THE WILD, WEIRD, AND POWERFUL PC HARDWARE of CES 2017

DON’T BE SCARED. IT’S JUST KICK-ASS GEAR.

Forget the smart hairbrush. Disregard the vaporous electric car (go.pcworld.com/vapecar). You can even walk past the latest TVs (though I have to concede, some are supercool). Like the last few Consumer Electronic Shows, CES 2017 has emerged as a fantastic pantheon of PC hardware—from the latest cutting-edge silicon, to wild laptops, to outrageous desktop machines and cases. Here, you can see the gear that PCWorld’s CES foot soldiers found most intriguing.

RAZER’S PROJECT VALERIE IS A TRIPLE-DISPLAY, 12K LAPTOP

This blurb can’t do Project Valerie justice. You must watch the spectacular video (go.pcworld.com/projectvalerie) of Razer’s fan-bloody-amazing laptop, which features three 17-inch 4K G-Sync displays, two of which automatically slide out from the main display with the help of robot arms.

Project Valerie is still just a project—an R&D prototype that may never ship. And maybe you wouldn’t actually want it. With about 370 square inches of display pixels to power, imagine the machine’s brief battery life. Also consider the price, which would likely hit at least $5,000. And what happens when you automatically extend those displays in a small, cramped space? Do they just snap off?

But, hey, whatever. It’s prototypes like Project Valerie that make CES exciting. This is why we come.

PROJECT ARIANA: A 4K RAZER PROJECTOR THAT EXTENDS FROM MONITOR TO WALLS

Razer wasn’t done after wowing us with Project Valerie. This is project Ariana, a 4K projector that extends the image on your display to your entire wall, creating a spectacular immersive effect. You can read all about Project), and pay close attention, because the projector could go retail by the end of 2017 if Razer is convinced consumers are ready to buy in.