This Envy Will Turn Your Friends Green
Photograph: Marc Simon
The specialized notebooks in this Spotlight review are all well and
good if the hardware matches your needs, but let me tell you about the extreme
system that really grabs my attention. Not long ago, gamers who wanted to get
together in groups and play networked games in the same physical location--at
so-called LAN parties--had to schlep their giant desktop PCs, CRT monitors, and
the assorted gallimaufry of gear with them. The last LAN event I attended was
two years ago, and I was the only person who didn't arrive with armfuls of
cables, keyboards, mice, and joysticks, and carts loaded with computers. I
brought a laptop.
At the time my choice provoked jibes and derision from some players. No way would I be able to hold my own against their big hulking game machines, which smoked and blinked and glowed with a blue or green or red light from within their interiors. I'll grant that my system was slower and less flashy than the other players', but at least I didn't have to rent a U-Haul to transport it to the event.
Flash forward to today, and the chance for me to spend a weekend with VoodooPC's Envy M:860 gaming laptop. It's a full-featured desktop replacement notebook that's tuned for gaming, with an Athlon 64 3400+ CPU, ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics with 128MB of video RAM, and a thumping sound system. The laptop weighed 8 pounds, and--true to its gaming persona--it was packaged in a slick blue case sporting a modern-primitive tattoo design on top. My test system costs $3368, so this is no casual purchase; to go for it, you have to be as game-crazy as I am.
But the true proof is in the play. I sat down at the dining-room table with the Envy and Ubisoft's Far Cry, and was immediately sucked into another world of outwitting the bad guys. I soon lost track of time, oblivious to the setting sun and my sweaty hands.
For my money, the gaming notebook is a legitimate specialized category, and this machine has earned its place among top-notch gaming hardware. With its easy mobility you can impress your friends; the Envy might well be the envy of any gamer.
Andrew Brandt
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