Iomega, part of the EMC Company, has launched yesterday in North America a new Iomega DVR Expander Drive. The product is meant to provide 500GB of storage space on an external drive that will increase the storage capacity of digital video recorders.

Iomega's new product is said to provide as much as 300 hours of standard definition TV or 60 hours of high-definition TV, thus increasing the normal storage capacity of DVRs. The product is designed to offer support to eSATA-enabled Scientific Atlanta DVRs. Through the built-in eSATA port featured on the back panel of an eSATA-enabled Scientific Atlanta DVR, users can easily upgrade the storage capacity of their recording device. When Iomega's product is connected, the DVR will directly record data to the device that has the highest available storage space. In turn, that can be the internal solution of the DVR or the external Iomega DVR Expander Drive.

"Everyone loves their DVRs and watching television on their own schedule, but I don't know anyone who likes being forced to delete programming to record some more," said Ralf San Jose, global product manager for HDD products, Iomega Corporation. "With the new Iomega DVR Expander Drive, you get a massive capacity increase for your DVR with no installation hassles. Owning an Iomega DVR Expander Drive is like getting three tanks of gas free with every fill-up. It leverages the investment in a DVR and gives buyers an incredible number of extra shows and movies to choose from. What's not to like about that?" he concluded by saying.

The new Iomega DVR Expander Drive is compatible to only two models of e-SATA enabled DVRs, namely the Scientific Atlanta standard-definition 8300 DVR (an 80GB model), and the 8300HD DVR (a 160GB model). The product, which features 500GB of storage space, will be available in the US for $199.95.