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Print E-mail del.icio.us 22 comment(s) - last by crazydrummer45.. on Jun 8 at 7:15 PM
Toshiba could take a card from Sony and bundle HD DVD inside its machines

Some credit the rapid growth of Blu-ray Disc movie sales in 2007 to the PlayStation 3’s release last November. Each PS3 console comes equipped with a Blu-ray drive, making it a more than adequate movie player.

Regardless of whether or not the PlayStation 3 is partly a “Trojan horse” for Blu-ray, the console’s boost on the demand for the format’s high-definition movies is noticeable. In 2006, sales of HD DVD movies lead Blu-ray, but beginning this year, the optical format supported by PS3s has led the charts every month.

Although Microsoft has said on numerous occasions that it has no plans to put an HD DVD drive inside the Xbox 360, Toshiba the manufacturer of the HD DVD add-on for Xbox 360 has its own plans to get its high-def format as standard equipment.

According to a Reutersstory, Toshiba senior VP Hisatsugu Nonaka said that his company should employ similar tactic with its laptop computers as Sony has with its PS3 – to make the drive standard issue with hardware.

“The demand is there: people want to watch their favorite movies in high-definition on the road,” he told reporters at a news conference.

Should Toshiba choose to add HD DVD in its laptops, millions of HD DVD-capable machines would enter the market every year. Toshiba shipped 9.2 million laptops in 2006, according to the IDC.

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insane?
By dome1234 on 6/6/2007 7:46:49 AM , Rating: 2
What's the point of 1080p on a laptop screen? Unless it's for data.




RE: insane?
By DingieM on 6/6/2007 8:45:15 AM , Rating: 4
Would be very welcome.
Such a laptop can be used as media station hooked to a LCD TV.


RE: insane?
By therealnickdanger on 6/6/2007 8:49:48 AM , Rating: 2
Have you ever seen 1080p video on a laptop screen? Why should laptop users be limited in the quality of video they view? I personally never even watch DVDs on the go, but I can't speak for everyone and neither can you. Bigger and better is always welcome.


RE: insane?
By kamel5547 on 6/6/2007 11:37:08 AM , Rating: 1
The issue is that most laptop resoltions can't do 1080P (the most common resolution is probably SXGA+ or 1400x1050), unless you are lugging around a 17". So basically you can't view it in HD anyhow... from experience I'd rather have lower quality and a lighter notebook than lug around a 17".


RE: insane?
By therealnickdanger on 6/6/2007 5:15:27 PM , Rating: 2
Well, assuming the scaler does its job well, you'll still benefit from higher quality video, regardless the native res. Still a win in my book... my notebook, that is. (pun poorly executed, but sincerely intended!)


RE: insane?
By FITCamaro on 6/6/2007 6:05:44 PM , Rating: 1
Most laptops come with widescreen displays capable of 720p. Thats still HD you know. There is more to the world than 1080p.

And how does a notebook HD-DVD drive weigh any more than a notebook DVD+/-RW drive? It's just a different laser. The only other thing you need is a processor capable of decoding the movie but obviously these drives wouldn't be put in laptops that weren't.


RE: insane?
By jabber on 6/7/2007 2:32:24 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Most laptops come with widescreen displays capable of 720p. Thats still HD you know. There is more to the world than 1080p.


Hooray! Well said that man! People keep wittering on about 1080,1080,1080!!! Its not the be all and end all of HD viewing.


RE: insane?
By wallijonn on 6/6/2007 1:32:32 PM , Rating: 2
The laptop should also have HDMI output. That way you can turn the laptop into a quiet Media Centre machine, with full wireless network ability, able to work with a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse, able to stream video and audio, have large capacity storage for pictures, and have a very small footprint.


RE: insane?
By Christopher1 on 6/6/2007 1:55:53 PM , Rating: 2
The small footprint with all that stuff is asking for a bit much, though I am typing on a Toshiba machine that has almost all of those capabilities except for the HDMI output. It has built-in Bluetooth that allows it to automatically work with Bluetooth wireless keyboards and mice, though I don't have a wireless keyboard or mouse that is Bluetooth ready to test it with.

