Worst Computer Deal in the world

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Mr. Bananagrabber
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Joined
12 Jan 2006
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Hey everyone,
I was stopping off at HP.com to get some drivers when i clicked the Voodoo PC link.
Apparently their flagship model, starts at 3800 dollars. But thats not all.
You can add a new case that says Voodoo on the side of it, for only 400 dollars! you can also add stuff like an extra drive, more hdds, another video card.
Everything about this computer is overprices by nearly 2 times (Except Processor, and Video Card) The computer comes with 2gb ram, for another two, its not the 250 one might expect, its the 450 we all know it didnt cost.

In terms of monitors, their cheapest one is 347 dollars for the syncmaster 205bw...
And last but not least, the shipping. My favorite part. For a real cost of what is 50 - 70 dollars, these fine people are charging 205 dollars, to ship your computer in america, 310 if you leave outside of America.
Personally, I was appalled when I saw the prices, you?

http://www.voodoopc.com/system/quotekitchen.aspx?productID=1102

http://www.voodoopc.com/default.aspx
 
Doesn't even come with a keyboard!
 
Don't foget tho, it's a "luxury" pc, which basicly means overpriced! :s Whatever next! :p
 
Voodoo is in the same market segment as Alienware, which is also for the most part overpriced
 
Its for rich people that know nothing about PCs and want to get the best of the best. They just click the buy button.
 
Then don't buy one. =)

I bought two Alienware laptops back in the day. I thought I was cool. Then I realized I wasn't.
 
Im not pissed off at the prices per say.
Im pissed off that people buy from them.
My computers are cheaper than that, with better specs, but nobody buys them, because hp doesnt tell them too.
I think i will offer a 10000 dollar computer that is worth 2000, maybe people will think its good because its so expensive.
 
Are you seriuosly comparing your own PCs to HP? Wow dude..

HP/Alienware/Dell/Gateway/IBM/Sony are all HUGE manufacturers with WAY more credibility than you can ever even remotely dream to have. No offense intended, but you shouldn't be offended by people buying NAME BRAND systems versus something you sell.
 
Are you seriuosly comparing your own PCs to HP? Wow dude..

HP/Alienware/Dell/Gateway/IBM/Sony are all HUGE manufacturers with WAY more credibility than you can ever even remotely dream to have. No offense intended, but you shouldn't be offended by people buying NAME BRAND systems versus something you sell.
Oh im not.
But i never heard of voodoo...
I have heard of hp, but voodoo was probably bought by hp...
Also, dont try to step upon dreams.
With the right funding, and the connections (which i have) there is a possibility for success. The one thing im missing is time. I dont have the time to put full fledged into my business.
 
Didn't mean to come off sounding like I was stepping on your dreams. I wish you the best of luck with your business, was just stating my opinion of comparing yourself to HP ;)
 
I guarantee any PC I build is much better than its HP/Alienware/Dell/Gateway/IBM/Sony equivalent.

Why? Because it wont have tons of crap preinstalled that the user doesn't want/need. It will have updated drivers. I won't go cheap with the power supply. They will be able to replace the CD/DVD drive without buying it from me. I won't tie them down to some weird form factor motherboard that can't be replaced. I wont put in the cheapest RAM I can find. I will install a proper heat sink. I won't have some sort of phonehome app installed under the guise of support.

Have you ever actually seen the loads of **** that any big name PC comes installed with that loads at startup?
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

can you do all that for a laptop and be close in price to a major player?

I was just in best buy...dual core, 64 bit, 160 gig hardrive, 2 gig memory, the media os, 17" screen, 1100 bucks

(*man oh man oh man, gonna buy a new laptop*)

hard to make that for the price

anyway, tell me what you think about this;

I have always been under the impression a laptop made non proprietory, with side mounted snap out bays fore ram access, hardrive acess, cd acess, cpu and vid card access would be a huge seller

I wonder for instance, why there is no laptop offered with two hardrives

I would much rather two small drives then one big one and I am surprised no company has been enterprising enought to offer the feature
 
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Perris, two hard drives means greater surface area and weight, higher power consumption and heat generation, and additional noise, all of which are key factors to take into consideration when designing laptops.

As for your other points, most decently designed laptops today make it very easy to access RAM modules and hard disks (one screw each on my previous Dell Inspiron), and remove hot-swappable optical drives (one latch on my Gateway Tablet PC).

Upgrading video cards on your own is generally not possible (there are exceptions - I think the Dell XPS is one) because mobile cards usually have different form factors, but upgrading the CPU can be done if you're careful. I could upgrade my Tablet to a Core 2 Duo if I wanted to, but I'm pretty sure it would void the warranty. :)
 
The post was about desktops. I don't know anyone who builds their own laptops.
 
