As impressive as large-screen HD video and audio may be from a fixed location in the home or office, one of its few disadvantages is you can’t take it with you. PC manufacturers are hoping to remedy that (as well as take advantage of HD’s popularity) by offering HD television content for desktop and Wi-Fi laptop computers featuring larger monitors (usually up to 20 inches) and 16:9 aspect ratio.
For North America and Europe, Gateway is offering its M-Series and T-Series of laptops with HDMI outputs, optional ATI graphics, internal Wi-Fi, and the option of Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD drives. The M-Series, which eventually will have a DTV tuner, has a 15-inch screen with 1920x1200 resolution. The T-Series is an inch smaller diagonally, according to HDTV UK.
AMD is ramping up its own device, the HDTV TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe. The plug-and-play unit (which requires a cable HD or satellite HD subscription) allows “compatible PCs” to receive local cable or DBS programming.
