Back to basics. This Olympus DVR works just fine for recording mock therapy sessions in my psychology class. It's easy to use. The sound reproduction is clear. It has a long battery life.
I'm not a technie or a teenager. So navigating digital equipment isn't organic to me. I need instructions. The more cookbook-like, the better. Before I bought this model, I considered purchasing a similarly priced Sony model because after all I had a number of other Sony products in my audio visual stable. But, eek, reviews of Sony's murky instructions scared me off. The Olympus instructions sheet isn't the best--pictures instead of words. But when I got stuck, I called the Olympus toll-free line, and got through right away to a friendly customer service rep, who easily resolved my issue.
One nit: The "Hold" button is really the on/off switch. I'm not sure why Olympus doesn't call it like it is.
And a caveat: You can't transfer recordings from this DVR directly into a computer. You'll have a pay more to get this feature. Olympus VN-5000 Digital Voice Recorder (141985) (Silver)
I have owned three or four digital voice recorders over the years and don't have high demands. I mostly use it to record reminders while commuting. This one performs well enough (good voice clarity), however the design is very poor: 1.the record button is not recessed so it regularly starts recording when in my pocket; 2. recording requires pressing two different buttons, one to record and another to stop recording; 3. erasing a message is a three step process that requires pressing three different buttons. This is not the recorder to use while driving! My old SONY ICD-B5 was much easier to use and thinner, if a little heavier.
It's the first recording device I ever owned and I'm extremely happy with this purchase.
WHY BUY SUCH A THING:
1. if you have watched THE SIXTH SENSE, you should have remembered that Dr.
Malcolm Crowe used such a device to record down any thoughts he had after he met
his patients. IMHO, since most of my inventive ideas pop into my mind when it's most
inconvenient for me to take notes of such fleeting thoughts, a recorder is by
far the best device for taking them down. Even if most cellphones nowadays have some
functionality similar to a recorder, their performance and usability are much
worse.
2. David Allen's masterpiece about time management, Getting things done, also
recommends various kinds of in-boxes to store all the internal commitments you
may have anytime and anywhere, and a recorder is much easier to carry with you
than paper and pen and to use in various places out of office.
PROS:
+++ VCVA: this is a killing feature! it will only be recording when there is
sound louder than the threshold you set, so all silences in lectures, meetings
and dictations when you are thinking will not appear in the recordings! REALLY
GREAT FEATURE!
+ can be a good toy for children; help them musing over various sounds in Nature
++ amazing battery life: though I didn't use it intensively, that the included
batteries still being indicated as 'FULL' after 4 month of using, is extremely
satisfacory.
++ easy management of recordings: there is A, B, C, D, 4 folders for storing
different kinds of notes, and I found this very useful. I use A as an in-box for
my GTD system, B to store memorable quotes and sayings I encountered when
reading books, C and D for storing any thougths coming into my mind when I brainstorm
about a project.
+ LED indication of recording status:
CONS:
- no appending/inserting: recordings cannot be edited later. But I think it's
not a big problem since nobody is going to use it record an album.
- no connection to computers (for models without suffix of PC in their model
names): I don't care about the absence of this feature, since I only use it to
temporarily store things that I would never want to preserve for later use. If
some students want to use this to record lectures, they may want to buy models
that have a PC/Mac connection interface.
CONCLUSION:
A must buy for any intellectual worker. I would recommend this to
anybody!
I thought I wanted a voice recorder a long time ago, while a student but I never actually bought one. If I remember correctly, I was deterred, back then, by the apparent mechanical complexity of the device, its using non-standard recording media - mini cassettes - the need to feed it batteries and its overall lack of versatility. I believe they used to be expensive too.
This is my first and voice recorder and it seems to address most of my issues back then. The Olympus VN-5000 DVR's notable features include:
- no moving parts other than the several buttons
- small
- long battery life
- no physical recording media needed other than its own physical memory
- moderately easy to learn controls
- 3 level of recording quality and, depending in the quality selected
- 20, 50 or 300 hours of recording time
- voice activated recording
- variable playback speed
- date/time stamps on files
- some rudimentary file management (4 preset folders, files can be moved between folders)
- etc., etc.
Overall, this model is a trade off between low price/simplicity and features/flexibility in favor of low price and simplicity. Being my fist DVR, I happen to like it this way but the more sophisticated or the more demanding users may not not appreciate its awkward file management and the fact that, at least in theory, it's impossible to get the files out of the device, into some other form of storage (but it can be done - see note below).
I am very pleased with this device. Between 4 and 5 stars, I decided on 4 because this inexpensive, 'entry level' gadget, while making recording easy, is not as good at managing and retrieving the information once recorded, especially when one stores many files.
_______________________________________
Note:
If you want to transfer your files to a computer, it can be done but it can be a time-consuming process. To do so, you need to
- Install Audacity on your machine (it's a free download).
- Plug a microphone cable into your DVR's headphone slot and the other end into your computer's microphone interface - all computers should have these wires and you can use either the 'green' or the 'pink' one.
- Set Audacity on 'record' and you simply 'play' your file.
- Test for the proper volume setting before recording a long file.
- Save your recording as a WAV or MP3 file.
It's going to take as long as it took you to make the recording but, once it's done you have a file that you can do with as you please. - Digital Voice Recorders - Voice Recorders - Voice Recorder - Olympus Digital Recorders'
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