While I typically recommend the Nintendo Switch as the perfect companion device for the desk-bound PC gamer, Dell has other plans: the Alienware Concept UFO is a handheld Windows 10 gaming PC dressed in Switch clothing and is currently on display at CES. It is currently on display at CES. The Dell staff there will give us their impressions as soon as they can, but our friends at Tom's Guide got the details a step ahead of us.

The basics are this: the "Concept" in the name is true, and this handheld chonker is not for sale or anything; UFOs are used in similar attempts at portable PC gaming devices like the Razer Edge and Nvidia Shield mobile It is an attempt to pack a PC into a small shell without relying on architecture. It's the first of its kind because it's going to be a full PC, it's going to run on Windows, it's going to be a full PC, it's going to be a full PC." It's a unique body-style PC," Ray Watkins, Dell's consumer product review manager, told Tom's Guide.

The real draw is that the Concept UFO plays almost exactly like a Switch. There is a basic handheld mode, a mode with a kickstand-compatible controller, and a docked mode that connects the device to the display for a more traditional couch and controller experience.

I'm a game; The Witcher 3 on the Switch reads like a bruising cartoon starring Doug Cockle, so a flexible Windows 10 PC on the go fills a certain niche that the Switch's 6.2 inches doesn't necessarily address. The Switch's 6.2 inches are not always enough. However, with a controller attached and a large beveled surface, the Concept UFO would not look so portable. It would need a new backpack, whatever budget it fits into. Battery life is another important issue; I doubt it would last more than an hour or two, but I wouldn't mind being wrong. How much would it weigh?

Unfortunately, we don't know what specs the UFO is loaded with and probably won't know until and if this hits the market. I don't expect it to rival a well-equipped desktop PC, but I do expect it to rival the current generation of gaming consoles; what good is cramming a PC into the body of a Switch if it doesn't look like a single pixel of the Switch's Mario vibrating?

More details on the Concept UFO will be revealed tomorrow. An official announcement is scheduled for January 7 at 10 a.m. PT.