At the same meeting that it showed off its new XPS desktop, Dell also put on display four concept paint jobs it's considering for a new XPS notebook. The four designs, True Fire, Acid Green, Blue Skulls, and Alien Invasion, will be on display at Dell's Web site, and interesed buyers will be able to vote on their favorite. Dell presumably will be using this information to help it determine which, if any, of these designs it might put into production.

Our vote: none of the above. We're sorry, but we're tired of seeing alien claws ripping through metal and the general airbrushed aesthetic Dell has going on here. The workmanship looks fine, but the designs on offer feel like a marketing department's vision of what a 13-year-old might find cool, a problem considering that most gamers are adults. Our GameSpot colleague Sarju Shah suggested that Dell refer to the Web site DeviantArt for more original designs, and we think that or something similarly creative is a fine idea. We like that Dell's trying something new, but if it wants any credibility, it needs to strive beyond the typical gamer-graphic cliches.

Article discussion: Dell asks for user opinions on cheesy XPS notebook paint jobs