The early days of computing were entirely about what PCs and peripherals could do, rather than how they looked. Aesthetics were an afterthought, at best. But as computers have migrated from the hackers and hobbyists to ordinary consumers, manufacturers are focusing as never before on making their products visually appealing. Products that appeal only to hardcore geeks can no longer hack it in today's market. Makers of PCs and consumer electronics are focusing as never before. Here we look at products with some of the more attractive and/or innovative designs we've come across recently. You may beg to differ; after all, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

In the realm of all-in-one PCs, Apple's iMac has long been the gold standard for elegance. Now Gateway, normally the purveyor of subdued, conservative design, has launched a head-turner of its own in the form of the glossy-black Gateway One. As for gaming desktops, the HP Blackbird 002's design blew us away, just as this rig will blow your opponents away. Its novel case styling contributed to our giving it a rare five-star rating.

Laptop manufacturers have led the recent charge towards snazzy designs, adopting metal-alloy frames and colorful cover patterns, as well as LED-backlit screens to display images more vividly. The Sony VAIO VGN-TZ150N is among the most visually appealing laptops we've come across lately; it's too bad this little ultraportable's performance couldn't match its looks.

The SimpleTech 250GB SimpleDrive Portable Hard Drive is an external "pocket" drive with a unique pedigree—it was styled by Pinanfarina, designer of many classic Ferrari, Maserati, and other sports and race cars. The SimpleDrive's curved look is appealing without being overstated. It's a good match for a racing-car-themed laptop such as the Acer Ferrari 5000.

The wonder of the iPod touch, as with its cousin the iPhone, is that it's largely one big touchscreen. It's sleek and light, and its interface (with the Cover Flow feature) is a visual and tactile delight.

Gone are the days in which all that the PC world offered were blocky boxes and fat CRT monitors across which scrolled green text. Then Windows and especially the Mac interface—along with Web browsers such as Mosaic and Netscape—brought the visual display of content out of the dark ages. The aesthetics of computers and peripherals has taken a long time to follow, but it's finally catching up. Content and substance still reign, but design no longer takes a back seat to them.

Featured in this roundup:

Apple iMac (20-Inch Aluminum)
Finding any drawbacks to the newest Apple iMac is so hard it's almost like splitting hairs. The new aluminum iMac is a desktop nonpareil in both senses of the word: It is without equal, and (like the candy) it is sweet.

Gateway One (GZ7220)
The Gateway One revives high-concept design in the land of the cow-printed boxes. Its design comes across as one of the closest to the Apple iMac, and unfortunately shares some of that model's shortcomings as well as its strengths.

HP Blackbird 002
Sleek like its reconnaissance-plane namesake, the HP Blackbird 002 is poised to excel on a specialized mission: ruling the game grid.

Sony VAIO VGN-TZ150N
The TZ Series (formerly TX) is one of the most luxurious ultraportables below 3 pounds in the market, if you're willing to look past the slow performance parts and bothersome software load.

SimpleTech 250GB SimpleDrive Portable Hard Drive
A portable hard drive with lots of storage and an interesting design, the SimpleTech 250GB SimpleDrive can satisfy both the PC and the automotive gearhead.

Acer Ferrari 5000
One of the few car/PC alliances that successfully delivers both a terrific design and features that are ripe for the future.

Apple iPod touch
With an excellent interface and elegant design, the iPod touch is simply the best portable media player ever made.