Recently I wrote about my new Flip Ultra HD video camera, and that while I love many things about it, the lack of an external mic jack and the zoom features were issues for me. Another bit of technology I recently bought is the Olympus DM-420 digital voice recorder, and I have to say I have yet to find something I don’t like about it!
In my work as an equine industry writer, I need to capture quotes and information accurately. While I do a good job at typing notes, sometimes I’m not at my laptop, and sometimes interview sources talkreallyreallyfast. In those situations, it’s especially handy to have a recording option. I’ve used mini-cassette recorders, but all those tapes take up space and frankly, who wants to keep track of them anyway? Not to mention the quality was often fuzzy.
My new Olympus recorder is about the size of a candy bar (see pic), works on two rechargeable AA batteries with over 50 hours of battery life, and has 2 GB of memory on a removable microSD media card, capable of 533 hours of recording. Sweet! It’s pretty easy to figure out functions, even if you don’t look through the owner’s manual. The sound quality is clear – I’ve recorded interviews over my mobile phone’s speaker, and the clarity is great.
That is a normal sized clothespin - yes, the recorder is THAT small.
My favorite feature? The British lady’s voice that indicates the battery strength level every time I turn the recorder on – always good to know how much juice you have! ‘Battery level, high.’ OK, it’s a bit geeky, but I’m always amused, and reassured, by it. I got mine at a local Best Buy, but you can find them for about $50 cheaper on amazon.com. In either case, the price is right – $100-$150, depending on where you get yours.
Bottom line – if you need a recording option, I think this one is a winner. Tune in again, I’ll put together some ideas for ways that equine businesses can use this handy-dandy little item. If you have some suggestions, please post them here in the Comments.
