RSSFirst Blu-ray PCs to Come from Fujitsu
By Ed Oswald | Published April 11, 2006, 12:28 PM
Fujitsu will become the first computer manufacturer to ship computers with integrated Blu-ray drives when it releases desktops with the technology in Japan this June, the company said Tuesday. The news follows an announcement by Toshiba Monday that it would begin shipping HD DVD-enabled laptops by mid-May.
The company is covering all bases; Fujitsu will also release an HD DVD-capable laptop around the same time as the desktop. Either way, the new models will come with a steep price tag for the Japanese market.
The desktop, which would include a 37-inch LCD display, will retail for 600,000 yen ($5,063). The notebook would also be fairly expensive, setting the consumer back 400,000 yen ($3,371). Toshiba's models are expected to retail for a similar price.
Other big-name players are also announcing plans to include the new DVD technologies in their latest PC models. NEC will have its line of HD DVD-capable computers out by the fall, and is considering offering Blu-ray as well. Sony, meanwhile, will have its first Blu-ray Vaio PCs shipping by summer.
The computers will be the second wave in a coming battle for supremacy in the next-generation DVD market. The first HD DVD standalone players from Toshiba are due by mid-month, with Blu-ray following in late May.
I think it will be more correct to call it not a desktop, but a PC-TV hybrid. Why? Because Fujitsu's TX 90S/D will incorporate not only four TV tuners - two for digital and two for analogue broadcasts - but also twin 300GB hard drives and a dual-layer enabled Blu-ray Disc recorder. Plus Fujitsu media center software and PVR running on XP. Here is a link:
http://www.dvd-recordable.org/Article2598.phtml
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|Four tuners? Hopefully not in four PCI cards... they do have dual tuner cards around for digital and analogue.
As always, I'm fortunate in that I can look at this format war and laugh: there's a fair chance that these products won't be available in Australia until the war is well and truly over. :P
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|I live in Japan, and to be honest
even without a 37" LCD, some of the higher end computers are like 400k yen or so, so probably people are going to buy for 600k yen. But the thing is.. I don't think that many Japanese got that big of a table to put a 37" LCD on...
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|That's what walls are for. If the LCD is worth any salt it's wall mountable.
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|is there going to be any delays on this. just like everything else with HD DVD and blu ray.
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|This is where the fun begins--we find out who is right about the format wars and who is wrong. Looking forward to it.
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|Anyone here actually have a Fujitsu computer? A 37" LCD would be awesome, but not for $5,000.
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|"Japan" is the key word--no Fujitsu PCs or Laptops are available in the US to the best of my knowledge.
I suppose I could be wrong...
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|the 37" LCD would cost about half the price of the computer any way so it really isnt that bad of a deal
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|Fujitsu Laptops are available in the US, mostly used by businesses. We use Fujitsu laptops at our office, great systems.
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|Getting it without Blu-Ray will drop the price to $4,000. ;)
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|Fujitsu laptops are widely available in the US, just google for it or visit this link:
http://www.computers.us....u.com/store/index.shtml
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|I'm typing this on a Fujitsu Lifebook. Good machines...available here in the U.S., but made in Japan. Great customer service, too.
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|Great machines! A little pricey, but worth it. Also, the best customer service going right now.
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