Less than a fortnight ago, Blu-ray emerged winner in the long-running format war; with Toshiba having gone public about withdrawing the HD DVD format.

Having to no longer decide between rival formats, most major HD DVD supporters have lost no time in crossing over to the Blu-ray side. And Acer is next on the list to pledge support to Blu-ray. The company plans to launch two BD (Blu-ray Disc) notebooks (NBs) in the second quarter this year; one with an 18.4-inch panel, and the other with a 16-inch panel, according to DigiTimes.

The newbies will support full HD quality images, and will be priced between $1,900 and $2,240.

Acer predicts that a sales boost in Blu-ray drives will be seen first in notebooks rather than stand-alone players. Today, most households are not equipped to view full HD (1080p) content. This is why Acer feels notebooks with Blu-ray drives will play a major role in boosting sales.

All said, Blu-ray might have emerged winner in the format war but its adoption rates aren't picking up as fast as Sony expects -- not yet. Add to that a whole lot of industry speculation around future success of the format.

Meanwhile, Acer's said it plans to launch large-size BD notebooks in the Asia Pacific region (including Taiwan) in the first half of 2008.