First HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo drive

[Sven De Nys]

Earlier today I've made an announcement of Microsoft is also developing a Blu-Ray player for their XBOX console, next to a HD-DVD player. This way Sony's Blu-Ray format is one step closer to victory. But maybe the battle might end in a draw because of players which support both formats.

The first producer who will implement the first Blu-Ray/HD-DVD combo drive in their PC's is HP. The drive will be fitted standard in the new Pavillion Media Center PCs m8010y and d4890y, together with a GeForce 8800 graphics card and ATI TV Wonder digital cabletuner. What this PC will cost is not yet known, but you can expect a high price.

The combo drive itself is the LG Super Multi Blue-Drive, which was held up by both parties before, but will be released in 4 to 6 weeks. The drive is a 16x CD-writer, 8x DVD-writer, 4x Blu-Ray writer and 3x HD-DVD player... So no HD-DVD burning for now.