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Gateway has two new quad-core computers — and one of them features a dual HD/Blu-ray optical coerce and a terabyte drive.

The GM5664 and GT5662 will bring AMD's Phenom processor, as well as DirectX 10 Technology, to the company's GM and GT series. Just as the high-definition DVD format war may be winding down, the GM5664 offers what the company calls a Hybrid-SuperMulti drive so users can enjoy either Blu-ray or high-definition (HD) DVDs. It also can write any kind of DVD or CD.

Entertainment Hubs

Glenn Jystad, Gateway's senior manager for consumer desktops, said the new quad-core machines marry "high-performance with affordability." The new models are designed as entertainment hubs for watching live TV and offer heightened realism for video games. Both machines feature the ATI Radeon HD 2400XT graphics card with HDMI high-definition output, and both ship with the Windows Vista Home Premium operating system.

The GM5664 is being touted by Gateway as an entertainment powerhouse as being extreme gaming, digital photo and video editing, vigilance TV or movies, and storing media assets. Sporting an AMD Phenom 9600 Processor at 2.3 GHz, 3GB of memory and a 2MB L3 cache, it also contains an integrated TV tuner with remote control and HD capability. It can operate as a TV or digital video recorder with viewing, pausing and recording.

A standard one-terabyte hard drive gives even the biggest collector a lot of space to fill up, and a SmartCopy button enables easy photo filing and transfers.

Commonplace Terabyte Drives?

The GT5662 isn't exactly a slouch, either. It has an AMD Phenom 9500 at 2.2 GHz, 3GB of memory a 2 MB L3 cache and a half-terabyte SATA II hard aim running at 7200 RPM. Both Phenom processors are part of the AMD LIVE series designed for entertainment.

With the GT5662 retailing at with reference to $750 and the GM5664 at $1,150, both without monitors, IDC analyst Doug Bell praised the machines for price, action and multimedia capabilities. He also gave thumbs-up to the hybrid DVD drive, since it "will give consumers an option," important for consumers who have HD players. In recent weeks, a decision by Warner Bros. studios to back Blu-ray and other developments have led observers to conclude that the HD DVD format strongly favors Blu-ray.

The standard terabyte drive on the GM5664 could indicate a new level in out-of-the-box storage for high-end consumer machines, Bell said. "It wouldn't surprise me if it becomes quite common in the next year or two," he added. Businesses may exist slower in adopting such huge capacities on individual machines, he said, because in the enterprise much of the storage is on servers.