Today Dell is announcing it’s new line of performance workstations, and we at Videomaker were lucky enough to get a Precision T7600 in for an early look. Even before firing it up, it’s clear that this workstation was built to work. If you’re getting a Mac Pro vibe you’re not alone. The carved mesh front and rectangular top handle is reminiscent of that iconic look, but don’t let its looks fool you. Dell has pushed functional design to new levels with the T7600, by putting user convenience at the forefront. Read the rest of this entry »

Las Vegas here we come! The Videomaker staff is gearing up for the annual trek to the mecca of broadcast tools and toys: The National Association of Broadcasters, better known as NAB. We will hit the ground running at this year’s NAB 2011, (literally – wearing the most comfy running shoes we can!) as we check out the coolest video production gear possible including cameras and camcorders, mics and lights, computers, drives, software and a myriad of other goodies.

Throughout the event we will be blogging about our finds, as well as Tweeting and sending updates to Facebook – be sure to “like” us and watch for updates – so you can see gear that we hope to have in our headquarters for review as soon as the manufacturers release them to us.

Some of companies we’re meeting with include Sony, Dell, Panasonic, Artbeats, BlackMagic, Boris, nvidia, JVC, Adobe, Grass Valley, Azden (WHEW!) Lowel, Glidecam, HP, Canon, Videssence, KinoFlo, Photoflex, RedRock, Apple, Avid, … well, the list goes on and on and on… like the Energizer Bunny, we’ll keep working the show until we have no more juice in our batteries!

NAB 2011 is jam-packed with video production gear for the Lone Wolf producer all the way to the mega Hollywood productions – If you could see our appointment calendar, you might be amazed that we can cover the NABshow floor so well.  Trying to sift through it all every year is a quest, but we love a challenge and we always look forward to not just finding out about the gear, but getting a hands-on chance to see it, hold it, test it out – we’re like kids in a candy store!

After attending more than 12 of these tradeshows, from CES to NAB, I decided to pack a pedometer at last January’s CES 2011. I clocked in an average of 6 miles a day – what an experience! I hope you enjoy the show – virtually – through our eyes. Be sure to stay tuned here, to the Videomaker blog for daily updates throughout the week – and let us know what you’d like to see.

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.)