Sharp Unveils Instant Play DVD Laptop Models

Sharp Japan has recently introduced the new Mebius notebook line, with the PC-SV1-7DB and PC-SV1-5CB. They will go on sale late August with MSRP of $1860 for the PC-SV1-7DB and $1600 for the PC-SV1-5CB.

The PC-SV1-7DB will feature the Athlon XP-M 2000+ CPU (1667MHz), 60Gb HDD. The PC-SV1-5CB will have the Athlon XP-M 1800+ (1533MHz), 40Gb HDD, CD-R/RW / DVD-ROM drive. Additional features are identical: 15″ XGA TFT Display, 256Mb RAM (PC2100, up to 768Mb), TV tuner (VHF (1-12ch), UHF (13-62ch), CATV (C13-C63ch)). Both models will have PC Card Type II, SD and Memory Stick slots, 4 x USB2.0 ports, 1 x IEEE1394 ports, and S-Video connectors.

The main interest is that these models both support Microsofts INSTANT PLAY technology for watching TV or DVDs and listening to music without booting into Windows. This is due to the internal TV Tuner built in.