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By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 6/19/2007
JUNE 19 | Toshiba will expand the number of notebook computers it offers with HD DVD drives in time for the back-to-school and holiday season.
Toshiba is adding HD DVD drives to four new models in addition to the high-end Qosmio notebook HD DVD drives are currently available on.
The announcement comes a couple weeks after the company said it would include an HD DVD drive in all of its notebook computers beginning in 2008.
The company didn’t give release dates for the two models from the Satellite line—the P205 and X205—and the two new Qosmio models—the F45 and G45—that will include the added drives. The Qosmio G45 will feature a rewriteable HD DVD drive, the first to do so.
Toshiba has sold 10,000 Qosmio computers with HD DVD drives since launch last summer but expects the pace to greatly increase in the second half of this year, said Dave McFarland, product manager for Toshiba America Information Systems. In the third quarter, the company is projecting sales of 45,000 notebooks with HD DVD drives, he said.
The Qosmio notebook the HD DVD drive was first available in was priced around $2,000. With the expanded push, HD DVD drives will be in computers starting at $1,449, allowing the company to reach a broader audience, McFarland said.
“Pricing is getting better and better as the technology is becoming older,” he said. “We’re able to actually put them into lower-priced notebooks where we’re not losing any money. We can give the consumer who doesn’t want to pay top-dollar for a high-end notebook an option.”
McFarland said that some buyers use the notebooks as a portable HD DVD player. They also have the advantage of wirelessly connecting to the Internet having bigger hard drives than set-top HD DVD players, so users could download and save more content. Universal and other HD DVD studios have said they plan to offer additional features for HD DVD users that could be downloaded for playback with a movie.
