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Olympus VN-2100PC Digital Voice Recorder

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Olympus Optical Co. (UK) Ltd

July 02, 2006
I bought this to help me with interviews. It is surprisingly the same size as Sony Ericsson W810 mobile phone. It is very easy to use, I like the fact that you can adjust the playback speed to slow or fast. I read the manual before installing the software and find it completely easy to use. It may have been updated though. Downloading files was straight forward as well. It doesn't work like an external storage. You can playback the files after downloading using Itunes or even WMPlayer. But only after downloading using the 'Digital Wave Player'. Very pleased with this purchase.

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Zoom H4 Handy Recorder

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Zoom


I also thought long and hard about which recorder to buy. In the end I narrowed it to just one, the H4 and was so glad I did. My intention was for a device that recorded both outside ambient sounds, such as water (streams), the sea, rain, wildlife and generally any sound I could use with my meditation/relaxation CDs. Reading the book I did become somewhat confused, but when I realised that a lot of the specialised things the H4 can do I would never use, I was able to learn the basics and switch on and record. I was so pleased with the results and with the ease I could transfer from H4 to computer software, wondered why I didn't make to move to this sort of unit before. I suppose because I come from the old school and felt that in order ... Read More:

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Sony ICDSX78DR9.CE7 1GB Stereo Digital Dictation+ Dragon Gold software

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Sony

May 01, 2008
I also thought long and hard about which recorder to buy. In the end I narrowed it to just one, the H4 and was so glad I did. My intention was for a device that recorded both outside ambient sounds, such as water (streams), the sea, rain, wildlife and generally any sound I could use with my meditation/relaxation CDs. Reading the book I did become somewhat confused, but when I realised that a lot of the specialised things the H4 can do I would never use, I was able to learn the basics and switch on and record. I was so pleased with the results and with the ease I could transfer from H4 to computer software, wondered why I didn't make to move to this sort of unit before. I suppose because I come from the old school and felt that in order ... Read More:

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Edirol R-09 WAVE/MP3 Recorder

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: edirol


I had to upgrade from a little sony micro-cassette recorder and decided to invest in a higher priced solid state recorder. It was a bargain at £300. Without external microphone it made perfect recording of noisy meetings of up to 20 people in rooms that echo. On the lowesr level mp3 it picks up everything clearly and with a 2 gig sd stick it has huge capacity and is easy to download to cd or pc via usb. Only problem is the lack of a carrying case but the audio performance is outstanding and the machine is easy to operate.

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Sony 1gb Digital Dictation Black

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Sony

March 03, 2008
It's simple to use and pretty to look at, but the recording leaves much to be desired. If you are recording at close range the Sony does a great job, but with distance the recorded volume falls of hugely and is over shadowed with an annoying background hiss. This makes it too difficult, if not nearly imppossible, to hear through the in-built speaker or supplied headphones. The only way that I could make sense of things was to use a set of headphones with a volume control and the Sony's microphone sensitivty set to maximum. Given the price of these gadgets the Sony's performance is well below acceptable. I do not have experience of hard drive dictation machines, but my minidisc was far better than this. This item is going back and I'm of to Olympus, ... Read More:

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Olympus S 701 Black Dictation Machine

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Olympus


It's simple to use and pretty to look at, but the recording leaves much to be desired. If you are recording at close range the Sony does a great job, but with distance the recorded volume falls of hugely and is over shadowed with an annoying background hiss. This makes it too difficult, if not nearly imppossible, to hear through the in-built speaker or supplied headphones. The only way that I could make sense of things was to use a set of headphones with a volume control and the Sony's microphone sensitivty set to maximum. Given the price of these gadgets the Sony's performance is well below acceptable. I do not have experience of hard drive dictation machines, but my minidisc was far better than this. This item is going back and I'm of to Olympus, ... Read More:

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Sony Voice Operated Slim Tape Recorder

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Sony

March 03, 2008
Firstly, this is NOT Slim-line, but to be fair to Sony they don't describe it as such, that's in the Amazon heading. It's actually wider than my old Walkman because of the speaker.

I chose this over the plastic-cased models as I thought it would be more robust, & it's certainly 'nicer' than the plastic model I tried. However, a lot of background noise from the unit's motor comes out on the recordings, which is a bit surprising as the motor doesn't sound loud when you are actually recording.

It's OK, I've kept it, but it's disappointing - I expected much better from Sony & for the price.

Oh, & it takes AAA batteries, not AAs as described in some write-ups.

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Tascam DR1 stereo recorder and vocal trainer (includes 1Gb card)

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Tascam


Firstly, this is NOT Slim-line, but to be fair to Sony they don't describe it as such, that's in the Amazon heading. It's actually wider than my old Walkman because of the speaker.

I chose this over the plastic-cased models as I thought it would be more robust, & it's certainly 'nicer' than the plastic model I tried. However, a lot of background noise from the unit's motor comes out on the recordings, which is a bit surprising as the motor doesn't sound loud when you are actually recording.

It's OK, I've kept it, but it's disappointing - I expected much better from Sony & for the price.

Oh, & it takes AAA batteries, not AAs as described in some write-ups.

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Sony 2gb Digital Dictation Black

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Sony

March 03, 2008
I bought the 1gb machine, which matches on all features bar the storage capacity, as the above reviewer it's simple to use and pretty to look at, but the recording leaves much to be desired. If you are recording at close range the Sony does a great job, but with distance the recorded volume falls of hugely and is over shadowed with an annoying background hiss. This makes it too difficult, if not nearly imppossible, to hear through the in-built speaker or supplied headphones. The only way that I could make sense of things was to use a set of headphones with a volume control and the Sony's microphone sensitivty set to maximum. Given the price of these gadgets the Sony's performance is well below acceptable. I do not have experience of hard drive dictation ... Read More:

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Olympus CS-111-E1 Leather Case for DS-2300

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > Digital
from: Olympus

October 19, 2005
I bought the 1gb machine, which matches on all features bar the storage capacity, as the above reviewer it's simple to use and pretty to look at, but the recording leaves much to be desired. If you are recording at close range the Sony does a great job, but with distance the recorded volume falls of hugely and is over shadowed with an annoying background hiss. This makes it too difficult, if not nearly imppossible, to hear through the in-built speaker or supplied headphones. The only way that I could make sense of things was to use a set of headphones with a volume control and the Sony's microphone sensitivty set to maximum. Given the price of these gadgets the Sony's performance is well below acceptable. I do not have experience of hard drive dictation ... Read More: