to Voodoo PC for letting Perry in to do this.

 

Envy i:522 = overpriced ASUS W5A

 

I thought they were based on Clevo models?

 

And Asus is based on Clevo.

 

> And Asus is based on Clevo

Well, Asustek also produces it's own ODM notebooks and also operates as an ODM notebook manufactor. However, some time ago there were some rumours posted on DigiTimes that Asus(tek) was maybe interested in buying Clevo, but I don't know if there was ever made such a deal perfect.

Note however, that there are a lot of ODM notebook producers on the market and that mostly all well known vendor notebook models (no matter if Thinkpads, HPs, Toshibas, Powerbooks ...or what ever...) are finally produced by one of the asian ODM makers. - The biggest ODM guys in this field (from top down) are...

- Quanta
- Compal
- Wistron
...
- Asustek
- Clevo
- Uniwill
- Arima
- Samsung
...
...and so on...


Voodoo, as far as I know, (re)uses different ODM notebook barebones as base models, which are then slightly modded (components you can modd, like the cases etc.), assembled with variable components which still meet the higher specs of the ODM models, and then rebranded under their own label. Pretty much the same way, as other companies like for example Alienware or the like do too.

In the past Voodoo also used a lot of Arima ODM notebook barebones.

 

although a thing to remember is that Voodoo will backup what it sells with high-end technical support and pride themselves on keeping customers happy (based on reseller rating and the in-house support you see there). It depends what value you put on that and the customization options as to whether you think it's worth the price or not.

 

They have access to newer components faster than us because they are high profile. The SLI rig I mentioned was using extremely hard to find parts.

As for the value of their notebooks, two things:
1. You will not get better service anywhere.
2. They take every single piece apart to paint them. They are working on having their own exclsuive designs. You have to see the finish on these things - maybe you missed it but they are primed, painted, sanded, polished and waxed.

Their desktops are 100% from scratch. You can not buy Voodoo cases seperately, they are purpose built. If they can do the same with the notebooks that would be great.

These are seriously cool notebooks!

 

These guys are a ripoff why would i pay 2200 for a notebook i get get for 1450. and you can personaly build any of the pcs they make they just add a nice paint job def not worth the price of admission.

 

Well, they are still in business, there must be a reason.

lewdvig mentioned why their notebooks are worth it, and although I'll probrably never own a Voodoo, there is no reason why I don't see people purchasing them. They are, as lewdvig mentioned, not just painted over, but time was taken to make it perfect.

And Clevo doesn't make ASUS, Asustek makes ASUS(Same company really )

 

I can't understand why the hostility - calling them a rip-off is uncalled for. You are entitled to an opinion, but I think you can voice it a little more maturely.

If you don't like what they sell, don't buy one. A lot of people do like what they sell and Voodoo PC is doing really well.

For people who value the extras, Voodoo PC makes sense.

 

Yeah with the notesbooks u are just paying for the paintjob they are the same thing Any other asus notebooks. if you want to pay the money and think the paint is worth it thats great i personaly dont think it is worth it. as for the service u can get great customer service from geared2play or proportable they will answer questions long after work hours. the desktops are more custom but there is such a large selection of cases that i dont see why its worth it to get theirs and maybe they can get a part a month before we can big deal its not worth premium i can build a pc just as good as they can so can prob most of us on this asus forum. if i could build my own laptop from scratch i would. i mean i like gaming machines but at what point is it even worth it .great 200 frames a sec in doom3 like your eyes can even notice the difference over like 75frames just makes no sence. untill someone comes out with pure ram type hardrives that can boot windows in 1 sec i just wont be impressed by these companys that slap their badge on pcs and sell them for thousands more than i can build it for or even have a smaller company build them for me. thanks but no thanks again my 2 cents if u really like the paint job then that i can understand cause thats someone i def cant do myself.

 

Right, anybody can save money by buying a bare bones system and building their own, it's a question of whether a person has the time, know how or even cares to deal with that -- most people on this site buying a laptop get flustered just figuring out what the basic specs of a laptop are they should be concerned about (witness the most popular forum being hardware and how basic most questions are there) so for the wider audience that's definitely not an option.

