VooDoo Envy 133 reviewed- battery life not so good
I have been lusting after a VooDoo Envy notebook since seeing them a few months back and that hasn’t abated, even after seeing this hands-on review at Gizmodo. Their reaction to the VooDoo is probably what mine would be, even with abysmal battery life it’s just so darn cool. The Envy is not cheap either but then you get what you pay for. It is one of the coolest, thinnest powerful notebooks you will see and I want one. The poor battery life is offset somewhat by having a removable battery, unlike that Air from Apple. The cool power brick that is also a WiFi router is one of the most innovative and useful things we’ve seen for a while.
VooDoo also realized that thin notebooks have a problem at times when you are typing and the trackpad senses activity making the cursor move when you don’t want it to. The engineers at VooDoo dealt with that problem by making the trackpad shut off when the unit senses you have both hands on the keyboard which is another cool feature. There is also a Splashtop-like VIOS that lets you get into web stuff without booting Windows, something we should start seeing from many vendors.
What was Gizmodo’s final verdict? Even with the poor battery life apparently pretty good:
Overall, I can safely say that this was the most satisfying experience I’ve had with a Vista notebook, and I’ve tried quitea few. Even while I was prepping this, my Mac started acting funny andI realized that if I had to switch to it full time, it would be farfrom disastrous. The only reason besides the questionable battery lifethat I am not gushing is that this laptop costs a hell of a lot ofmoney. The fairly basic config with an 80GB 4200rpm hard drive that Itested starts at $2,450, and the 64GB SSD versions don’t even kick intill $2,900. (The most barebones unit available is $2,100.) If thesebabies could come in even $500 lower, I could see a value proposition,but as it is, it’s too high a price, especially when something thisnice is still so far from perfection.
Check out the full review which has many very nice photos of the Envy. I still want one.
I agree that this in a very nice looking laptop but unfortunately the battery life is a deal-breaker for me. Like the MBA it’s a case of form over function.
Posted by: Jake | October 11, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I think the Encv look cool, too, but come on!
Battery life of an hour. An hour? I do not for a minute think carrying an extra battery is a valid option. Not for this kind of notebook. The whole point is it’s supposed to be small, light, and easy to carry. Require me to take another battery or two and the whole concept falls apart.
And the price is outrageous. I thought Apple was supposed to be the “expensive” brand? This thing is not done yet. Voodoo needs to put it in the overn a little longer.
Posted by: Tom | October 11, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I sooo want this thing. Envy. Such a great name for it.
Posted by: tnkgrl | October 11, 2008 at 5:14 pm
That one hour battery life was while playing a DVD movie using an external optical drive. While the regular battery life isn’t great it won’t be anywhere near that short.
Posted by: James Kendrick | October 11, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I personally think Voodoo should stick to making gaming machines. There are other manufacturers out there making better laptops that are small and light, and I don’t mean Apple. Also, shelling out $2400 for a unit like that is just insane - for that price, you can buy FOUR top-model HP mininotes, or half a dozen MSI Winds. The cheapest 17″ from HP comes in at $649 on sale at Best Buy now, and that’s the new bronze/chrome version.
No offense James, but if you’re saying the mininote is expensive, you shouldn’t be buying the Envy. That’s just my opinion.
Looks alone don’t cut it for me, a laptop has to perform and get my work done. If it can’t do that, either because of stingy battery life, poor performance or lack of features/functionality, then no fancy styling in the world is going to win a recommendation in my book.
Posted by: Luscious | October 11, 2008 at 9:27 pm
James,
“That one hour battery life was while playing a DVD movie using an external optical drive.”
Fair enough, but most battery tests are extensive in this regard. Even if I can get twice that under “normal” usage, don’t you think dragging around another battery (or the power cord) would be more or less a necessity? And if so, what’s the point?
Under normal conditions, the solution to such bad battery life is to chuck the crappy battery the manufacturer includes — solely to decrease advertised price and weight — and get a better battery (e.g., a 6-cell instead of 3-cell). My understanding is that’s not an option here.
Posted by: Tom | October 11, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I didn’t say I’d buy one, just that I want one.
Posted by: James Kendrick | October 12, 2008 at 6:01 am
Fair enough James.
Good line though - I might try using that next time I’m at the Aston Martin dealership…
Posted by: Luscious | October 12, 2008 at 5:04 pm