Rating: 
Summary: Go Completely Digital! How Exhilarating!
Review: It took me a while to get accustomed to the controls, but now I love it!The unit, which looks like a little high-tech microphone, has three buttons on the face to "record," "stop," and "erase." The Olympus numbers the entries as you input them; but when you hit the "play" button on the side, it plays -- not all of the messages in order (as I would expect) -- but just the most recently recorded message only. (The designers must've assumed that someone giving dictation would want to hear their last message before continuing.) To hear the first message (and all of the entries in turn), it's necessary to hit "rewind" before pressing "play"; but since the buttons are rather small, this can be a little difficult to accomplish while driving. I've consequently found it best to only record messages while driving -- and restricting all of my playback (of messages) to times when I'm stationary. I'll normally do this once I reach my destination (be it work or home) where I'll listen to the message (the most recent one first); "write" it down in my Palm; erase it; and repeat these steps until I reach the end. The best thing about the Olympus (besides its relatively clear digital sound) is its small size. It fits easily into a cubby in my car's dash; and I carry it at work in a small accessory pocket located down the leg of my Levi's media-friendly Dockers, (which have hidden cargo pockets to hold stuff like PDA's, MP3's -- and, of course, voice recorders. Cool!) With my Olympus DW-90 Digital Voice Recorder -- and my PDA (Palm) -- I've managed to go completely digital. (No more written messages for me, thank you!) And it feels great!
Rating:
Summary: Better as a 30 min, recorder.
Review: Overall, a good recorder. But for practical purposes this product can really only be used as a 30 min. recorder. The long play mode, which allows for 90 min. of recording time, is really not that great. The recorded sound in this mode is so poor that it is difficult to comprehend even if it was simple dictation. All the other modes of recording do so with very good fidelity.
Rating:
Summary: For the price it *IS* worth it.
Review: Straight off the bat -- the sound quality of the unit's HQ and SP modes are excellent. Just keep in mind that you only get 22 and 33 mins of recording time for each respectively. The 90 minute recording time boasted on the packaging refers to the unit's LP recording time. Now, it seems like everyone is complaining about how bad the LP mode is.... The biggest thing everyone needs to keep in mind when purchasing this (or any digital player) is that LP (long-playing) recording mode is *NOT* good quality, but it IS decipherable! And for my use, recording client meeting conversations, that's all I need a voice recorder for. I don't care how good his voice sounds, as long as it is decipherable. To better articulate my impression on how "bad" is "not good", it will actually take some _work_ to decipher an LP recording -- at times, you may find yourself pressing the unit to your ear or turning up the volume a little louder just to figure out exactly what the person just said. But the overall conversation is still "clear". Just keep the above in mind, and you'll be a very happy customer. The unit is light, small, has a clean-looking design, controls are intuitive, microphone stand is useful, handstrap is sturdy -- this thing is great. I haven't run into any of the problems the above people had (i.e. software *does* work for me past 7 seconds). Also, at least in my hometown area, this is the cheapest unit that provided the quality of a digital voice recorder PLUS the USB connection to allow me to save my recordings for archiving. ... Even Sony's ... unit didn't offer a PC link! I do not understand the use of a voice recorder if I cannot save my conversations for the long-term -- ie, what if I dropped the unit and the batteries fell out by accident? Would all my recordings erase? Thankfully, the DW-90 provides us a PC Link to prevent this potential disaster. And another thing, the VCVA (Variable Control Voice Actuator) Option is FANTASTIC! For those of you who don't know what this is, when VCVA is enabled (the unit gives you the option, very nice) when the REC button is pressed to start recording, the unit immediately samples the volume of the sound level in the room. Using this measurement, the unit begins recording *ONLY* when the sound level raises higher than this initial measurement, which is when someone is speaking. And when the speaking has stopped, the unit senses the drop in volume level and automatically pauses recording until conversation resumes. So basically, the unit will automatically pause recording when it senses the conversation has paused, and automatically resume when the conversation resumes! This is allows for truly "hands-free" recording. This feature is truly spectactular and very useful in conserving recording time. Good luck, buyers!
Rating:
Summary: Great, but limited capacity
Review: This is a great recorder, but the capacity is somewhat limited. The other reviewers are right that the lowest quality setting is almost unusable. There, is, however, a DW-180 model that is not that much more expensive. I assume Amazon will get it sooner or later (if they don't have it already). The best feature of this recorder, aside from its small size, is the automatic date and time-stamp feature. A lot of recorders have this, but then again a lot don't. It really makes all the difference.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Value
Review: This is a great, simple digital recorder. It is small, light and fairly durable. The companion desk top software is simple, useful and reliable. I use this recorder to keep track of what I do all day. I merely make a recording and it keeps track of the date and time. I then transfer the wav files to my PC in the evening. I listen to the files and write it down in the evening. That way I can accurately keep track of what time I spend on each matter (I bill for my time) during the day. My bills are accurate even when I can't write it down at the end of every day. Only demerit it gets is the relatively short recording time at high quality.
Rating: 
Summary: Very impressive
Review: Wife wanted me to get a device that would capture the chatter of our 20 month old for posterity. Being a visor fan, tried the voice module for it and was VERY disappointed with the inconvenience of the device. Sold it and tried this unit. The sound quality is very good but the real clincher is the ease of operation, which is everything for such a device. It records, plays back, and erases with ease, but the real surprise comes with the interface with the PC. You can set the options to automatically extract the files from the device onto the PC by simply plugging in the included USB cable. Simple Simple Simple. The unit will also act as a PC direct recording device so I can sit here in my family room, point the microphone at the kids and record directly onto the PC. I can name the wav file and store it as I please. The files can be emailed as any other media files. Wish the PC software had clipping capabilities. Very happy with the unit. Microphone has adjustable sensitivity that is very effective.
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