Asus forum visitors are definitely more tech savvy and would pride themselves on going right to the source of the manufacturer (ODM) rather than buying a rebranded notebook, so my guess is they'll not be the type to buy a Voodoo PC. Given the fact a paint job + wax finish of the quality Voodoo PC provides will cost $200 - $300 (at least) and a 3 year warranty and support contract will also cost $200 - $300 from any major manufacturer you can start to see where the price difference comes from.

 

It should be funny to see what people say of the Acer Ferrari 4005WLMi I just finished. There seem to be a lot of folks who hate pretty things.

Not me

 

U are right not everyone knows how to build these things. But im willing to guess unless u u are extremely rich that the people buying these things are hardcore gamers who i have found seem to know alot of pcs and technology not the basic office worker is going to buy these things its someone who loves tech and knows exactly what they are buying. go price the parts one by one and even add for labor and see how much more they charge its crazy. again the paint job is nice and that takes time but how much is it worth.

edit
Actually i just went on that site and priced some systems they arent that crazy priced they are expensive honestly i just posted a comment about price really without looking they arent as expensive as say alienware top systems which is more that i was thinking of.

 

Well Alienware would definitely be a direct competitor to Voodoo and they're chasing the same type of customer, so they'd have to be in line or slightly cheaper than Alienware to compete there.

Voodoo gives products to review to magazines like "Stuff" and "Maxim" I believe so they're definitely chasing an image conscious male audience. A lot is about building a fast PC that looks nice, but at least part of it is building some mystique around the brand (witness the website, Voodoo doll branding and free t-shirt with any purchase). Presentation means a lot to their product, it's like taking what Apple does a step further.

 

Well, in my opinion what people seem to complain/critize about here is maybe, that companies like Voodoo (at least for the notebook sector) are just doing an assembling, color-modding and reselling job. Similar like Alienware, Sager, Eurocom etc.

Meaning, people might complain, that such companies don't really intellectually develop, engineer or construct their own notebooks designs here, all they do is picking up available barebones, assembling the variable components and then changing colorings and logos etc. So it's finally more a sort of optical rebranding they are doing for the notebook barebones, since the notebook barebones themself are initially designed, constructed and build by the coresponding ODMs. And the barebone modells are usually not exclusively build for an individual barebone reseller, you can find those ODM models (Clevos, Uniwills, Arimas and so on...) widely spread among different resellers under different branded names. - So the real intellectual designers and manufactors for all of these barebone-notebooks are instead the taiwan ODM makers.

In contrast here the big guys of the notebook industry (Dell, Acer, HP/Compaq, Lenovo/IBM, Asus etc.) do at least their own technical engineering designs, which they handle over to some contract OEM/ODM manufactor for cheaper mass unit quantity production. Further most of these in contract made notebooks are mostly exclusively build for the individuall vendor. Meaning, you will rarely find nowadays a rebranded Thinkpad or HP like looking model from some other source. - However, one exception here are companies like Asus, Samsung and Fujitsu, which partly also do offer some of their own designs as OEM/ODM ware to others too, or are reusing some other ODM designs for their own brands.

Examples... there are some Asus Notebook models available as barebones, the Samsung Q30 is nearly similar available as Dell X1, the Acer TM8000 and Quanta notebooks use the same base unit (Quanta has build these for Acer), Fujitsu sold some Wistron/Aopen based barebones under their own Fujitsu brand etc.

So maybe the reason why some people complain here is, that they can buy technical absolute equivalent ODM barebones often much cheaper from some other reseller sources in an unpainted/unmodded state. - Well it's the question if this might be the reason for all those complains from some people?

 

As mentioned earlier in this thread, they are working on their own 100% Voodoo notebook designs (just like their desktops which are 100% from scratch). I am not sure when they will be ready for release.

I expect big things form these folks.

 

Great site review of Voodoo. The discussion here has been fun to read. Just wanted to point out that Voodoo seems to be acting much like Saleen acts in the car world (as well as a lot of other car modding companies). Sure they take regular Ford Mustangs and rebrand them but the result is nice and slick, plus there is apparently a market for it no matter how small it is. Few can deny that the Voodoo laptops do look quite polished, even if they may be too flashy for some folks, but there are a lot of folks out there who simply want a beautiful machine but care not about actually building it themselves. Boutique computer makers exist much as the same reason boutique car makers exist. They may not dominate the world like the Dell's or the HP-aQ's but there's room for them. Personally, I love what Voodoo does to those laptops and after looking at so many plain laptops (and not having the will to deck out a laptop myself), it's really tempting to splurge and own a nice set of keys for once (is there a "rims" equivalent for laptops ).

