Product Review: I ordered one of these digital memory stick recorders some weeks ago, and found it so useful I've recently ordered another for a colleague. Delivery was prompt on both orders, and well packaged.
The recording range of the device is much as described; it won't pick up every question from a large meeting or lecture, but it will faithfully record everything inside a distance of around 20 feet or just over. Playback is good, and voices are easily recognisable. It's ideal for smaller meetings, group and office meetings, interviews, and appointments with awkward people that you may have to keep a record of. I am very pleased with this device, and considering the price it is very good value.
As regards the playback, if you have Windows auto-play enabled it should pose no problems, and will offer to play your files in Windows Media Player just after plugging in the device. If you have auto-play disabled for security reasons, you need to go to My Computer (or it's equivalent) to view the drive.
You may see two drives representing the device. One will be Ultra Disk, which contains the programs embedded in the device, and the other will just look like a normal USB memory stick. Open the latter to find the recorded files in a folder called REC_DATA, and just double-click them to play in Media Player or whatever you play WAV files with.
Files can be moved, copied, or deleted in the normal manner, or converted to another format if required.
The VoiceMemoPlayer.exe on the Ultra Disk can also be used to play your recordings, copy them by copy and paste, and delete them when no longer required. The Audacity program included on the disk or downloaded from this site allows you to trim and play around with your files. I haven't tried all the options yet but it looks interesting.
Some people, like me, will use Linux. I have had no problem with several modern Linux distros, which see the digital recorder for what it is in much the same manner as described above for Windows. So far I've used PClinuxOS 2007 and 2009 and 2010 successfully, and two or three versions of Ubuntu, including the latest 10.04. You may need to try one or two different Linux apps. to see which plays your WAV files best.
So, all in all a good little device at a bargain price. Keep it charged up and it will do hours and hours of recordings on up to a couple of hundred files, it starts a different file every time you switch off and on again. Not that you need this number; I clear it every couple of days by deleting all the the files in REC_DATA and starting afresh.
If it lasts the year of its guarantee it will have been a very useful device for only 50p a week!
One last caution, it's easy for the recorder to slip out of a shirt pocket if you bend down. To prevent this, a short bit of fishing line or thread or plasticised wire to tie it to your shirt-pocket button-hole keeps it inside and secure.
Reviewer Name: Anonnymouse.
Review Date: Sun, 2 May 2010 14:39
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