Olympus VN-240 Digital Voice Recorder

Rating:
Summary: Great but be carefull for what you buy
Review: I bought the "Olympus VN-240" thinking I could hook it up to my PC, but the model I really needed was the "Olympus VN-240 PC". I wish they made it more clear that the VN-240 was not pc compatible,I read a review for the VN-240 saying it was connectable to a pc so i went out and bought a VN-240 accidentally instead of "VN-240 PC". Just letting other people know so they don't make the same mistake thinking that all VN-240s are the same, THEYRE NOT!

Rating:
Summary: Deleting is easier than claimed
Review: I doubted it could be so difficult to delete a message as was claimed in the previous review, and so I looked up the user manual for this recorder. The manual says that the complicated procedure only applies when deleting messages in the "S" folder, which sorts messages by date. To delete messages in the ordinary "A" through "C" folders takes just one button press.

Rating:
Summary: Deleting is easier than claimed
Review: I doubted it could be so difficult to delete a message as was claimed in the previous review, and so I looked up the user manual for this recorder. The manual says that the complicated procedure only applies when deleting messages in the "S" folder, which sorts messages by date. To delete messages in the ordinary "A" through "C" folders takes just one button press.

Rating:
Summary: Nice but could be much better
Review: I saw a friend taking voice notes on one of these while talking on his cellphone and remembered the hundreds of times I needed to make notes while driving or having ideas I needed to record to work on later. This little thing is too handy not to have especially for a businessman like me. I find an inexpensive Olympus VN 240 Digital Voice Recorder for only $10 more than the 120 version. It is fairly small, about twice the size of a cigarette lighter which is twice what I would have liked but no one else makes anything better unless it was $200. What I Liked: It has 4 hours of record time(once you change the settings to lowest quality and longest play but since it is notes who cares it still sounds good), It uses a AAA pair of batteries, it was only $50. Unfortunately this is yet another example of a device designed by an engineer on a computer with no idea what the product would be used for and that was NEVER tested in the real world. A bunch of guys passed the prototype around in a meeting and talked into it, looked at the spec sheet and gave the go ahead with no further evaluation. How do I know this? It is absolutely obvious from the design. What I didnt like: It is too big. From the weight I can easily say the size could have been cut in half, there is a lot of empty space in it. The display is way too big. Not a common complaint but they could have used half a watch display size lcd. Most of the icons on the screen are never needed except during setup so they are a waste. The record and erase and other buttons look nice but are things some engineer dreamed up on a computer and never tested as someone would use them. There are no 'record button setup' options. The user should be able to select how the record button is to operate. Common sense and the way my pen worked was: press record, talk, let go. But with this thing if you press record, record your message while driving then drop it in your pocket it keeps on and on recording for no reason. You have to press stop. Also the buttons have no feel. They are all smooth and you cannot feel the difference where one stops and the next starts. Try recording something at night while driving in a dark car. You have to fiddle with the unit to find the record button and if you dont just remember that the stop button is below it you will get your chip filled up with car noise for the rest of the trip. The erase button is another problem, it does not erase. You press it and it asks yes or no, it takes 2 other buttons to actually erase one message. You should be able to hold the button for 2 seconds to erase a message or this could have been another button setup option based on the preferencs of the user. Also they could have easily created an unerase function, I dont know the technical setup but it seems they could have setup 10 registers, stored the last 10 deleted messages, location,length, then someone could try to undelete a message, the unit checks the first byte of the location to see if it has been overwritten, if not then it can be restored, if it has been overwritten then too bad, remove if from the list. That is an ultra easy implementation that could have been programmed in an afternoon by an assistant. The unit has a bunch of features that I do not need and the manual was not clear if there was some limit on the number of messages/size per folder so I am not sure if I can get the full benefits or 4hr time using just one folder. I never thought I needed 4 hours but now that I have it I realize it will be nice and maybe even more time would be good for long weekends or for special projects where I need a lot of notes written later. Also it will be good for lectures, easily recording a 1 or 2 hr lecture. It also looks like a tiny cellphone so you are not as strange looking when talking into it although it does look like you are talking into the antenna end. Also when reading the online description it said it was pc compatible, it is not. You have to purchase a special version for the pc compatibility. No idea why they would make that claim and then offer a different version in the stores. If you need to get a file to pc you can use the ear jack out to your sound card to record. I will still use it but have learned enough to pick something different next time(if I can find anything that was actually tested before going to market).


Rating:
Summary: a real pain to delete messages
Review: Olympus really blew it this time!
On their previous digital recorder, you pressed the delete button, to delete a message, during or after it played. Now, you can only delete it AFTER it plays, and it requires pressing THREE DIFFERENT BUTTONS to delete one message.
I often record and/or review and delete messages while I'm driving. This new deleting method makes it impossible, without taking your eyes off the road. I hope Olympus realizes this was a REALLY BAD IDEA!

Rating:
Summary: better than a pen and paper to take thoughts and itinerary
Review: The reason it takes 3 button clicks (aprox. 3 secs) to delete a message is probably to avoid accidentally deleting a message. I love this thing, especially if you're in some sort of management or operations position and you have a lot things on your mind.