A question for readers: Digital voice recorder for transcription?

Dan Gillmor is famous for his quote My readers know more than I do. I'd like to tap into my very smart bunch of subscribers and ask if you've any recommendations for digital voice recorders. For my birthday (44!) my family is buying me one for my use in capturing reading (see my post How to read a lot of books in a short time for the back story), so your thoughts would be very welcome! (I'm leaning towards the Olympus DS-2 or the Olympus WS-300M.)

P.S. Thanks to my well-wishers regarding my workshop. The second half today went great. Lots of questions, excitement about my tools "hall of fame" (low-, mid-, and high-tech examples), plus talk of files, the tickler, and managing reading. The applause was an unexpected treat! I'm running it again next week at another campus... Coming up: The Unofficial GTD Coaching Alliance!

Comments

[Robert]

I asked a similar question at my blog a while back. In the end, I ended up getting nothing, but I was leaning toward a cheap MP3 player that has voice recording as a secondary feature. The MP3 players have the right form factor and connectivity -- about the size/shape of a flash drive and the same USB connectivity -- and one with just enough memory for recording quick voice notes will run less than $50.

Permalinks:
http://www.castingoutnines.net/2006/09/15/digital-voice-recorders-anyone/

http://www.castingoutnines.net/2006/09/25/voice-recorder-update/

[Matthew Cornell]

Thanks very much for the pointer, Robert. I'll take a look.

[Hector]

-definately go for an mp3 player if you havent got one, otherwise you might wan to go for a pocket pc or palm with voice recording capability.. for that, even a phone whos ab le to do so would work. My main point is, simplify your pockets by reducing tha mouont of gadgets you are carrying around.

If you say you dont need to carry things around, then buy a cheap long cable extension and hookup a mic to the computer. It doesnt get cheaper than that :D

[Matthew Cornell]

Thanks, Hector. Hadn't thought about the music angle much, but you and Robert make good points.

[Eric Mack]

Matt, if auto transcription (e.g. Dragon Naturally Speaking) is on your radar, check out compatibility on the Nuance web site. I know that you could manually drag and drop files to the DNS software. Some players may integrate more tightly (e.g. with a "watch" directory and autosync.

I hope this helps.

Eric

[Eric Mack]

Again, not sure if you waant to use a product like Dragon;. If you do, their latest release is more mobile device friendly.

http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/professional/whatsnew.asp
I hope this helps.

Eric

[Matthew Cornell]

Thanks very much for your comments, Eric. I'll have a look. Recognition would be great!

[Matteo Cantamesse]

Hi.
I'm using Panasonic RR-US395...
Pro:
-long battery-life
-very good audio quality
-folder system, to keep audionotes organized
-instantly on
-usb connect
-light weight
Contro:
-not mp3 native recording: you have to export as mp3 from his sw suite

I hope it helps,

mc

[Matthew Cornell]

Thanks, Matteo. BTW, I like your questions about how digital technology can motivate and influence people.

[Matteo Cantamesse]

Are you speaking of my phd project ? :-)
Yep! It's interesting... For me, at least!

[Anonymous]

Olympus digital voice recorders are among the top of the performers as far as features and name brands that have a solid backing. Some of the newest digital voice recorders have advanced digital voice-operated recording, digital pitch control, stereo sound effects, and voice editing.

[ Digital Voice Recorder | http://www.jnc-usb-250-digital-voice.info ]

[Matthew Cornell]

Thanks for your comment, Anonymous.