Acer's next Aspire desktops to sport Blu-ray and HD DVD players

You didn't think Acer's recent deal with the Blu-ray camp was an exclusive arrangement did you? No sir-e, not if this product sheet is to be believed. Though the details are hard to make out, those Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD logos make it pretty clear that the Aspire line-up of multimedia desktops are about to go both ways. The desktop will feature what Acer calls "Blu-ray Universal" which reads Blu-ray and HD DVD discs while burning DVDs and CDs. Sounds like an LG Super Multi Blue player to us. It's all said to be going down on October 1st, in Australia anyway. Do your best to make out the full specs in the images below.

Gallery: Acer's next Aspire desktops to sport Blu-ray and HD DVD players

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[Thanks, Adam P.]

[LondonConsultant @ Sep 20th 2007 5:36AM]

I wonder how long before consumers no longer care about HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray. In a couple of years time, we'll just buy hi-def movies by title (ignoring the tiny HD-DVD or Blu-Ray logo on the back) knowing it'll work on our hi-def player - all of which of course now play both formats...

[Paul @ Sep 20th 2007 5:38AM]

So you're saying the Acer's are BiDiscual?

[Adam @ Sep 20th 2007 6:32AM]

Hi Guys,

I sent in this info to Engadget, so if you can't make anything out in the pics just post it in the comments & I'll try to reply.

If you look at the first image. the one that has 3 PC listed with Blu-ray & HD DVD, if you look at the 3rd one in it has a Blu-ray, HD DVD, DVD & CD burner with Vista Ultimate, 1TB HD, 3GB RAM with a Core 2 Quad Processor, this thing should fly.

One of the other ones I like on this list is the last one in the first pic, the "Next Generation Media Center" with a Core 2 Duo T5500, 2GB RAM, 500GB HD, DVD burner, nVidia MXM7600 GO, dual MCE tuner & remote, Wi-Fi, card reader, keyboard & mouse & Vista Premium.

Acer's new Australian line up should go well.

[DAZA @ Sep 20th 2007 7:19AM]

Couple of questions..

Are you an Acer rep? When will these products be filtering in to retail outlets? Is stock in the country at the moment?

An Acer rep told me that Core Quad would be coming, but to be honest I didn't really believe her. I'm pleasantly surprised it's actually happening, it will surely give Acer the upper hand against its competitors such as HP who are still trying to flog Pentium D setups.

What's the market like for HD DVD and Blu-ray in Australia anyway? I know there are titles out there, but I didn't really think people cared that much (or people with money at least). I'm yet to sell my first Blu-ray player at work, even though we do sell a few Full HD sets.

[Blackster @ Sep 20th 2007 6:41AM]

it's about time those bloody drives hit the market!

[Adam @ Sep 20th 2007 8:45AM]

DAZA

They should be out first week of Oct, so in about 2 weeks.

I read a quote saying “Blu-ray software was averaging sales of 1500 units weekly, compared with 250 units weekly for HD DVD”. As for the hardware at the end June 2007 in Australia the PS3 had sold about 55,000 Units, Blu-ray only players had sold just over 1000 units, HD DVD players including Xbox 360 add-on had sold just under 2000.

Blu-ray also had the lead in the number of titles available, with about 110 software titles available for Blu-ray at the end of June, compared with about 50 for HD DVD. Allthough EzyDVD and Quickflix had been reporting to Toshiba that sales were going in HD DVD's favour by as much as two to one, but GFK Research suggests that Blu-ray Disc movie titles accounted for 66 percent of HD movie sales in the US and 60 percent of HD movie sales in Europe in the first half of 2007.

A few weeks ago, SmartHouse reported that Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD by a 2:1 ratio. Now, the HD DVD Promotion group is fighting this claim with the release of statistics showing that it holds 70 percent of the IT and standalone high definition market in Europe.

Sony Australia’s latest HD Benchmark Report puts Blu-ray well ahead of the HD DVD format. Of the nearly 6,000 HD movies sold in Australia in Q1 2007, 90.8% were in the Blu-ray format. Roger Clarke, managing director of Warner Bros. in Australia, said Warner would have released around 30 titles on both Blu-ray and HD DVD by August 8, and a further 20-30 titles would be added the end of the year.

I guess you just have to believe what ever you want, all I know is of my customer more people are asking for Blu-ray, not many people are asking about HD DVD. As LondonConsultant said, it wont really matter, with products like these coming out who cares?

[shamrock593 @ Sep 20th 2007 9:58AM]

Normally I would think it is fake as...

Fake = Grainy images + Almost unreadable

=P

[Adam @ Sep 20th 2007 5:08PM]

Shamrock593

This was recieved as a fax, I did my best to scan it as clear as I could.

I'll post the link up here on the 1st Oct when they come out.