BDX5000 and Satellite P500 debut

Toshiba picked IFA to make its first real entrance into Blu-ray following last year's exit from HD DVD with both its first dedicated movie player and a notebook to match. The BDX2000 catches up with full BD-Live support for movies with Internet features on an Ethernet connection and an SD card slot for playing the user's own content, including H.264 (AVCHD) videos. A flip-down front door is rare in the breed and keeps the design uncluttered either mid-movie or when it's not in use.

The player supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio for 7.1-channel surround systems and will work with any HDMI-CEC equipment to take (or give) controls from HDTVs, receivers and other devices on the same standard. In the US, it ships in November for $250.

Also on tap is the first Toshiba notebook, in the Satellite series, to have its own Blu-ray drive. It carries a full Blu-ray rewriter drive and is treated as a desktop replacement with an 18.4-inch, 1080p display that can show HD movies at their native resolution. Most specs are unclear, but it should use a Core 2 Duo processor and as much as 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. Some of its technology is borrowed from Toshiba's home theater field, such as the Resolution+ engine for DVD upscaling and HDMI-CEC to share control.

Its prices aren't yet known, but it's known first to be shipping to Europe in October. A US conversion hasn't been mentioned but is considered near-certain.

By Electronista Staff