Voodoo fears that you may only have a wired connection in certain situations, so you can plug an Ethernet cable into the RJ45 jack on the PowerConnect then watch the Voodoo logo light up as the AC adapter starts broadcasting a wireless signal. A point-to-point Wi-Fi connection is established between the brick and the Envy, which does not have an Ethernet port of its own .

Though our unit is pre-production and Voodoo hasn’t put the finishing touches on it, the Aura PowerConnect worked flawlessly. As soon as we plugged an Ethernet cord into the port, it created an unsecured network with the an SSID of “Aura PowerConnect” and we were able to connect the Envy to it.

Even though Voodoo reps have said on their support form that the PowerConnect will only accept connections from an Envy, we were also able to connect other laptops to the network, but we are unsure if this will be a capability on the final production unit. We are also unsure if there will be a way to configure security settings or to change the default SSID.

Even more impressive was the range of the brick’s signal. When we walked close to 100 feet away from the access point, we continued to have a decent connection and no problems navigating to graphic heavy sites. We took the notebook through our entire office and we were able to connect in every room we tried. We even got a decent signal when we walked out the door, and down the hall. In terms of raw speed, the Aura PowerConnect transferred data at solid speeds of 9.87 Mbps from 15 feet away and 6.67Mpbs from 50 feet away ( we did not do numeric transfer tests at greater distances).

Note: None of these numbers should be considered final since ours was a pre-production unit. Perhaps, the final build will be even faster.

Don’t believe us? Check out the video of us carrying the Envy through the office and out the door below.

Related:

Hands-on with the Voodoo Envy’s Instant-On OS

Unboxing the Voodoo Envy

Voodoo Envy 133 Mini-Review: Air Killer?

Voodoo calls its Splashtop instant-on environment the Voodoo IOS and instead of having to wait until Vista boots up – in what can be more than a minute on some laptops – the Envy 133 launches users into an environment where they can surf the Web within 15 seconds (verified by our hands-on experience).

We have a lengthy video below of our experience booting up into IOS on a preproduction Envy 133 and a tour of all its Splashtop applications. When you first boot up the system, it will launch a main page with the Voodoo logo on a black background in 5 seconds.

This start page has seven buttons on its bottom dock, including a shutdown, launch Windows, browser, music player, photo viewer, Pidgin chat and Skype shortcuts. You have to click on one of those buttons to enter the real IOS environment. In our testing, when we clicked on the browser button, it took an additional 10 seconds to launch the complete IOS mode and the FireFox browser.

So within 15 seconds, give or take, you are good to go, though if the computer is on an unfamiliar wireless network you will need to connect. We were wholly impressed with browser. Out of the box it supports flash and when we navigated to Hulu.com we were able to watch The Daily Show with no hiccups.

You can keep multiple tabs open in the browser, but even though the “Splashtop browser” looks like a mod of Firefox, we found that you cannot install Firefox add-ons. You also cannot download files from the Web and save them to the The storage device that holds your OS, programs, and data.
Learn Morehard drive, though you can store them on a USB drive. Perhaps this will be different on the final production model.

Even though the browser is unable to see your hard drive, the music player application lets play sound files from a few select folders on your hard drive or from an external device. We were very happy to see that you can keep the music playing and navigate to your browser, chats or photos.

The photo gallery works similarly. It pulls pictures from your computer or USB stick and lets you view or zoom in on them.

But our favorite Splashtop applications are the communication tools. The chat button launches Pidgin and lets you log into your AIM, Google Talk, MSN, or Yahoo chat clients. I logged into my Google and AIM accounts and was chatting up a storm within seconds. The IMs are put into a single window and separated onto tabs. When you get a new message, a small flag pops up on the chat icon on the dock.

Topping off the preloaded offerings is a stripped down version of Skype. Within a minute, you can log into Skype and place a call. The pre-boot environment does not support video calling, but our voice call to a buddy on Skype was almost flawless; there were no pauses or echo.

After you are done in the IOS environment, you can shut down (which takes 9 seconds) or boot into Vista (which takes 50 seconds).

Related:

Hands-on with the Voodoo Envy’s Wi-Fi Power Brick

Unboxing the Voodoo Envy

Voodoo Envy 133 Mini-Review: Air Killer?

Frankly, I am not an unboxing fan myself but it felt different with the Envy. The notebook is closer to a piece of art than any other system I have ever reviewed (though the Lenovo U110 comes close). Pulling the 3.4-pound, black glossy ultraportable from its protective sheath doesn’t feel like you are unpacking a normal laptop. And the first sight of the Voodoo fiery red logo feels almost like you have been initiated into a club.

Check out our video and our first thoughts of the longly anticipated ultraportable after the jump.

What also sets this unboxing apart is the number of goodies that come in the package. Included is the very unique Aura Powerconnect, which is technically an AC adapter but also establishes a one-to-one wireless connection between the Envy 133 notebook and an Ethernet connection, allowing users to roam free from the wired connection.

To boot, there will be a Voodoo Presentation Adapter that functions as an HDMI-to-VGA adapter. Also included is an eSATA optical drive. Oh yeah, and the sleek ultraportable is in there too. Check out our first impressions of the dream machine here.

Voodoo was kind enough to let us steal a pre-production sample for a little hands-on time, and although the Envy 133 was not benchmarkable, we wanted to walk you through everything that makes this dream machine stand out. Stay tuned for a full review.

Updated: Don’t miss our unboxing of the Voodoo Envy 133 here and hands-on with the Voodoo IOS, Instant-On OS here.

Design

It all starts with a druable carbon fiber case that weighs 3.4 pounds and measures a mere 0.7 inches thin, complete with retro-chic squared-off edges. This is the kind of minimalist laptop that Christian Bale would carry if they remade American Psycho for the 21st century–in a good way.

Customization options range from your choice of 14 Voodoo Allure paint finishes to a selection of laser engravings. Underneath the lid you’ll find a brilliant 13.3-inch, LED-backlit display whose high-quality fused composite glass runs from edge to edge for a unified aesthetic. Last but not least is a funky backlit keyboard with a space-age font and a multiple-gesture touchpad (for scroll and pinch options) that’s nicely textured.

No Port Envy Here
More important than the Envy 133’s stunning looks are the innovations packed in (and on) this 3.4-pound machine. You can also connect anywhere via optional integrated mobile broadband, a feature the Air lacks. Two USB ports (one of which doubles as an eSATA port for external storage), an HDMI port, and a low-light VGA webcam are just a few more reasons why we would happily tote the Envy 133 anywhere.

The New Instant On

The Envy 133 launches users into an environment where they can surf the Web and make Skype calls within a mere 10 seconds. Called Voodoo IOS, this environment is powered by Splashtop (see our Splashtop FAQ) and gives you the full Internet without having to run Vista in the background. Not only does this feature save time, it should also save battery life. You can also instant message your buddies (via Pidgin) in AOL, Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo, and more, and access photos and music–but not movies on the optical drive.

Juice Meets Connectivity

The 133’s power brick isn’t really a brick at all. It’s more like a flat slab. Voodoo calls it Aura PowerConnect because it allows users to plug in an Ethernet cable for a point-to-point Wi-Fi connection. Essentially , you can create up to a 50-foot wireless network instantly, which is perfect for working in remote offices or hotel rooms with either spotty wireless connections or no Wi-Fi at all.

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