Acer has announced its plans to be the second laptop manufacturer (after Toshiba) to release a notebook with a built-in HD DVD drive. HD DVD is one of two new competing video-disc formats (the other being Blu-ray), that will store video at a much higher quality than today's DVDs. Of course if you buy a laptop that can play such sharp images, you're going to want a nice big screen to watch it on, and Acer doesn't disappoint. The Aspire 9800 comes with a gigantic 20.1-inch display, the largest laptop screen available. It also comes with a built-in webcam, à la the new PowerBooks, and enough storage space to hold all the video you can download (legally obtained, of course). All this doesn't come cheap, however, with prices expecting to top $2,600. Oh, and did we mention it might not even ship with HD DVD? Just make sure Acer has their drives ready before you drop down the money for one of these bad boys, otherwise you'll end up with a standard DVD drive, and what fun is that? — Adam Frucci

Acer Aspire 9800 to be next HD DVD-equipped laptop, via Engadget