Alienware’s peculiar nomenclature is also distinct. Much like Apple uses “i” Alienware uses “alien”: AlienAdrenaline, AlienIce, AlienEyes, AlienGUIse and AlienWiring, to name a few. The brand also uses pop-culturally “alien” names for its products like “Area-51,” which is available in colors like “Conspiracy Blue.” Targeting those in need of blazingly fast systems (gamers, video editors), Alienware built a name for itself as early adopters for early adopters. “Evolve or die” being one of its commonly used brand taglines.

Alienware made its bones based on its outsider status; if the computer business was the show “X-Files,” then Alienware was Fox Mulder, the renegade working outside the system to expose the truth. In this scenario, computer maker Dell would be the Cigarette Smoking Man, a ruthless insider protecting the conspiracy.

In March 2006, Dell acquired Alienware. In other words, the Cigarette Smoking Man bought Fox Mulder’s loyalties. Cue controversy.

“Their website resembles Dell's,” read the comment posted on March 22 on engadgnet.com, the widely read blog obsessed with new gadgets and consumer electronics. “It's kinda scary.”

It does and it kind of is. Adopting moderately similar menus, layouts and product highlights, Alienware’s website does have more than a passing resemblance to step-daddy Dell’s. This is especially true considering how much Alienware’s personality is tied to a perceived uniqueness and how much Dell’s is tied to the hyper-efficiency of economies of scale borgishness—a term that refers to a company acquiring, rather than developing in-house, new technology.

Ultimately, though, much of anything Alienware does with its website besides sell computers won’t matter. Computer system neophytes won’t care about the geeky niche debate. And any in-the-know computer veteran looking to buy Alienware products would find the information somewhere other than the corporate home battle station, no matter how fully operational it is. And despite outwardly being all about quality and performance, it is no secret to consumers at an intermediate level of computing that building one’s own system is much cheaper. It just won’t have a cool box. Alienware even recognizes this about itself, dedicating a section of its site to the question, “Build or Buy?” and arguing, “There are many factors to consider when evaluating whether to build or to buy a high-performance PC. These factors can be overwhelming for even the most technically savvy individual.”

Alienware’s marriage to Dell, in practice or annual report form-only, creates a large brand paradox. This paradox has not gone unnoticed by Alienware’s brand owners. Writing at the time of its acquisition, CEO Nelson Gonzalez’s open letter follows his statement of “I have learned one vital thing that is the basis of our success: the Alienware brand is everything” with “…why then agree to an acquisition by Dell? Wouldn’t an acquisition by a larger, more established PC company like Dell violate the core brand tenets of Alienware, not to mention alienate (no pun intended) the core fanatical customer base we have built up such a huge following with?”

Gonzalez goes on to answer his own question: “The simple answer is no. We believe that this acquisition will offer our customers the best of both worlds—an Alienware that takes advantage of the world-class business practices and operational efficiencies that have made Dell one of the most respected companies in the world, while preserving the DNA of the Alienware brand and product strategy portfolio.”

The problem, besides the dubious lack of intention behind the pun and the obvious perspective a CEO might have in discussing his own future, is that no matter what Gonzalez, Alienware or Dell state about the division of the two brands, consumers and conspiracy theorists, will ultimately make the connections they want. In other words, no matter how independent Alienware claims to be, many will see its connection to Dell as the death of the brand’s outsider spirit.

As evidence of this, on news of the acquisition, a message appeared on the influential digg.com network: “I'm not sure how to come away with this. I've always wanted an Alienware…. I guess I thought there was something special and homegrown about them. I suppose that simply isn't the case. However, now I'm far less inclined to make a purchase.”

Abram Sauer lives in New York City.