Posted by Allan on 09/27/05 12:59

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/index.cfm?go=news.view&news=5107

Ceatec: Toshiba to show laptop with HD-DVD drive
by Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau)

Addition to Qosmio notebook line

Toshiba plans to show its first notebook computer with a built-in
HD-DVD drive at the Ceatec Japan 2005 exhibition next month, a company
spokeswoman has revealed.

The firm will show a new addition to its high-end Qosmio notebook line
that will include an integrated HD-DVD-ROM drive, according to Midori
Suzuki, a representative of the company in Tokyo. The new drive will
allow users to watch high-definition videos on their computers.

“Toshiba is planning to commercialise the product at the beginning of
next year,” Suzuki said.

Few details of the HD-DVD-equipped notebook have been made available
ahead of the Ceatec show, which will be held near Tokyo from 4-8
October. The notebook will include a new high-resolution LCD.

Suzuki declined to disclose additional details about the system.

HD-DVD is a next-generation DVD format developed by the DVD Forum. The
integrated HD-DVD-ROM drive, which will be shown with the Qosmio
notebook at Ceatec, is 12.7mm high, according to Toshiba. The drive
uses a pick-up head with a single optical lens that can read HD-DVD
discs and read and write to CD and DVD discs.

Initially, HD-DVD discs will have a capacity of 30GB, Toshiba said,
noting that higher-capacity versions are anticipated. The company has
developed a prototype HD-DVD with a capacity of 45GB.

Suzuki said Toshiba has not decided how many Qosmio models will be
equipped with the HD-DVD-ROM drive and no decision has been made
regarding extending availability of the drive to the company’s other
notebook PC lines.

The HD-DVD-ROM drive is small enough to be used in small form-factor
notebooks, according to Toshiba.


**Hmm... wonder if this notebook will need a permanent connection to
the internet to work? Some how, I doubt it. **






"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

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