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Dell Computer recently introduced a lap top computer that is capable of playing Blu-ray high definition digital video discs. This model- the XPSTM M1710- retails for about three thousand seven hundred dollars and can play movies off of Blu-ray discs as well as standard DVD's. When playing Blu-ray discs, the lap top can display video in resolutions of up to 1080p which is pretty impressive for a device that's primarily designed to be a tool rather than a source of entertainment. The XPSTM M1710 can also read media off of compact discs as well. Perhaps even more impressive than the fact that this particular model can play movies and other video in high definition is the fact that it can write onto Blu-ray discs as well as standard DVD's and CD's. This feature represents a tremendous capacity for recording and storing data. In fact, each Blu-ray disc can hold up to fifty gigabytes worth of data (when recorded on both sides).

Dell apparently hopes to capitalize on a newfound interest in using computers for entertainment as well as work. Dell is banking on personal computers becoming central to entertainment systems at home and, by extension, lap tops will become a trusted source of entertainment while traveling. Presumably people would find time to get work done on these machines as well.

The fact that Dell has chosen to put a Blu-ray disc drive on this lap top is also a benefit for Sony's Blu-ray high definition digital disc format which is in a format war with Toshiba's HD-DVD format. Both Sony and Toshiba, as well as numerous companies that are backing them, are attempting to make their formats more attractive so that they can gain greater confidence from consumers and, in turn, greater backing from other players in the electronics industry as well as from motion picture studios and the software industry. Once one format has that kind of backing it will evoke total confidence from consumers and that format will have won the war. In the meantime, consumers are slow to embrace either format for fear of being left with obsolete equipment and media. In many ways, Dell's choice to put a Blu-ray drive on this lap top is a vote of confidence in the Blu-ray format.

One thing that could be of concern though is the fact that Microsoft is a backer of the rival HD-DVD high definition disc format and that Dell computers run Windows operating systems that are made by Microsoft. Even if we set aside for a moment the admittedly somewhat paranoid suspicion that Microsoft might purposely make the Windows operating system hostile to the Blu-ray disc format, given some of the problems with Microsoft's software, compatibility problems with a Blu-ray disc drive would not be unexpected.

Aside from the possibility of compatibility problems, the fact that Dell computers is embracing the Blu-ray format is a huge step in the direction of widespread acceptance for Blu-ray technology in general.