On Monday, Dell released the latest in its XPS line of high-end notebooks, the M1710, with on-board Blu-ray DVD. The notebook also boasts the new nVidia GeForce Go 7950GTX graphics card and a screen whose resolution tops out at 1920 x 1200 pixels.
But if that's too small for you, a DVI-D port -- a standard feature on the new M1710 -- lets you connect the notebook to a compatible TV for an even larger picture.
An Intel  Core 2 Duo T700G offers 2.33 GHz of speed, matched by up to 4 GB of dual-channel 667-MHz RAM -- all in all, an impressive machine for demanding users.
Lucrative Market
Sony, Toshiba, and Acer have joined Dell in the high-end notebook arena, where bleeding-edge features attract early adopters willing to pay for the latest and greatest.
According to Samir Bhavnani, research director and notebook expert at Current Analysis, the market for notebooks like Dell's new model is growing -- and it's lucrative, to boot.
"It's very profitable for the computer manufacturers to sell to early adopters," said Bhavnani. "It's hard to get supplies like Blu-ray drives and HD drives, so they're charging a premium for them."
Also upping the price on high-end notebooks are eye-popping screens -- Acer offers a model with a 20-inch screen, while Dell's M1710 is 17 inches -- with ultrabright UXGA technology.
In fact, Dell claims the display on the M1710 is 30 percent brighter than on prior models, with a 10 percent improvement in contrast, all of which comes at a price.
Tight Race
But far and away the key feature of notebooks whose price tags include a generous helping of eye candy is the new wave of optical drives that offer high-definition video. In one corner is Blu-ray, Dell's choice for the M1710. In the other corner is HD DVD. Both offer brilliant graphics and playback. Current Blu-ray drives, unlike their HD DVD competition, let owners not only read but also write data , storing up to 50 GB on a single disc.
Which standard will win? "It's still too early to tell," said Bhavnani, adding that a neck-and-neck race could harm consumers. "If one of these goes the way of the Betamax," he said, "you won't feel all that good about yourself" if you've spent hard-earned dollars to own it.
The Dell XPS M1710 notebooks configured with Blu-ray technology are available now, with prices starting at about $3,700.
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