Dell to launch cheap Blu-Ray laptop

Now that the so-called ‘HD-war’ is over and Blu-Ray has been crowned the victor, Dell is to unleash a new low-price laptop complete with a Blu-Ray drive.

The Inspiron 1525 will retail for $879 in the US, though when it arrives in Europe “in the next few weeks” it is likely to sell for more than the direct exchange rate price, which sits at around £440.

Dell’s machine boasts a 15.4 inch 720p screen and an HDMI port for outputting the picture to a home TV. It also comes in a range of colours carrying lively monikers such as Chill, Blossom, Commotion and Midnight.

For an extra $200 the machine can instead be kitted with a Blu-Ray burner, capable of writing to 50GB Blu-Ray discs.