Toshiba has just announced the release of their newest laptop and guess what, it sports a Blu-ray drive.

The Toshiba p500 comes equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and an NVidia GeForce graphics card to provide ample performance. Specs may vary from device to device but the P500 is capable of accepting up to 8GB of memory and 2 hard drives for a whooping 1TB of drive space. That kind of hardware surely comes in handy since the P500 is also capable of acting as a Blu-ray recorder.

Some people might sneer at a laptop playing a media center role but the 18.9 inch screen would surely sway most skeptics. And with a resolution of up to 1920 x 1080, this monster can really give you a true 1080 HD experience even when you are outside your home.

The P500 also comes with the full array of connectivity features including USB, Firewire, Express Card Slot, and a digital audio connector that lets you have HD quality sound with the use of high end headsets. Another cool addition to the P500 arsenal is the built-in digital TV tuner which you could use to watch digital TV given that you have the right video signal available.

The P500 is scheduled for release sometime next month (October, 09) but the price has not been announced yet. We’d keep you updated as soon as they release additional information about the spec variations and their corresponding prices.

If you are always on the move and wish to kick back and watch a movie on your down time, it is well worth looking into the P500 as your next laptop/media center.