Dell Unveils Sub-$1000 Blu-ray Laptop

Dell is offering a Blu-ray laptop, the Inspiron 1525, for under $1000.

Available from today on dell.com, movie buffs can pick up the laptop with optional Blu-ray disc playback starting at $879.

The Inspiron 1525 laptop features a 15.4-inch high definition wide aspect display with 720p resolution. It also includes an HDMI port for easy connectivity to high resolution displays and HDTVs.

The Blu-ray player disc drive is fully backwards compatible, and will play as well as burn traditional DVDs and CDs. Consumers can also choose a Blu-ray burner drive for backing up and storing important files like digital photos, videos, financial records, etc. A Blu-ray disc can hold up to 50 GB of data, vs. 8.5 GB available on the typical DVD disc.

The Inspiron 1525 offers designs like Chill, Blossom and Commotion, in colors like Sunshine Yellow, Midnight Blue and Ruby Red.

Dell Inspiron 1525 laptops with Blu-ray disc drives incorporate Broadcom Media PC technology that allows PCs with integrated graphics to play high definition video. The high-definition video playback is enabled through a built-in dedicated accelerator located in a mini-card slot.

The Inspiron 1525 features Dell MediaDirect technology, which provides one button instant access to media files, even if the system is powered off or in hibernation mode. Optional accessories include a slim travel power adapter ($80), Dell travel remote control that slips into the ExpressCard slot ($22), and Creative noise-isolation earphones ($25).

As of now the Inspiron 1525 laptop with Blu-ray is in the U.S., Canada and Europe, but let's hope with the tie-up with Croma we get to see this laptop here pretty soon.