Panasonic RR-QR80 Tapeless Digital Audio Recorder

Rating:
Summary: Very Small And Light
Review: First, if you're perusing these reviews because you're switching from a micro cassette recorder, you're in for a treat. While you can't take the tape out and hand it to someone, the advantages of digital are too numerous to mention here. My favorite is the ability to playback or erase individual notes without having to search the tape to find them.

Anyway, as for this unit: I was looking for something easy to use, [price], decent sound quality, small, and good reviews. While it does take awhile to decipher the instructions, the RR-QR80 is relatively easy to use, and I especially like the fact that the two major buttons are Record and Stop. Let's face it, these are the buttons you want to get to fast. You press and hold the Record button for about a second to pause, but I wish you could just click once to pause, then click again to resume. Playback is easy, but all the secondary buttons, including the Erase button, are quite small but have a solid feel. The Hold button feels secure and is easy to use. I've seen some small units where you need to use your fingernail to move the Hold button.

I got my unit refubished from Sunshinelect, so the price was right, and the unit was shipped the following business day. Excellent! However, you have to wonder why there are so many "refurbished" RR-QR80s out there. One can only hope there was some inherent problem with this unit that Panasonic fixed. So far so good.

Sound quality changes with record mode. HQ will only record for 15 minutes, but sound quality is outstanding. Standard mode will record for 30 minutes, and quality is more than adequate. LP mode will record 60 minutes, and is okay but not great. Let's face it, your not going to be recording live concerts with this thing. Also, the mic level is adjustable, and set to High will record voices from a distance accurately.

Size is where this unit really shines. It's the size of a business card/credit card and <.5" thick. It fits easily in a pocket, but if it finds its way to the bottom of your purse you may forget what you wanted to record by the time you find it.

Anyway, I write two newspaper columns and needed something to record fleeting thoughts, and wanted something small enough that I wouldn't hesitate to carry around. So, this unit works perfectly for me. However, if you intend to record lectures or lengthy notations, a unit with more memory and a "real" fast forward and rewind might be a better choice (this one will cue and review, but it's choppy).

Rating:
Summary: Very Small And Light
Review: First, if you're perusing these reviews because you're switching from a micro cassette recorder, you're in for a treat. While you can't take the tape out and hand it to someone, the advantages of digital are too numerous to mention here. My favorite is the ability to playback or erase individual notes without having to search the tape to find them.

Anyway, as for this unit: I was looking for something easy to use, [price], decent sound quality, small, and good reviews. While it does take awhile to decipher the instructions, the RR-QR80 is relatively easy to use, and I especially like the fact that the two major buttons are Record and Stop. Let's face it, these are the buttons you want to get to fast. You press and hold the Record button for about a second to pause, but I wish you could just click once to pause, then click again to resume. Playback is easy, but all the secondary buttons, including the Erase button, are quite small but have a solid feel. The Hold button feels secure and is easy to use. I've seen some small units where you need to use your fingernail to move the Hold button.

I got my unit refubished from Sunshinelect, so the price was right, and the unit was shipped the following business day. Excellent! However, you have to wonder why there are so many "refurbished" RR-QR80s out there. One can only hope there was some inherent problem with this unit that Panasonic fixed. So far so good.

Sound quality changes with record mode. HQ will only record for 15 minutes, but sound quality is outstanding. Standard mode will record for 30 minutes, and quality is more than adequate. LP mode will record 60 minutes, and is okay but not great. Let's face it, your not going to be recording live concerts with this thing. Also, the mic level is adjustable, and set to High will record voices from a distance accurately.

Size is where this unit really shines. It's the size of a business card/credit card and <.5" thick. It fits easily in a pocket, but if it finds its way to the bottom of your purse you may forget what you wanted to record by the time you find it.

Anyway, I write two newspaper columns and needed something to record fleeting thoughts, and wanted something small enough that I wouldn't hesitate to carry around. So, this unit works perfectly for me. However, if you intend to record lectures or lengthy notations, a unit with more memory and a "real" fast forward and rewind might be a better choice (this one will cue and review, but it's choppy).