Perris, two hard drives means greater surface area and weight, higher power consumption and heat generation, and additional noise, all of which are key factors to take into consideration when designing laptops.

As for your other points, most decently designed laptops today make it very easy to access RAM modules and hard disks (one screw each on my previous Dell Inspiron), and remove hot-swappable optical drives (one latch on my Gateway Tablet PC).

Upgrading video cards on your own is generally not possible (there are exceptions - I think the Dell XPS is one) because mobile cards usually have different form factors, but upgrading the CPU can be done if you're careful. I could upgrade my Tablet to a Core 2 Duo if I wanted to, but I'm pretty sure it would void the warranty. :)

not so net

the second hardrive would be user accessed and I would be able to have power schemes to use it or not, it would obviously spin down when not being accessed...no power, no heat consumption at all untill you use it

as far as the access, I want snap on access, not tiny screws, for instance, my gateway has a front loaded hardrive, it removes just like an 8 track cassete

this is sweet, when I am traveling I just pop the everyday hardrive out, pop in the traveling hardrive, bing, hardrive protected, security secured incase of loss or theft

I also want to be able to pop in and out processors which of course I would like to do every six months or so

another very nice feature would be a modular motherboard as well...first remove all modules, then slide out motherboard.

dreams
 
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I guarantee any PC I build is much better than its HP/Alienware/Dell/Gateway/IBM/Sony equivalent.

Why? Because it wont have tons of crap preinstalled that the user doesn't want/need. It will have updated drivers. I won't go cheap with the power supply. They will be able to replace the CD/DVD drive without buying it from me. I won't tie them down to some weird form factor motherboard that can't be replaced. I wont put in the cheapest RAM I can find. I will install a proper heat sink. I won't have some sort of phonehome app installed under the guise of support.

Have you ever actually seen the loads of **** that any big name PC comes installed with that loads at startup?

Oh Yes I agree - but then again the average user doesn't really know about the pitfalls of all the things you describe. I was referencing Joe Smith going to the Internet or a store, they are more than likely to buy from a name brand versus someone they don't know.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

can you do all that for a laptop and be close in price to a major player?

I was just in best buy...dual core, 64 bit, 160 gig hardrive, 2 gig memory, the media os, 17" screen, 1100 bucks

(*man oh man oh man, gonna buy a new laptop*)

hard to make that for the price

anyway, tell me what you think about this;

I have always been under the impression a laptop made non proprietory, with side mounted snap out bays fore ram access, hardrive acess, cd acess, cpu and vid card access would be a huge seller

I wonder for instance, why there is no laptop offered with two hardrives

I would much rather two small drives then one big one and I am surprised no company has been enterprising enought to offer the feature

I have that which I can access from a few different ways. My Dell D620 (most laptops from Dell have the option), has a D Drive Modular Hard Drive, which gives me an extra 80GB (200GB) total. When I am in the office, I can slap the hard drive in my modular bay of my docking station, so it's rather convenient :)
 
I want to also point out that Alienware does not manufacture their own laptops, and no its not dell that makes them either. They purchase their base chassis from a company called Clevo then rebrand them with all the alienware fluff such as the plastic case and then add $200-500+ to the price tag. Clevo also sells the EXACT same base chassis to other companies such as the one I recently purchased from, Sager. You can get the quality of a "Alienware" without actually paying anywhere near the price. You just gotta do your homework and find out who is behind what in the industry.

My laptop is Sager 5750 (Clevo M570U, Alienware m5750)

Intel Core 2 Duo (2ghz 4mbcache)
2 GB DDR-2
ATi X1600 Mobility
17" 1440x900 TFT Display
80gb 7200rpm HD
4in1 Card Reader
DVD+-RW DL /CD-RW Combo Drive

All that plus more for about $1700 out the door(taxes + shipping) when I bought it about 2 months ago now. I also get about 3 hours of battery life too. (gotta love the C2D)

If you tried to configure that at say Dell or Alienware... be prepared to pay anywere from $200 - $1000 MORE for the exact same product. I did a real quick config at Alienware and for the same setup with a "$150 instant rebate" the price was at $1,999 before taxes and shipping.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

can you do all that for a laptop and be close in price to a major player?

I was just in best buy...dual core, 64 bit, 160 gig hardrive, 2 gig memory, the media os, 17" screen, 1100 bucks

(*man oh man oh man, gonna buy a new laptop*)

hard to make that for the price

anyway, tell me what you think about this;

I have always been under the impression a laptop made non proprietory, with side mounted snap out bays fore ram access, hardrive acess, cd acess, cpu and vid card access would be a huge seller

I wonder for instance, why there is no laptop offered with two hardrives

I would much rather two small drives then one big one and I am surprised no company has been enterprising enought to offer the feature
There is a laptop offered with two hdds,
the extremely overpriced Dell XPS M2010.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m2010?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
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Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
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