Olympus VN-7200 Digital Voice Recorder

I was going to miss a few days of my Spanish class, so I needed an inexpensive recorder to have another student in the class record the lectures for me. I researched for hours trying to figure out what the best recording device would be for me within my budget. I was really torn between not having a usb connection versus one that does, just in case I would need to upload files later. I decided that probably won't be much of an issue for me, and went with this one, which I'm really glad I did. I figured if I really need to upload files later, I'll use my phone to record instead. It's a good size, comes with a soft case, easy enough for me to figure out how to use, and speaker playback is very clear and understandable. I also used it to record my music classes, which really came in handy. The battery life is good, been using it about 4-5 times a week for about 1-3 hours for a good two months and haven't had to change out the batteries yet. It also does a good job of picking up voices, while canceling out background noise. When I first received it, I tested it out by sticking it in my bag, and went out doing errands. Usually you'll hear the rustle and bustle of the bag and it's contents, but you can barely hear that in playback. My interactions with people/customers with sales clerks were clearly understandable, even though the recorder was in my bag. Although having no usb connection is a downside, it wasn't a requirement for me, so I don't mind it. One thing to note was that when you plug your headphones in, the sound only comes out on the left side of the headphones. I just put a two-way headphone adapter into the headphone plug and used two headphones. It may be silly to go through all the trouble, and there may be a simpler way to fix this problem... but again it works for me fine, so no matter. I only used headphones while on the bus, and honestly one side working didn't bother me much either. Serves it's purpose well, and didn't cost a whole lot. I'm not gonna throw a fit over it. I recommend it to others who also don't throw a fit easily, and find their own solution for small problems.

This is a pretty cheap digital voice recorder, but it has a lot of features and it's pretty small maybe 3" by 1-1/4 inch by not more then 1/2" thick. First off it's pretty easy to scroll through the menu's, theres a menu button and it lets you scroll through the options. There are a few options i didn't know, but i left them at the default. But the ones i knew, like mic hi low value, voice activated recording and settings like that were pretty easy to figure out, plus entering time date was easy as well. The mic is situated at the top so you can point it at your professor while it sits on your desk, the layout is good. Once you set your settings in menu, hit the stop menu it goes back out of the menu mode. Then just test it, push record, if it immediately flashes standby, means the level is too low and just click the up arrow a couple times and the level will go up and it will stay recording at that level. it does come with 2 AAA batteries, but would recommend you getting some rechargeables if you plan on using it for lectures everyday. Other then that, the value for the price is great, therefore the 5 stars. Great for students. Oh and it does have mic and earphone jacks, they sell a mini audio jack to usb, or just mini to mini and just plug it into your computer to save off recordings. There is no usb jack so you can't just save off recordings, which was one of the complaints, but there are work arounds. http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Dubbing-Android-Smartphone-Players/dp/B0047741BG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426361853&sr=8-2&keywords=audio+mini+jack+to+mini+jack Update1: My nephew just knocked my recorder into the dogs water bowl, it was in there for a good minute, totally submerged. I took the batteries out, but let it dry out a day, not taking it apart or anything, just left the battery portion open. The first day, still didn't work. But i put the recorder near an appliance that has warm air and put it next to the warm air for 24hours and guess what, i just put the batteries in and it still works. Plus it retained what was in the memory since it was digital, this thing is awesome.

This is a really good machine. I use it to record interviews for my school newspaper. It does a great job in canceling out background noises. You can't really connect it to a computer, so you should prepare to manage your recordings on the machine itself only. Battery life is incredible, still working after half a year on packaged set. When plugging in the earbuds sound only came out of one side which is sometimes a bit annoying, but without earbuds the recordings sound great. A nice feature this recorder has is that it allows you to mark certain spots in a recording for easier access. No need in rewinding or forwarding to find that crucial spot, get back to it with a click of a button. I also recorded a lecture once and it sounded pretty good. This is a good option if you don't want to edit recordings on computer or share them with lots of people. Great for personal use and easy to carry around.

In this day and age, this thing really should come with a USB port. Now I'm going to have to move over all the recordings manually with a line, second by second. And this from the company that made my now retired WS-100, which had now such problem. Quite the opposite, as there was not even need for a cable as the entire unit could just be shoved straight into the port. 8 years later and Olympus has gone BACKWARDS. Ridiculous.

This product met all my wants. It is small, light, with quality workmanship obvious. Easy to use and understand the instructions. Exactly what I wanted. I would buy other products from this company.

Hoy recibí el producto, hice una prueba de sonido y resultó tener una calidad aceptable para el precio. En cuanto a la potabilidad, es adecuada para llevarla a todos lados. Me gustó mucho.

hi, i purchased this product to gift my friend. i find the product very nice & user friendly. 1) very light weighted. 2) looks : good 3) few buttons but easy to use. 4) very clear & good quality low noise disturbance recording. i had a couple of issues that disappointmented me. 1) a PC connecting cable could have been provided with the recorder. 2) LCD could have had a low minimum illuminating feature ( suitable as not to exhaust away the battery power too much) 3) earphones also could have been provided with the recorder. but this product definitely deserves 5 stars. and i am satisfied with this & my friend who received my gift is delighted with the product too. i must say this indeed is a fantastic voice recorder from olympus. and happy that i purchased a branded quality product available for such a reasonable pocket friendly price on amazon via ibhejo. so go ahead with your purchase of this product if you are planning to buy a voice recorder. :)

small, efficient, easy to use.