Rating:
Summary: Useful, Well Designed
Review: Good recording quality for microphone. Good playback voice quality for speaker. Voice clearly legible in all modes (15, 30, 60). Easy to use. Small, easily fits in shirt or pants pocket. Has advanced features, but most users will be happy just using the basic features.

Rating:
Summary: 100% Perfect!
Review: I don't have to purchase another digital audio recorder in order to compare and find the "better" brand. There is nothing better than this one! If you are in a professional business, needing to store all your data and dictations, this is the one for you! Get rid of wasted space easy with the "divide" method. Don't worry about your voice sounding garbled. This recorder, with all Panasonic digital recorders I'm sure, has such clarity that you will think you are hearing it "live"!
And if you are a ghosthunter, as I am, in search of the perfect device to capture EVP, this is SURELY the recorder for you, as well! The very first time I used this recorder, I captured my very first EVP! It was so crisp and clear, that after I heard it, I knew that I had purchased the BEST recorder for EVP. I had been recommended the use of Panasonic digital recorders before I bought this one, and it's the best advice I've ever accepted from someone. This model, to my knowledge, has been discontinued, but I strongly suggest ANY of the Panasonic digital recorders for ANY type of office voice dictation and for those who are beginning their search for paranormal sounds. Thanks to Panasonic for giving me something unique to discover, and I know their work will get even better!!!! Two thumbs up on this product!!

Rating:
Summary: Panasonic Hand Held Tapeless Digital Recorder
Review: I received the digital recorder of a gift and its very good for discussions and also fun just to play around with. It has some very cool function and a fast and slow mode. It has a good amount of memory, but that's about the only bad thing. It fills up pretty fast if your recording something thats very long. It has great sound and is perfect size to fit in your back pocket. All in all its a great digital recorder for the price.

Rating:
Summary: Shame it's discontinued
Review: I've had two of these. Perfect size and layout, work well. thought I lost one when I jumped in a swimming pool with it in my pocket and it filled with water, but after letting it air out for 3 weeks it worked fine.
For a while they were improving them, cutting the price, upping the memory then for some reason Panasonic discontinued them, the new ones are way too big.
After thousands of hours of use, one basically lost most of its memory - it can hold only about 4 minutes of notes now. The other one (the wet one) looks totally beat up and has lost its screen coating-no more display :( But it still works perfectly!
Operational problems: One is that the hold button can be accidently released in your pocket and then you find you have 20 minutes of ambient pocket noise and a full recorder. this happens at least once a week. Also, they can get confused somehow and you'll see the display all wierd with no way to fix it, you need to remove and replace the batteries to recover, but that's no problem really, you don't lose your notes.

Rating:
Summary: Great Sound
Review: If you use digital voice recorders a lot, you'll find that sound quality really makes a difference. The Panasonic RR-QR80 has the best sound on the market. I've tried recorders from Sony and Olympus and it beats them hands down. Some of the switches are a little fussy, but that is a small price to pay.

Rating:
Summary: Sweet Gadget
Review: This is the best value in digital voice recorders.

The sound quality of all the Panasonics is the best of all other brands that I have tried. The mic does not have to be pointed in the direction of your subject to get a clear recording. There is also an input for an external mic and an output for headphones and... (I'll get to this in a second.)

Its dimensions are a tiny bit larger than a credit card. You can easily slip it in your front pocket. It's very slim and has a cool 1970's hi-fi look (if you can imagine). It feels very nice in your hand. Granted, I carry it around often. For some reason, I get my best ideas on airplanes.

Dictations are easily organized into folders by recording date. There is no rewinding or fast-forwarding here.

Back to the output jack... Since the files are digitized, it's easy to download them onto your PC if you have a sound editing application (ProTools, etc.). You will also need the appropriate cable, which is not a standard accessory for this item. This feature has proven handy for screenplay writing, especially for character development. It has been so much more helpful than carrying around a pad of paper to jot down those furtive ideas.

I have also purchased the RR-QR80 for my boyfriend and for my father. My boyfriend uses it for screenplay writing, as well. My father is an executive and carries it in his briefbag at all times.

There is only one drawback and that is the lack of memory. It would be nice to have the ability to record longer bits. But I suspect that as the technology develops, lack of memory will be a thing forgotten. Was that a pun?