An interesting article on CNET contemplates what is going on with the Voodoo brand, which was acquired by HP in 2006. The brand has been much less active compared to, say, Dell’s Alienware brand (coincidentally, acquired by Dell in ‘06), which has remained fairly active by comparison.

When HP found Voodoo, Voodoo was a game system builder (that also happened to make some systems that were very capable of editing video.) Their claim to fame were systems that were highly optimized. Some features trickled into HP’s (numerous) other product lines, but unlike another HP-owned brand (Compaq), you’ll be hard-pressed to find any Voodoo references on HP’s Web site. However, Voodoo’s Web site is alive and well, with several HP stamps present, but there are only two products (the Envy 133 notebook and the Firebird desktop).

Alienware’s Web site is quite active by comparison; there are two base models of laptop and two base models of desktop. We’ve reviewed Alienware iron in the past and it has always been very solid; we wouldn’t expect that much has changed there. Dell hasn’t trumpeted that a lot of Alienware innovations have trickled into other product lines (e.g. Precision, XPS) but it seems like many have gotten there.

Have PCs gotten to a point where we don’t really need the premium brands anymore? We began noticing that several years ago, it got to the point where pretty much any computer off the shelf can edit video, though for the best performance (shortest rendering times, etc.) you still need to change the stock configuration to switch to a faster processor, more robust storage, etc. Luckily, this is not a big deal to pull off. (The lackluster economy is almost certainly not helping the case for a premium PC, either.)

I just got back from the launch event for HP’s new Z-series workstations, rubbing elbows with the international press (seriously–I dined with journalists from Turkey and the Netherlands on Thursday night.) We were lucky enough to get a Z800 for some pre-release testing–that machine is sitting behind me in this photo.

The new workstations feature significant performance gains compared to the machines they replace in HP’s lineup, thanks to Intel’s new Xeon processors. The new processors include internal memory controllers (taking a page from Intel’s Core i7 processor and pretty much all of AMD’s processors), adding to their performance. Our machine was decked out with two different 15K rpm SAS boot drives (one with Windows XP 64-bit and one with Windows Vista Business 64-bit, which we could swap as desired,) a 1TB SATA data drive and an NVIDIA Quadro FX4800 video card. The systems are well-built with many thoughtful design features. I won’t tell you what all of them are right now because I want all of you to read the review (hee hee.)

The new workstations command a premium price, but the way HP sees it, the typical user will be able to do so much more work in so much less time that the machines will pay for themselves quickly–in many fields (hey, it’s not just video editors who need speed) HP estimates that a typical Z-series workstation will pay for itself in about a month when taking things like salaries into account.

I need to run a few more tests on the machine but the review should be ready quite soon–keep your eyes peeled.

Reprinted from a HP press release:

Today at SIGGRAPH 2008, HP expanded its DreamColor technology portfolio with the introduction of a powerful mobile workstation – the HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation with DreamColor Display – that offers professionals exceptional color accuracy.

In addition, HP introduced the HP EliteBook 8530w Mobile Workstation, the HP EliteBook 8530p Notebook PC, a customer calibration kit for the now-shipping DreamColor LP2480zx Professional Display, and two additional high-performance displays to meet the demands of a new generation of visual computing customers.

“Mobility is becoming increasingly important to our most demanding, power-user customers,” said Stephen Dewitt, senior vice president, Personal Systems Group – Americas, HP. “HP is delivering on creative professionals’ most exacting computing needs by enabling power users to take their highly tuned graphics workstations with them wherever they go.”

Mobile workstations for the ultimate creative professional
Designed for the most sophisticated graphic-intensive applications, the new HP EliteBook 8730w is the only mobile workstation on the market to offer a 17-inch diagonal HP DreamColor Display, which offers millions of colors, a significant improvement to the 260,000 available colors on traditional notebook PCs. The notebook also offers an Intel quad-core processor, 8 gigabytes (GB) of memory and NVIDIA’s next generation of Quadro FX cards with up to 1 GB dedicated video memory.

The HP EliteBook 8530w and HP EliteBook 8530p add professional graphics capabilities in a convenient mobile format, making the notebooks ideal for extreme power users in fields such as animation, video production, broadcasting, photography, design and engineering. Both systems include a 15.4-inch diagonal display, Intel CoreTM 2 Duo processor and 8 GB of memory. Additionally, HP EliteBook 8530w supports Intel quad-core mobile processors.

Incorporating the latest mobile technologies and engineered to meet multiple durability tests, the EliteBook series features the HP DuraCase, a visually appealing, brushed anodized aluminum exterior combined with a magnesium alloy chassis designed for maximum protection to keep the PC looking good, longer.

Delivering on DreamColor display technology
The HP DreamColor LP2480zx Display, the world’s first affordable, color-critical display, was developed through a first-of-its-kind technology collaboration between HP and DreamWorks Animation SKG. The 24-inch diagonal HP DreamColor liquid crystal display (LCD) provides a range of more than 1 billion colors in a 30-bit, LED-backlit widescreen display.

The new HP DreamColor Advanced Profiling Solution, now shipping as an option, allows users of the HP DreamColor LP2480zx Display to custom calibrate color settings beyond the built-in factory pre-sets. The solution includes a customized DreamColor colorimeter and calibration software.

The DreamColor Display becomes even more powerful when combined with the new generation of 30-bit graphics accelerator cards – such as the ATI FireGL V7700 – for the most advanced application performance and visualization beyond 3D. The ATI FireGL V7700 delivers true 30-bit color, enabling never-before-achieved color palette ranges. When the display is combined with a 30-bit card, the user can both generate and display content using the full pallet of more than 1 billion colors, providing unrivaled color accuracy and the smoothest color transitions.

Widescreen displays for workstation users
The new HP LP2475w 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor and the HP LP2275w 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor are designed for workstation users who appreciate an expansive presentation for graphics, video and data projects. With high-resolution onscreen presentation, the monitors also offer a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and extra-bright screens.

The LP2475w holds a sharp resolution at 1,920 x 1,200 and has a 102 percent color gamut; the LP2275w has a resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 with a 92 percent color range. Both displays have wide viewing angles and feature height adjustment, tilt, swivel and 90-degree pivot rotation – including a built-in HP Quick Release stand that enables wall and arm mounting for panoramic presentation. Both displays also meet stringent ENERGY STAR guidelines and are EPEAT Silver registered.

Pricing and availability
The HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation is expected to be available later this month at the starting U.S. list price of $1,699. The HP EliteBook 8530 series is expected to be available in September starting at $1,499.

The HP LP 2275w 22-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor is available today and the HP LP2475w 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor is expected to be available in North America in September for estimated starting U.S. street prices of $459 to $649, respectively. The HP DreamColor Advanced Profiling Solution is now available for Microsoft Windows users for a price of $349. It is expected to be available for Macintosh users in September.