Customer Ratings & Reviews

This recorder offers excellent quality recordings in very noisy areas - like in a crowd at a sporting event. Picks up voice level while filtering out ambient noise to a degree high enough to easily discern subject voice on playback. Can easily download recordings to computer for future reference with USB cable included, so you need not waste battery life on playback. Does record at different quality levels, the highest only getting you about 7 hours of total recording, but given the transferability of the recording file, cannot see any reason why any more space would be required for normal usage. The price tag seems high to some when I mention it, but after learning all of the functions, they say that the price isn't too bad for what you get. One drawback is that it didn't come with a carrying case (to store unit as well as spare batteries, the USB cable and the ear-phones which are also included). I used an older hard-back, leather PDA case (about 5"x7" in size) and that worked perfectly for transporting everything. The unit itself might easily fit into a longer cell phone-type sheath. This item easily gets an "OUTSTANDING" mark.

I can set close to the back of my Anatomy and Physiology class recording the lecture and not miss a word the instructor says. There are 50+ students in a large classroom, and the clarity is amazing. I even had the recorder in my backpack on the second highest recording quality (HQST – 8 HR+). Pros Yes! It is Window’s Vista compatible. The recorder and its software are all compatible; although, it is not compatible until a driver is downloaded from the manufacture’s web site. The software is easy to use and has features that complement the recorder. Total control for whatever the user wants it to do. The recorder is small and discreet, and you can turn off the led indicator, beep, and voice guidance. You can set the recorder to start and stop recording on specific time and dates. It has multiple alarm functions. The AAA batteries that came with recorder has lasted me for hours and I still have not had to change out the original ones. The software can download podcasts. The display is large and easy to see. Cons It doesn’t come with a carrying case. I had to order that from the manufactures web site. The case is well worth the cost. Internal memory only! 256MB, this makes compiling all my recordings on the machine impossible. One day of recording 4 to 5 hours took up approximately 90MB on the next to highest recording quality (HQST). After archiving the recordings to the computer, I then compile the WMA’s to an MP3 player. In closing, this recorder is as valuable to me as a pencil and paper in the classroom. The recorder is an enhancement to my studies that will add points to my GPA.

I am overly impressed by this product. The ease of use, vast storage files, one handed operation and simplicity to trasfer files to a computer. The screen is easy to read with voice prompts to help navigate you through. The owners manual is a little overwhelming at first but with some time and trial and error recording it gets easier. The plus side: nice memory size, multiple folders for storing diffrent subjects, one handed navigation, external stereo microphone, three diffrent recording settings and ease of file transfer. No pertinate negatives as of yet.

i got this a couple years ago to record live music and have been very happy w/it so far. it's not really meant for recording live music, but still does a pretty good job. there is light distortion at times and depending on venue, it may have trouble picking up bass. all in all, it's done great for the price. very small (the batteries seem to weigh more than the recorder).

Initial impression: Excellent. I use this recorder for many functions. From recording testimony, notes to myself in case building, to recording lectures and live music (I am in a band)...... I am pleasantly surprised at the adaptability to keep up. The recording sound is the best I have come across so far. Cons: I have only had it for a short time. I work both in and outdoors, It has not survived a season yet.... It did not come with a case, Its odd size made it difficult to locate a case to put it in.

I have tried the sony ICD-P520 before this model which also was a good model for it's price but in my big lecture halls, the sound pickup had a lot of background noise. Also, when I record from my keyboard, the recording on the sony was pretty bad (granted it was lower model-I heardthe more expensive sony models have very good pickup also). What I know though, the olympus DS-30 picked up amazing. This device also have a timer recording which lets you set a timer to start and stop recording for all weekdays, or weekends or everyday. I would like to be able to select specifically which days to record rather than having to choose everyday of the week, and have multiple start and stop times thoughout those days but it doesn't have such feature. It's got a backlit LCD which is really nice, and stereo mic attachment is removable to make it more compact. The other thing I did is that I hooked it up to my walkman with a male-male sound cable from headphones output of the walkman to mic input to the recorder and basically transfered a few old valuable (to me) tapes to computer via the DS-30. You can hook this up to the computer without having to use any software if you want. I have yet to try recording in my lecture hall on next week, but after seing the differences at home, I'm confident that it'll pass that test also. :) Great product. Highly recommended.