The personal computer market is essentially saturated and consumers have adamantly declared disinterest in the run-of-the-mill. So it follows, Calgary-based Voodoo Computer Studios saw a 40 per cent increase in business last year. Purveyors of high-priced, high-end, high-performance PCs, Voodoo is brazenly re-inventing the way home computers are manufactured and marketed; their future-minded methodology directly contrasts the bulk purchased arehousing/assembly-line techniques of traditional box shops like Dell and Gateway.
Voodoo does not stock crucial components like CPUs, RAM, motherboards and video cards; they obtain each part directly, as needed, and only from reputable manufacturers, ensuring the best of the bleeding-edge at all times. They simply refuse to include any 2nd-rate parts, no-name components or last year’s products in the guise of this year’s bargain – whether the client knows the difference or not.
What’s more, their design consultants and engineers actually call each client on the phone – often several times through “the build process” – to discuss every component as it pertains to the user’s ultimate needs as well as its balance within the machine as a whole. For as it happens, an avid Quake III player is going to have different needs than, say, a Diablo II addict; a Multimedia mogul, a digital sound engineer, an IT tycoon…
But since an optimally designed system on paper can still harbour its bugs – “a computer is not just the sum of its parts” – Voodoo rigorously tests and tweaks the performance of each machine they build before it ships, a process in itself that can last as long as three straight days of full throttle operation.
This level of attentiveness neatly explains the otherwise improbable claims of Voodoo’s warranty plan(s), the “Voodoo Absolute Satisfaction Guarantee” which covers any Voodoo system for three years, parts and labour inclusive. And though they include free round-trip shipping within North America for such an eventuality, it is less than necessary considering Voodoo distinctive “Virtual Onsite Support,” a feature that allows Voodoo technicians to log into a machine anywhere in the world (via high-speed Internet connection), diagnose and repair most any problem remotely.
But should a user so totally snarl a Voodoo computer with after-purchase peripherals, software and drivers, Voodoo Computer Studios also includes a personalized “Disaster Recovery System,” a one-step re-installation utility that will completely restore the computer to its original, fully optimized condition (users must understand the importance of back-up before using this utility, of course).
Now, while any computer purchase comes complete with a terminal case of obsolescence, Voodoo’s computers have a lively lifespan much greater than your average PC simply for the fact that their components start at the top of the line. Regardless, since a ragingly effective Voodoo PC can cost several thousand dollars and may not be suited to every budget, Voodoo can just as easily create a modestly priced luxury class computer with clear intention on staged upgrades, when they are more financially feasible for the customer. “Upgrade and Restoration Insurance” not only allows for free return shipping and a new key component at a trade-in price (for the old component), Voodoo will also re-wire, re-test and re-optimize the entire system as if they had just built it. (This applies to the most frightfully costly units too, as obsolescence is blind.)
With all this, Voodoo maintains that its profit margin on individual systems is relatively low – the cost of high standards and the calibre of staff fervent about maintaining them.
Voodoo Computer Studios insists that a box of silicon and semiconductors can be a work of art – a masterpiece while they’re at it – if one applies the craftsmanship normally reserved for Rolls Royce cars or Rolex watches.
In fact, Voodoo Computer Studios pioneered the meticulous fold and tuck “origami” style cable and wiring method which affects a cool-running PC that’s also a pleasure to behold aesthetically – which is why Voodoo Computers come, optionally, with transparent side-panel and interior neon light, to righteously display its glorious guts like a showpiece in a gallery.
The only downside to all this is the fact the Voodoo has an outsourced financing department, making the entire affair sluggish and lacklustre if you’re going that route. Of course, once approved – or if one is able to throw down the $1,500 – $15,000 (U.S.) without third part financing – Voodoo Computer Studios is ready to treat you like the Rolls Royce owner-in-waiting that you are.
