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Acer has recently begun shipping their Gemstone 8920G, and for lack of a better guess, I can only assume the “G” after 8920 stands for gigantic.

The Gemstone 8920G is sporting an 18.2-inch display, and weighs in at about nine pounds. Otherwise it does offer a solid set of specs which include the previously mentioned 18.2-inch display that offers a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 1920 x 1080 screen resolution.

The 8920G is powered by a 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor, has 4GB of RAM and also features two internal hard drives which total out at 640GB of storage, a 512MB nVidia 9650M GS card for graphics, Wireless-N Wi-Fi, an HDMI out as well as a DVD writer with Blu-ray reading capability.

While technically a laptop, the 8920G would certainly fall into the desktop replacement category, but it should make a nice portable semi-portable HD movie player. Of course all these high-end specs will not come cheap, expect to pay nearly $3,000 for one of your own.

Via [Trusted Reviews]

While we have heard the rumors, it now looks like it will soon be official. During a recent conference call, the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings announced that because Blu-ray discs cost more money to purchase, that they need to charge a higher rental rate for them. He also went on to state that “consumers are used to paying more for high-definition.”

Personally I think consumers are used to paying more to own high-definition, I am not so sure how eager they will be to pay more to rent it. Currently Netflix has a small amount of subscribers who choose Blu-ray over standard DVD’s and with a price increase it seems that small percentage will remain small.

While the statements from Hastings seemed pretty clear that the price increase was going to happen, there has not been any official statement as to just how much the increase will be. As for when it will take effect, customers can expect to see it “later this year.”

Via [Crave]

With all the HD-DVD - Blu-ray chit chat we tend to forget that the major format out there (and will stay major for at least a few years) in the DVD. Remember those discs, they hold a movie, the picture is pretty, and they even hold DTS and Dolby audio tracks. The major units right now upconvert the video to HD quality so your vids look even better on that plasma in the living room.

Zensonic is set to launch its Zensonic Z500 high definition network DVD player in the U.S. in July 2006. These unit offer upconverted high definition video playback, WMV9 HD playback, support Nero Digital, USB 2.0 hard drive support, EL-backlit remote with joystick for quick navigation, supports Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, has built in 802.11g wireless and Ethernet networking, and finally (unlike the PS3 core system and Xbox 360 HD-DVD) incorporates HDMI with HDCP support.

So why do you want one? The Z500 is one of the most advanced DVD players available internationally. It was the world’s first High Definition Media Player to support HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface). HDMI links the Z500 to a digital TV with a single cable, delivering standard, enhanced, or high-definition video depending on the screen’s capabilities.

The easy-to-use unit comes with a backlit remote control with a joystick, that operates a simple on-screen menu. The Z500 retails for $429 and will be available in June.

[Press Release]
Read [Zensonic]