Blu-ray not ubiquitous yet

Blu-ray players are showing up in more computers, but so far, they’re not a must-have for most consumers, said Baker of the NPD Group.

That’s reflected in the lackluster sales of Blu-ray DVD players, despite Blu-ray winning the high-def DVD format war over rival HD DVD earlier this year.

Many consumers are still content to watch movies on their standard DVD players and not incur the extra cost of Blu-ray, with most stand-alone players starting at around $400.

On Dell’s Studio Hybrid, an optical drive that can play Blu-ray high-definition DVDs is a $250 add-on, a “pretty affordable way to get Blu-ray into the household, much less expensive than going out and buying a Blu-ray player,” said New of Dell.

For families that share a home PC and a keyboard, Lenovo’s IdeaCentre K210 ($500 retail, sans monitor) comes with an anti-microbial keyboard.

Most of us know the kinds of things that wind up on a keyboard, and they’re not pretty — or healthy.

“Specifically with the IdeaCentre K210, we are focused on the concept of a family PC where individuals use the desktop for everything from online shopping to homework to keeping track of bills,” said Kristy Fair of Lenovo. “With multiple users, antimicrobial keyboards are a good way to keep germs at bay.”

Wipes and sprays are widely available for eliminating bacteria on keyboards, but the IdeaCentre K210’s does not need maintenance other than standard cleaning, said Douglas Bell of Lenovo.

And, while more and more laptops and desktops come with fingerprint readers for secure log-ins, the IdeaCentre K210 uses facial recognition, a “convenient” and “fun” approach, said Fair.