OM Digital Solutions VN3100PC Digital Voice Recorder

I love this recorder. It's clarity at XHQ recording quality is exceptional. However the lower quality settings(HQ to LP) leave a little to be desired. A slight swimmy sort of noise is introduced at HQ level and increases as the quality setting decrements down to the lowest setting. If all that is needed is recognition of voice, then the lower quality settings are useable all the way down to the lowest setting(LP). The XHQ setting is very good for even music recording. And with 5+ hours of recording time at XHQ, it is all I need, so I never use the lower quality settings.The recording sensitivity is very good. I most always use the "HI" setting, but even at the "LO" setting you can still hear most sounds in a small room. Especially after downloading to a computer. Then the sound quality is greatly improved over the small built-in speaker. The speaker sound is very good as well.Another great feature is the "slow" and "fast" speed adjustment. There is NO shift in the sound frequency for either setting. If listening to music, there is absolutely no note-change at all. This is a rare but significant feature, as the voices(or music) sound completely natural with no change except for speed. Some devices that offer a stable frequency speed-change feature, also introduce a sort of clicking artifact that is anoying at best. The VN-3100PC does not have that problem. The resulting speed-changed audio(slow or fast) is as clear as the normal speed exhibits. Look around. Lesser recorders are listed at significantly higher prices.Rick

The quality isn't up to par for podcasting but if you need memos.. it's handy.. and the software keeps it all well organized.. if you have a newer ipod tho, you should make use of the [...]

Despite the Olympus web site showing a Mac symbol, there is no software available for download to a Mac. If you want to create audio files you need a friend with a PC.

Maybe I'm just dazzled by this DVR's compactness and overall quality of recording -- it is my first DVR, after all, and I'm seduced by how something so little can work so well. I can press Record, shove this little guy into the bottom of my jeans pocket, and walk around -- and capture everything said around me in probably a 15-foot radius. (If my jeans are loose, I do pick up a bit of rustling noise as the jeans rub against the unit. But it doesn't detract too much.) I primarily use this DVR when I'm taking lots of photos -- I record what each photo is about, so when I upload the photos to my computer later, I'm not scratching my head to remember. It's easier than writing down notes, especially when I'm in my car. My only complaint here is that s-sounds tend to come across harsh, even at the best recording quality.I wish this DVR was configured so that my computer could see it natively like it does my USB thumb drive. Since it doesn't work that way, you have to load some software that always runs in the background to recognize the DVR and transfer files. My chief complaint about this is that I already have five or six things always running in the background waiting for the infrequent times I need them, and I dislike adding any more programs to that list where they just consume memory. The software is easy enough to use, though. It plays the recordings efficently, but you can use any .wav player if you want. The software not only logs the date and time you transferred the file, but also the date and time you recorded the file, which I find very useful. The only way to access the recording date and time is through the bundled software, though; when you view the files through your operating system, they are stamped only with the date and time of transfer.

I too thought I had taken the CD out of the box, but must not have, even though I took everything out. I'm not even sure there was a CD with the drivers included in the package. I remember taking everything out but I don't remember a CD. So I go to the olympus website and there are no drivers available for download. Nor is there any windows support out of the box.I wrote to customer support, gave them my email on 2 occasions now and have yet to get a reply for over a month. I'm going to call soon. Lucky I only use it casually and there is plenty of storage on it. The sound quality is not that good and it doesn't pick up a good range in frequencies at all. If I had the chance I'd never have bought this one.

The built in microphone works awesome. I'm really happy with this purchase.