Product Description

No matter where you are, the VN-960PC is a reliable companion. It ensures your notes and ideas won't be lost forever. A fast USB connection allows for hassle-free downloading of files to a PC for archiving or further processing. Its handy scheduler function with alarm facility also helps you manage your time more effectively. This digital voice recorder provides capacity for more than 16 hours of recordings and stores up to 100 files in each of its four folders for easy organization.

Product Details

• Brand: Olympus
• Model: VN-960PC
• Dimensions: 2.00" h x 6.00" w x 10.00" l, 9999.00 pounds

Features

• 16 hours recording time
• PC compatible through direct USB PC link
• Three recording modes with four folders
• Fast/slow playback with jog-dial navigation
• 25 hours of recording/play on 2 AAA batteries (included)

Customer Reviews

Works great
This recorder works great. Its easy to use, sound quality is good, and the low/high microphone sensitivity feature is great for cutting out background noise for dictation or when you're recording a very close-up or loud speaker. Sounds great in both HQ and SP mode, and has enough memory to record all day long. My favorite feature is the USB upload. Its fast, and worked for me the first time without any problems.

The only problem, is that amazon claims it comes with headphones. It does not. It also claims it comes with a microphone, and I guess it does, but its just the built in one. It does, however, have jacks for both headphones and an external mic, which I assume would increase recording quality even more.

This is one 'Happy Purchase' we made... please read why!
We didn't buy this to record lectures and stuff but we bought it to record our little girl's baby talk :-) We couldn't be happier. I wish we had it when our boy was little.

Olympus VN-960PC is an exceptionally well made device. Very easy to use. Buttons are positioned wisely. The recording quality is wonderful (even from under the blankey!). Each piece of recording is labeled seperately so there is no chance of 'recording over' like in an audio cassette.

The recording format is WAV. It can simply be transferred and played on any CD player (or can be converted to MP3 with appropriate third party software). We made our parents very happy (who live thousands of miles away from us) by sending them the baby's voices on CD (because it is difficult to get even a coo out of her over phone!!)

This voice recorder delivered exactly what we bought it for, hence the 5 starts!

It could have had an AC adapter, but that's no reason to frown upon. Good battery life. I have rechargable 900 mAH batteries which practically run endlessly. The recorder could have come with ear phones, but then again I am sure most of us have spare pairs at home.

Last but not least - Amazon.com's price and service was UNBEATABLE! I bought it with free super saver shipping and received in 2 days!

Can't beat it for the price
This is GREAT. I really am impressed with this device and happy I bought it over other models. It is really refreshing, after coming across so many crappy items out there, to find something of quality for a good price.

Battery life is impressive. LOVE the ability to transfer to computer (and subsequently, to iPod, or whatever). The software, as others have said, is not the greatest, however I find it to be quite adequate and haven't had any problems. What I like is this isn't one of those devices that forces you to only use its own particular format that isn't compatible with anything else. You download the files in .WAV format and you can access the files with other software easily (like Audacity, free audio editing software for optimization or cutting out silences or whatnot). So even if you do not like the software, you are not limited to it (though I'm not sure if other software can be used for downloading the files).

The biggest dislike I have (which is a very minor gripe) is there's no PAUSE button. If the class has a break and you don't want to record noise during the break, you have to create 2 separate files. The upside though, is that these 2 files can be put together into one file with other software such as Audacity (which is free).

One thing I wish it could do, though, is UPload files to the recorder... It does not work like a USB drive. Backlit display would also be nice, but for a student like myself recording classroom lectures, this isn't an issue at all. I will not be taking this camping in the woods -- and if I was, I'd have a flashlight.

Recording ability is clear, though not perfect. But for the price I do not think it can be beat. I only use HQ (high quality) mode when recording which is fine (even though HQ mode takes up the most storage space) because I can empty the files onto my HD. It has enough storage space to handle plenty of classroom lecture recordings without having to download & delete the files every day to create space.

I do NOT recommend using the voice-activated recording feature if you are in a classroom. That feature really only should be used when you are dictating directly into it. If the audio source being recorded is too far away (ie across a classroom), it doesn't work very well. But usually it works just fine to record the entire time because the instructor is talking most of the time -- again, not an issue at all, but thought I'd mention it in case some might care.

I like the multiple folders a lot, and the little separate 'Schedule' folder is nice if you use that, though I do not. I also like that several accessories are included (line-in audio cable, USB cable, software, and one or two more little cables somewhere that I haven't used....).

'Line in' feature allows you to hook it up to a cassette adapter and listen to it in your car if you wish, which is really nice. Or there is a speakerphone on it, which works well. It also has a mic jack if you want to use a better mic, although the mic included in the device is good enough for me.

Overall if you are one of the many budget-minded students wanting to record lectures, I highly, highly recommend this recorder.