Sony ICDB16 Digital Voice Recorder

Rating:
Summary: Amazing microphone, Great storage capacity!
Review: This voice recorder is quite a good value and easy to use. The microphone picks up far away voices very well. I used it in samll classrooms in college to large auditoriums and it picked up everything the professors said. The capacity is amzing, with 6 hours recording time at the best quality (SP) and I think over 8 hours with the lower quality sound option (LP). I did not heed the other guest's comments, and neither should anyone else, as it is quite obvious he has no idea what he is talking about. The vast majority of voice recorders do NOT have USB ports, the main reason to use them is that you don't need to use microcasettes which are annoying to rewind and playback and degrade in quality after each use. Also, it does not need an off button as it has no moving parts and only the simple LED display is powered constantly (which uses an extremely tiny amount of power). I imagine the guest who complained about that refuses to wear a digital watch as they also don't turn off. :) The battery cover has yet to give me any problems. Which reminds me, the recorder comes with 2 AAA batteries included for free. Great deal!

Rating:
Summary: No USB port or off-button, and battery pannel is flimsy
Review: When I bought this item I didn't notice it doesn't have a USB port; I thought all digital voice recorders have a USB port to transfer recordings to a computer for storage. Without a USB port, devices like these are almost useless. The battery panel is flimsy and does not create a tight fit when the batteries are in place. There is no "off button". I will be returning this item.