Rumors were flying last week that the biggest PC manufacturer of them all had snapped up specialty gaming PC maker Alienware. Today, rumor became fact. Alienware will continue to operate as an independent unit for the moment, and Dell will retain its XPS line of gaming rigs.
Alienware has a pretty good rep among PC gamers; their machines are pricey, but they pack a lot of performance for the buck. And unlike a number of their competitors (including their new parent company), Alienware actually invests time and energy in designing their computers. In addition, Alienware is a big purveyor of AMD-based machines, while Dell has long been an Intel-only shop. The acquisition leaves—surprise!—Apple as the sole Intel-only shop among the industry’s major players. Who’d have thought that a year ago?
Of course the big question here is how this will impact Dell’s philosophy. Will they take their cues from their newest acquisition, or continue making dull little boxes for performing dull little tasks?
[via Gizmodo]
