I/OMagic Corporation announced today that it will begin shipping the external version of its high-speed 8X dual format DVD Rewritable drive into the North American marketplace in early March 2004.

The new External Dual Format 8X DVD+/-RW/+/-R USB 2.0 drive allows users to create and produce DVD movies that can be played on most home DVD players. It also plays and burns DVDs in all popular formats, including +R, +RW, -R, -RW and CD-R/-RW and is compatible with a broad variety of DVD players.

"There is a huge demand for DVD rewritable drives which is being driven by the growing popularity of digital photography, digital video and digital music. Consumers want and need fast, flexible digital storage solutions. We're excited to bring a solution to market that will store and manage digital data, music, photos and movies needs," said Tony Andrews, Vice President of Engineering and Product Development for I/OMagic Corporation.

The plug 'n play External Dual Format 8X DVD+/-RW/+/-R USB 2.0 drive is an 8x4x12x DVD Rewritable drive and a 40x24x40x CD-RW drive. It includes a proprietary design with a three-way adjustable lighting system.

The External Dual Format 8X DVD+/-RW/+/-R USB 2.0 drive also includes Pinnacle's award-winning Studio 8 SE video editing software, Instant CD/DVD SE disc burning suite and Pinnacle Expression software. These Pinnacle products empower users to create and edit home movies, burn DVDs and CDs in all popular formats, as well as watch and store home movies, photos and MP3s on either DVD or CD discs. Operating systems supported are Windows XP/2000/Me/98SE.

The new I/OMagic External DVD+/-RW/+/-R Dual Format 8X DVD Rewritable drive is set to begin shipping in March 2004 to Radio Shack and Office Depot with an introductory price of $199.99.