How To Choose a Digital Voice Recorder

If you've done much shopping for a digital voice recorder, you will find a wide range of choices. Some are under $50 and some can be as high as $500-$600.

Part of the reason is additional features, microphone sensitivity, and storage size. Surprisingly, some of the lower end recorders (under $150) can record just as well as the higher end recorders. The only thing lacking is features - and if you don't need all the bells and whistles you will be just fine.

Olympus makes a series called the "WS-series". These are considered "consumer grade digital voice recorders" but receive great reviews on consumer electronics sites. If you aren't using them as a journalist or medical professional, often these will work just fine.

There are several versions of Olympus WS-Series voice recorders: the WS-311M, WS-321M, and the Olympus WS-320M.

The main differences between these digital voice recorders is just the amount of recording time. Otherwise the functionality is the same. They all have voice activation features, export in WMA format, and all plug into your Mac or PC using your USB port.

Most users will convert these WMA (Windows Media Audio) files into MP3 when they move them over to their computer. This is easily done with a program like Apple iTunes, which will ask you upon loading if you wish to convert them to MP3. I do this all the time with my WS-311M when I move my songwriting ideas over to my laptop.

All WS-Series Olympus digital voice recorders are powered by a single AAA battery. This might seem like your recording time might be limited. This is not the case. You can get 20+ hours of recording time out of a single AAA battery.

The WS-series voice recorders are also very small. They are all about four inches long, two inches wide, and not even a half-inch thick. You can easily slip it into a shirt pocket, back pocket, or into a small purse or messenger back without taking up much space at all.

If you want to move up to more expensive models, the Olympus DS series is a good choice. Olympus makes a DS-4000 which is used by professionals in the medical and legal fields. But Olympus recently released the DS-2, which offers many of the same features at a much lower price.

You will want a digital voice recorder that doesn't require installing software in order to move files to your PC or Mac. The DS-series and WS-series by Olympus simply recognize the device as a mass storage device. So when you plug it into your computer it simply looks like an extra hard drive. You can open it up on your computer and just drag files over to your desktop and manipulate them there. Sony and some other manufacturers tend to require you install their software, which can cause problems if you're not near YOUR computer and you want to move or upload files.

You can find many of these devices for sale on eBay and on various used electronics stores in used and almost new condition for a fraction of the price you can find them at big box retailers.

Do some shopping around. You'll be surprised at the deals you can find.

Don Mak is a regular user of digital voice recorders and runs the site OlympusVoiceRecorders.com, where he regularly reviews Olympus digital voice recorders and monitors the latest eBay listings for used digital voice recorders.

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