Product Review: Olympus VN Digital Voice Recorders
Good Recorders at Great Prices
There are numerous models in Olympus' VN line of digital voice recorders, but don't be intimidated. They really only differ in recording time and battery life. Also, there are PC and non-PC versions of each model. If you buy a PC version (which has "PC" in the name, as in "Olympus VN-4100PC"), you can hook the recorder up to your computer with a USB cable and save your recordings. This can be useful, but you will have to pay a little more money for this feature.
You can see the line-up of digital voice recorders at the Olympus Web site.
The longest recording time available now is 144 hours with the Olympus VN-4100, which should be more than enough for many people. That's equal to six days of non-stop recording. Olympus VN digital voice recorders also allow you to save your recordings in a few different virtual "folders" on the recorder for better organization.
However, a word of caution: the recorders offer a variety of quality settings, and the advertised time applies to the lowest-quality setting. If you change the settings to record at a better quality, you will have to sacrifice some of your recorder's maximum recording time.
Also, Olympus' suggested retail pricing can be confusing. For example, the VN-2000 records up to 33 hours of audio, and Olympus' suggested retail price is $49.99. Meanwhile, the VN-4100 records up to 144 hours -- more than four times more recording time -- and its suggested retail price is $39.99 -- $10 cheaper.
Why the difference? An Olympus customer service representative explained that it is mainly because of when the recorders were put on the market.
"The VN-2000 does not have any advantages over the VN-4100 recorder," the representative wrote. "The reason for the difference in retail prices is due to the difference in release dates. The VN-2000 was released well before the VN-4100 and therefore set a higher initial price point due to the technology involved in the recorder.
"The one advantage the VN-2000 has over the VN-4100 is longer battery life. The VN-4100 will last from 15-25 hours on one set of batteries while the VN-2000 will last up to 30 hours on one set of batteries."
But despite the small hurdles of figuring out recording time and pricing, buying an Olympus VN digital voice recorder is definitely worth the money. You'll get a small, tough recorder that is very reliable and very affordable.
Published by Matt Busse
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- Olympus: www.olympus.com
- Olympus VN digital voice recorders are tough, high-quality devices.
- Most are under $50.
5 Comments
Post a CommentTo Dad of a College Student: Recording in a classroom is no problem at all. Recording in an auditorium will be fine if the speakers in the auditorium broadcast the audio at a decent level. If the person talking is hard to hear or has no microphone, the student may have a harder time getting a good recording. I would suggest the student sit in one of the front rows for the best recording. At that distance it should be fine.
Can you note the ability/quality to record in a classroom or even an auditorium with normal background noise for use by college students. With the various ones out there, that would really help in the decision process.
To rintrah: As far as transferring files to your computer, I'd like to draw your attention to the second paragraph of the article, which addresses this. Concerning ease of use, intuitive controls, etc. -- in my experience low-cost recorders typically have the same controls and same level of ease-of-use. The more important factors typically are cost and recording time. In the Olympus line especially, that is what separates the models and it can be confusing to sort out. That is why I chose to focus on those aspects. That said, I genuinely appreciate your comments and will keep them in mind next time I write a review like this. If you have any more specific questions, feel free to send me a message and I will be happy to help you out.
this is my space page
This is most unhelpful. Aside from cost and recording length what else can you say?
I'm sorry but I would like to know about ease of use, intuitive controls, special features possibly style. Is it possible to transfer the files to my computer? How easy is this?
Very unhelpfyl.