Hardware Geeks

Amazing! That is the one word that describes the Blackbird 002 from HP. It has an amazing design and amazing power. It simply is amazing, and reviews across the web, not just this one, prove how amazing it is.

When I first saw the Blackbird 002 on its announcement date on September 5th 2007, it was the highlight of the show, regardless to the fact that Serena Williams, The Tuttles from American Chopper, Sean White, and some rather hot supermodel whose name I can’t recall were all present. No one cared about anything except for the monster of a machine HP had behind a black curtain.

From that day I have loved the Blackbird 002, because not only was it a great looking, but it was powerful as well. Plus it had it all: liquid cooling, tool less access to peripherals, lights on the back of the system so you can see where you are plugging peripherals in the dark (also adds a nice glow to it), and much more.

Since the system was announced I had been awaiting for the day to actually be able to use one without anyone from HP looking over my shoulder. When I finally got one, I was a bit giddy and just looked at the machine. I caressed its curves and poked around here and there, and with each passing moment, I grew more in love with the machine.

The first thing I did with the Blackbird was open it up. Check the video below.

The above video shows you how easy it is to open up the Blackbird and shows you how nice it looks inside. HP did a hell of a job at keeping everything nice and tidy. The neatness inside the case also helps maintain good airflow, which leads to a cooler system.

After I fiddled with the insides of the Blackbird 002, I decided it was time to connect to my monitor and power her up.

I was excited about finally powering up the Blackbird 002 with no one from HP hovering over my shoulder. Would the Machine live up to all the hype, or would I feel the way I did after I bought my first ibook a few years ago, “let down and disillusioned”. After all that is a big problem now a days. Hype builds up around a product, you spend thousands of dollars on said product, and it’s a complete let down. So I was worried; I was worried that I would power this machine up and be let down.

So, I hit the power button.

It didn’t turn on.

I entered panic mode.

I hit the power button again.

No go. No fans spinning; no sign of life what so ever.

I began to worry, did I do something wrong? Did I break it? HP is going to kill me…

I sat back; I looked at the machine and decided to open her up again and see if I disconnected something. When I reached down to open up the case, I saw my problem. I didn’t connect the power cord to the PSU.

I jumped for joy. I was excited because I didn’t break the system, and I wouldn’t have to pay HP for breaking their demo machine.

I hit the power button a third time, and it came to life. The machine lit up like a green blushing monster and it hummed ever so slightly. My skin began to tingle as I saw the post message on my monitor, and before I knew it, I was on the desktop.

Once on the desktop, I had no idea what to do. I stared at the wall paper, looked at the keyboard and mouse, and just browsed the internet. It did a pretty damn good job at browsing the web. I was so excited I was actually using the machine that I forgot I needed to install some games on this bad boy instead of browsing the web for p***.

HP had shipped the Blackbird 002 with a copy of Ghost Recon, and I have a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Crysis, and Strangle Hold. I installed each game onto the blackbird.

Now before I continue I have to apologize. Due to a recent server boo boo I lost some videos I made using Fraps, and since I no longer have the blackbird 002, I cannot recreate them. I did have a backup which I pulled from the server, but apparently the backup happened during the server crash; it was corrupt. I had to use a backup that was a day older, so no fraps videos. I am going by memory when I mention frames per second.

First of all, I had no problems installing any of the games. They all installed with no issues. I did have to download a patch for Crysis, but that was about it.

With out boring you to death, I can tell you the blackbird 002 handled each game flawlessly. During heavy action points in Crysis where you would expect to see a bit of lag on a slower machine, according to Fraps, I was getting anywhere from 55 to 65 frames per second. In Ghost Recon and Strangle Hold the same thing, on average 55 to 65 frames per second. This is fantastic in my opinion, especially with Crysis.

Crysis is such a resource intensive game that I was kind of expecting it to give the Blackbird trouble, but it didn’t.

I also ran a 3D Mark benchmarks on the machine the last day I had it, and it scored a 14,520. This in itself is pretty damn impressive.

Here are some random pictures of the HP Blackbird 002:

So did the Blackbird live up to the Hype? Was I left disillusioned like I was after I got my iBook? Yes and No. The Blackbird 002 indeed lived up to all the hype, and no I wasn’t left disillusioned.

Overall the Blackbird 002 is a fantastic machine; it is everything HP said it would be. HP and the Voodoo team did a hell of a job on the Blackbird 002. If the Blackbird 002 is any indication of what the future holds for HP, it’s going to be a hell of a future. We award it our 5 Star Must Have Award.

The blackbird starts at $2,399 and goes all the way up to $10,000 if you configure it with the latest and greatest. If I had the money, I would probably get one that cost $10,000 because it’s worth every penny and would be good for the next decade (I’d think).

For more information on the blackbird visit: http://h20435.www2.hp.com/#

Post Tags: review  gaming  hp  blackbird  voodoo 

Next entry: HWG Speed Test Previous entry: Microsoft Drops Price on Windows Vista