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Alienware's out-there prototypes (pictures)

Alienware's gaming PCs aren't known just for their performance. They get style points as well. Here's a look at some of the earliest prototypes.

Ian Sherr
Ian Sherr (he/him/his) grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, so he's always had a connection to the tech world. As an editor at large at CNET, he wrote about Apple, Microsoft, VR, video games and internet troubles. Aside from writing, he tinkers with tech at home, is a longtime fencer -- the kind with swords -- and began woodworking during the pandemic.
Ian Sherr
The Alienware Reactor
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The Alienware Reactor

What conveys power better than a nuclear power plant? Well, this design for Alienware's flagship PC was ultimately nixed.

The Alienware Reactor refined
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The Alienware Reactor refined

This design was a top contender for Alienware's 2003 revamp of its computers. This is a refined version.

The Alienware Reactor refined again
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The Alienware Reactor refined again

Beyond a sketch, Alienware began thinking through what types of colors the Reactor could have, including a glowing top.

The Alienware Spacecrash
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The Alienware Spacecrash

Count this as one of our favorites. The design is inspired by spaceship crashes, complete with an off-center tower and "afterburner" exhausts on the top.

The Alienware Fathom
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The Alienware Fathom

Talk about alien! This design has squidlike curves and many gill-looking ports. Alas, it was not to be.

The Alienware Chopshop
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The Alienware Chopshop

This one is probably the closest to a standard PC, though the design could have been pretty fun. Imagine pulling this computer out of an alien junkyard.

The Alienware Chopshop refined
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The Alienware Chopshop refined

Alienware began exploring what the Chopshop would look like as an actual computer. Would you have bought one?

The Alienware Chopshop refined again
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The Alienware Chopshop refined again

As with the Reactor, Alienware began thinking through how the design would actually function as a real computer. The alien-feel is lost a little in translation though, and now it almost looks like something from a World's Fair in the '60s.

The Alienware Tanked
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The Alienware Tanked

Oddly enough, many of the designs in this one ended up in other products. There are plenty of see-through cases on the market now, and the handles had been used by Apple for its Power Macintosh line since 1999.

The Alienware Tripod
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The Alienware Tripod

Talk about War of the Worlds, this one probably would have been a little harder to open up and change parts in, but imagine if your computer had three feet on it.

The Alienware Rollbox
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The Alienware Rollbox

This is another practical-seeming prototype. Boxy is easy in computers, and with handles all around the edges, it would have made the computer easy to pick up and carry around.

The Alienware Warrior
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The Alienware Warrior

Look familiar?

The Alienware Predator prototype
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The Alienware Predator prototype

Now we come to the design that's most familiar.

The Alienware Predator prototype
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The Alienware Predator prototype

The Alienware Predator went on to cement the company's status as a maker of innovative PCs.

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