Alienware UK has updated its web site in a bid to shed its image as a purveyor of odd-looking, geek-friendly systems and recast itself as a provider of odd-looking business, creative consumer-friendly products.

The changes undertaken in the UK follow a similar make-over for the US operation, which saw the company attempt to move beyond its core gamer audience and pitch for big business, government and creative customers.

The more conservative of said now have a range of less unorthodoxly cased boxes to choose from

"Alienware still regards high-end gaming PCs as being a core market but it also became apparent that other types of users are willing to pay for good looking high-performance computer systems," Alienware said.

Indeed. They're called 'Mac users'.

Alienware UK also launched its latest Centrino-based notebook, the Sentia, this week, and is preparing to ship an Athlon 64-based desktop replacement system, the Aurora 64m, in due course. Presumably, it's been waiting for AMD to announce the Athlon 64 3700+ DTR, which the chipmaker finally did this week.

Alienware was ticked off by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in July 2004 after promoting its £2499 Area 51m notebook for £1899. The company admitted the lower price was an error. But since that figure was more than 25 per cent lower than the actual price, the ASA ruled that Alienware's "errors and omissions excluded" caveat was no justification. ®

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