 

That is a great comparison. Welcome to the discussion!

 

Voodoo may have a nice HQ and manufacturing plant, but the stories I've read about them publically attacking one of their customers, regardless of who is in the right, is enough to steer me away.

Sager > Hypersonic > Voodoo > AW

But I like to save money so Sager is the only one I'd consider against a Dell, Toshiba, or other model. Granted, I don't know the whole story behind what happened with Voodoo and one of their customers, but the fact that it was so highly publicized instantly makes me want to avoid them.

 

You should probably back this up with some info. It's kind of lame to make an accusation like this and not supply evidence. I googled 'voodoo pc attack' and nothing came up on the web or groups (5 pages into the results). What happened?

 

I agree with alot of you guys but you cant really compare saleen to voodoo. Cause voodoos laptops arent any faster than anyone else they are just painted now if all saleen did was paint their cars you can compare but they dont they modify the entire engine and everything else. Voodoos desktops are different but then again u can get a tricked out pc from alot of different places without paying for the premium they charge again u are just paying for the paintjob the rest can be gotten from alot of different places. Im more talking about the laptops though they are no different than the ones u can get from proportable. and agearnotebooks or geared2play so why would i pay 800 for a paint job when ill prob buy a new laptop in a years time. but a better comparison is buying a honda and putting 30 grand to make it trick whats the point its still a honda. But saleen was a good comparison in the sence that they are overprices there are alot better places to get your mustang tricked out for a better price u are just paying for the saleen name. isnt of spending 2200 on a 1400 dollar laptop whynot buy a better laptop that cost 2200 normally would make better sence wouldnt it.

 

Why not proof read?

 

You say pot-ay-to, I say pot-ah-to. Thanks for the clarification. The point remains that these sort of companies exist and they'll continue to exist as long as demand is there.

 

IM really not trying to argue here i do understand there is a demand for these pcs i am glad there are companys like this around. I guess im just expecting something more orginal for the price. as for the comment to proof read above what i mean was whynot spend 2200 on a laptop that has the internal parts to be charged that price. the model on the voodoo website is a asus w5a which is a 1400 dollar lappy woulnt u rather spend the 800 more on a laptop that has better and faster parts on the inside.

 

No biggie. I understood what you meant. I'm still having fun looking at the laptops though. They're slick paint jobs. That whole car painting background really shows through.

 

I dont remember where but i have seen places online that u can buy painted cases from that look better than the ones these guys do and for only like 150 for the paint job wish i remember the link.

 

Well, most Clevo notebook barebone etc. resellers offer paintjobs for their notebooks, so that's nothing spectacular at all.

If you take a look over the PcTorque/Sager forum, you can see and find a bunch of painted ODM notebooks.

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=9747

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=49501

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=88778

http://www.hypersonic-pc.com/2001/systems-mobile.asp

Believe it or not, I've even seen painted Thinkpads and Powerbooks. - So from the point of view to get some nice individual quality style painted notebook, there is sure some demand for this on the market.

 

Google:

Voodoo Kimble el presidente

and a couple of things will show up.

 

Thanks. Interesting read.

Might as well just point to this too: http://www.voodoopc.com/boards/messages.aspx?topic=31920&forum=1027

I don't think this was a typical vendor-customer relationship.

Apple's approach to these sorts of scenarios is a good one: ignore it until a class action starts up. If it is legit, make it better.

It is probably hard for smaller companies to detatch themselves from these feuds as the company tends to represent the owner/principle's life.

 

I never read that until tonight. I knew there was some sort of fued dealing with a customer and the company and skimmed over some of the stuff about this on a couple of sites, but never really understood what the problem was. Now I understand. Thanks No more reason to dislike Voodoo.

 

For those who understand german or have a good translator, here is a german news note about an AOpen-PC in Mac-mini format, which seems to be sold by Voodoopc as a painted one under the name "Idol".

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/65063
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/print/65063

If you have a good online german-english translator feed also the following sections in...