Using a plugin USB Wireless mouse at the moment, Bluetooth is still too expensive.


RE: insane?
By Roy2001 on 6/6/2007 1:46:39 PM , Rating: 2
Hi-Def looks great on a laptop screen, even with XGA resolution. DVI/HDMI output to external monitor/TV would be even better.


RE: insane?
By crazydrummer4562 on 6/8/2007 7:15:53 PM , Rating: 2
My laptop can do 1080p...it's 1920x1200.. I love it.


Hey Toshiba
By gsellis on 6/6/2007 7:53:58 AM , Rating: 5
Hey Toshiba, I have a better idea. Why don't you *SELL* a burner in 5.25" format to promote HD-DVD? Maybe if some we media creators could actually produce content for non-studio productions at a reasonable price, it might promote the format? Ya think?

Jeez...




RE: Hey Toshiba
By blaster5k on 6/6/2007 8:53:42 AM , Rating: 2
I'm still waiting for one I can buy for my PC. I don't want an external, but that's all that seems to be available.


It was all about time
By henrikfm on 6/6/2007 8:22:56 AM , Rating: 2
Anyway, the loser of this war will be the user.




RE: It was all about time
By TomZ on 6/6/2007 9:15:56 AM , Rating: 2
I'm not so sure about that - costs of BD and HD-DVD are coming down pretty quickly - it seems to me that a good part of that is because of the intense competition between the formats.


RE: It was all about time
By cubby1223 on 6/6/2007 5:03:17 PM , Rating: 2
Cost is one thing. But either half the people will have to buy another player / drive eventually, or *all* will have to buy another player / drive eventually. Where's the benefit in that? Show me a dual format player / drive that isn't $1200, and I'll then say the war is good for customers. But until then, I want it to be over.


Sony can do the same...
By corduroygt on 6/6/2007 10:17:00 AM , Rating: 2
Sony can easily counter by putting BR drives into its admittedly much cooler looking laptops. Also since Sony laptops are very overpriced, they have more of a margin to absorb its cost. This tactic will only cause both Toshiba and Sony to lose money...




RE: Sony can do the same...
By ATC on 6/6/2007 6:56:03 PM , Rating: 2
Sony is just about doing the same. Their new notebook line up for this year is full of models that have BD burners as standard.

The problem for Toshiba is that Sony, somehow, is still charging the same premium as before only now you're also getting BD writer; if Toshiba is to raise the average cost of their notebooks then they might find themselves in Vaio price territory and, aesthetically speaking, Toshiba is no match for Sony. And the crowds buying at the price are more commonly than not into aesthetics.


Forget the portables...
By softwiz on 6/6/2007 3:08:57 PM , Rating: 2
Just organize and send around the spokes-girls in HD-DVD branded spandex athletic attire or something on a worldwide tour. Would that not garner plenty of attention ? ;)




RE: Forget the portables...
By BBock727 on 6/7/2007 7:15:41 AM , Rating: 1
The only way one of these formats will win is to give it a cheap writable format. It doesn't matter which format sells more right now. As soon as people can start copying movies on one format in a cost effective way, that format will take off and eventually win.

The companies that manufacture BLURAY and HDDVD will bitch and whine when it happens, but I am sure if push comes to shove they would rather win the format race rather than just waste all that money on R&D.

The DVDR market wouldnt be what it is today without copying of movies.
The DVDDL market wouldnt be what it is today without the XBOX360


On the road?
By nayy on 6/6/2007 10:28:37 AM , Rating: 2
Most laptop screens with resolutions of 1920x1200 are 17". I'm not sure if many frecuent travellers take with them a computer of this size.




HD DVD for 'every' laptop?
By jonnybradley on 6/6/2007 7:29:42 AM , Rating: 1
How much extra will this add to cost per laptop over a standard DVD-RW? And most important, who would pay this cost.

Sony is lossing $$$ on every PS3, will Tos want to do the same with it's laptops (9m per year?) or will we (the consumer) be paying extra$$$ on all Tos laptops.

Sorry don't think this will work




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