I think that the best design in the world of electronics happened in the early 2000's. Before circuit boards and CPUs could fit onto a note card, they were the determining factor in the design of such products. Because of that, designers had to be much more creative in order to package something in a way that would people would still want to buy it.
For example, this iBook has a 12" square screen with an almost 2" bezel around the outside. For the screen size, this computer is ridiculously huge. However, because it's so incredibly beautifully made, I would trade my laptop for one of these in a second if the specs were similar.
I also look in on Ben Heck every now and then. He does cool mods like Xbox laptops. Unfortunately, while functional, I've never seen something of his which was visually interesting.
