HP to Offer Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Combo Drives in PCs

More signs that the high-definition DVD format war is looking to end as a draw: HP will be offering a combo Blu-ray/HD-DVD drive in its consumer desktop PCs, beginning May 9 (when Intel's new "Santa Rosa" platform arrives). The new drives will read and write Blu-ray, CD, and DVD media but will only read HD-DVD media. The new drives will be available for both the HP Pavilion m8010y and d4890y series. Pricing for the component hasn't been announced.

Sure enough, I'm starting to find myself with both Blu-ray and HD-DVD titles on my shelves, yet without a permanent device to play them. I'm still undecided on which platform is best, and though all my TVs can now play HD content at 1080i at least, I'm still not ready to commit. (Nor am I ready to pay for the hardware, none of which has been favorably reviewed.) Dual-format definitely seems like the way to go, and I'll be watching to see how positively received these HP players are. (LG's dual-format set-top player, you might recall, couldn't play back HD-DVD bonus content.) Anyone out there in Yahoo! Tech-land made a decision one way or another?

As a side note... the upcoming Santa Rosa has nothing to do with the optical drive, really, but the platform upgrades several aspects of Centrino: The Intel Core 2 Duo (code named Merom) gets a modest performance upgrade, and several battery life-enhancing technologies are also included. Intel's mobile graphics are being upgraded, and the "Robson" turbo memory system will be rolled out. Most importantly, in my mind, Intel's integrated Wi-Fi chips will now include 802.11n support, the fastest wireless technology on the market today. Other various updates are also in the works. Any new notebook model you buy that is released after the 9th will include the Santa Rosa features, as will any desktop that includes aspects of the platform (like the CPU).