Toshiba intros Qosmio G30 with HD DVD burning

Toshiba today revealed the Qosmio G30/97A, the world's first notebook with the ability to write HD DVD-R discs. Previously hinted at during the company's CES announcements, the updated G30 can now burn discs in the next-generation format as well as DVDs and CDs, allowing for much larger backups and for owners of HD video cameras to author movies at their native resolution; a single-layer 15GB HD DVD-R will hold 2 hours of footage, Toshiba says. The new model retains the 2GHz Core 2 Duo, GeForce Go 7600 graphics, and HDMI video output of its predecessor but offers much larger storage, containing as much as 320GB spread across dual hard drives. A digital tuner is integrated and will record as much as 37 hours of HDTV or 362 hours at analog resolutions.

The 97A version of the Qosmio is equally the first PC from the company to ship with Windows Vista, bundling the media-friendly Home Premium edition of the OS. Office 2007 Personal will also make its first appearance with the company. Toshiba expects to ship the new G30 in Japan at the same time as Vista on January 30th for an unlisted price; a North American equivalent is certain and should be ready soon afterwards.