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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.

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iansherr.jpg
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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