2024 is a great year for laptop lovers. From top-tier gaming battle stations like the Alienware m18 R2 to the more professional Samsung Galaxy Book 4, there’s plenty to choose from, regardless of your preferences.

But not all laptops follow the same generic tried-and-tested formula. Sometimes, manufacturers go bonkers with the design and functionality of their laptops, resulting in outrageous-looking systems that make you question why they were even created in the first place. So, it’s time to discuss some of the weirdest yet coolest laptops we’ve seen over the past decade.

5 Razer Valerie

Three screens, one laptop

If you are even somewhat interested in laptops, you have probably heard of Razer and its solid lineup of gaming laptops. However, Razer's Valerie model was a stark exception to the lightweight and compact formula evident in their Blade laptops. Unveiled at CES 2017, Project Valerie was Razer's attempt to integrate multiple displays into a laptop. Shaped like a normal laptop when closed, the prototype shown off at the event included two additional displays that could be opened out like arms to position them around the central screen. And the screens were nothing to scoff at either, with all three of them featuring 4K 17.3-inch panels.

On the inside, it featured a single GTX 1080. While the GPU was pretty decent for entry-level 4K gaming on a single monitor back in 2017, I doubt that it could actually handle three 4K displays at the same time. The prototype also weighed 12 pounds, so it was a far cry from the slimmer Blade laptops. Unfortunately, Project Valerie never made it out of the prototype phase, and no other manufacturer has ventured into the triple-monitor laptop space ever since.

4 Asus ROG GX700

With gigantic external liquid cooler

Most of our favorite gaming laptops aren't known for being lightweight and portable. After all, you'll need a powerful cooling solution to get rid of all the heat generated by the cutting-edge components under the hood. While the Lenovo Legion 9i was the first laptop to feature a built-in liquid cooler, Asus's ROG GX700 actually packed a cooler outside of the chassis. Specs-wise, this behemoth of a laptop possessed an Intel Core i7-6820HK and a GTX 980. While the processor and graphics card may not seem like a big deal now, these were some of the very best you could find in 2016. Plus, the GTX 980 inside the GX700 was the equivalent of a full-fledged desktop GPU, while the Skylake processor had plenty of overclocking headroom, especially once you connected it to the liquid cooling docking station.

Yes, Asus actually decided to ship their laptop with an external liquid cooler dock that you could plug into a special rear IO port of the GX700. This resulted in the laptop looking as ridiculous as you can imagine. Plus, its $3,999 price tag didn't really help the laptop go mainstream either.

3 Lenovo ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop

The most unhinged laptop at CES 2024

Tech manufacturers often introduce wild ideas to keep things fresh, and this particular ThinkBook model takes outlandish concepts to another level. True to its name, the ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop has - you guessed it - a see-through 17.3-inch mini-LED screen. Maxing out at 1000 nits, the 720p transparent screen is simultaneously the coolest and most demented feature I’ve seen on a laptop.

But Lenovo didn’t stop at the screen when designing their futuristic laptop; the keyboard is as unique as the display. Instead of a typical keyboard with physical keys, Lenovo went for a touch keyboard, where the keys are projected onto their usual spots. The best part is, that the keyboard area turns into a drawing tablet when you bring a stylus near it, making this weird laptop even more uncanny and versatile. Sadly, it’s just a concept device, so we won’t be able to get our hands on this laptop anytime soon.

2 MSI GT83VR 7RF Titan SLI

Its specs were even weirder than its name

Multi-GPU setups may be long gone in 2024, but they were a hot topic among PC enthusiasts back in the day. In 2017, MSI decided to jump on the bandwagon by releasing the GT83VR, a gaming laptop featuring up to two GTX 1080 graphics cards. With a laptop that powerful, you'd have to put up with some compromises, of course, most notably in the portability aspect. Weighing over 13 pounds, it wasn't exactly something you could drop in a backpack and lug around everywhere.

You also had to carry two separate power supplies if you wanted to use the GT83VR at its full potential. The laptop also came with a full-blown Cherry MX mechanical keyboard and packed enough ports to put your average docking station to shame. To make space for a cooling system powerful enough to prevent the SLI-configured GPUs from melting, the GT83VR combined the touchpad with a backlit numpad, and you could freely switch between the two with the push of a button. With all of its over-the-top features, I would have called the GT83VR the most bonkers gaming laptop to date, if it wasn't for the war machine, which is the Acer Predator 21 X.

1 Acer Predator 21 X

The biggest, baddest, and heaviest gaming laptop of all time

While all the laptops I've mentioned so far have some unconventional features, the Acer Predator 21 X makes them all look like normal products. Announced in 2016 and available for purchase the following year, the Predator 21 X had a gigantic 21-inch 2560x1080 IPS display, making it more of a desktop screen than something you'd find on a laptop. The Intel Core i7-7820HK processor may be somewhat sane, but the rest of the specs were just as outrageous as the display. GPU-wise, it had a similar dual GTX 1080 configuration to the GT83, meaning that you'd need two heavy-duty 330W chargers just to power the laptop. Pair the huge display with the excessive cooling provisions you'd need for the Predator 21 X, and it's easy to see why this pixel-pushing beast of a laptop weighed over 18 pounds!

The features get even more incredible from here on out. Like the GT83VR, the Predator 21 X included a mechanical keyboard and a wide array of ports. With its three SATA and two M.2 slots, the storage options for the Predator 21 X were enough to make a data hoarder cry with joy. To top it off, the laptop even featured Tobii eye tracking sensors, allowing you to control the in-game camera with just your eye movement in select games. With that many features, it's no surprise that the laptop had an MSRP of $8,999, making it out of reach of all but the richest gamers.

Unfortunately, not all weird laptops end up becoming popular

Besides the laptops on this list, there have been a ton of odd-looking laptops over the years, though not all of them were well-received by the masses. Take the Alienware Area-51m series, for example. Initially, the laptops attracted a lot of attention due to their upgradable design. But soon after their release, it became evident that the laptops were far from future-proof, as you couldn't upgrade their CPU and GPU to the next-generation versions which have since rolled out.

Switching for a moment from the past to the present, companies have recently started pushing for ARM-based laptops, with devices powered by Snapdragon X Elite processors about to hit the market this summer. If all goes well, this generation could finally bring ARM chips to the mainstream laptop market. Of course, there are plenty of trends the laptop industry can follow, some more bonkers than others. Me? I'm just waiting for manufacturers to release new versions of unhinged dinosaur laptops, like the Dell XPS M2010 or the ThinkPad X220T.