Blu-ray is the other type of DVD disc made for storing high-definition movies, which take up much more space than regular DVD movies. And in excitement not witnessed since those heady days of the '80s when Beta took on VHS, it's out there competing with HD-DVD.

Given that DVD players - ones that only play DVDs - are a bit passé, it's fitting to see the first high-definition Blu-ray drive in a Media Centre PC: the Altech Maestro Pro Blu-ray.

This thing has everything for living room entertainment. Besides the Blu-ray drive, it sports dual high-definition digital T.V. tuners, half a terabyte of storage, 7.1 surround sound, wireless networking and an electronic program guide, along with Windows Media Centre Edition.

Whether the Blu-ray format is worthy of your investment is uncertain at this point. It stores more than HD-DVD, but Blu-ray movies will probably be more expensive to buy.