Olympus V-90 Digital Voice Recorder

Having read the previous comment on poor sound quality I must write in I have found the sound quality on the v-90 more than adequate. I frequently use the v-90 for recording a class and every voice in the discussion is understandable. And my most common use for it, taking personal notes, I speak directly into the microphone and for that the sound quality is excellent. I find it hard to believe that someone could not understand what they were saying into a v-90.

Also, I must say that the voice operated recording is quite good, unlike many voice operated recorders the first part of a recording is not cut out due to a delay in starting to record. I keep my v-90 atttached to my pants on a carabiner and in my pocket and with me at all times.

Please bear in mind that this is not a personal audio player, if you want that get a recordable mp3 player, for it's purpose recording personal notes, reminders, lectures, meetings, thoughts, etc it does marvelously.

This recorder is my second digital recorder and is twice as good as the previous one at half the price. This unit records exceptionally well in the shorter 33 minute mode, though I have to use headphones to understand the 90 minute mode. A 60 minute mode would have been a good compromise.

The voice activiation is so good that a series of comments when played back sound like an uninterrupted sentence. In the high sensitivity mode I can record someone talking in a quiet room from over 12 feet away. It is so small that one can put it in a shirt pocket and record a coversation. The unit does not have a carrying case, so I use a knife sheath that attaches to my belt. This way I always have it when needed. The V90 has the ability to record a message with a playback alarm that goes off at a certain time of the day. It cannot record a bunch of messages with varying playback times. That would be a useful feature. Expect to see the price of these units drop as technology improves. As far as improvements, I would like to see a unit that records on command such as "V90..record" and it would say "Recording" and then you would record until you say "end recording". Then you could also command it to "set playback for May 21 at 10 PM"

Maybe someday.

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It's just the right size. It fits in either my left or right hand well (the left a little better). It is convient to use. I like skipping past messages easily & quickly; something you couldn't do with a microcassette recorder. And, it is alot easier to record thoughts during the commute to/from work than the memo pads I've seen that people have attached to their dashboards.

Will it replace a cassette recorder or microcassette recorder for recording lectures or meetings? No. Based on the design of the product, that was and is not it's purpose.

A great product! I carry it with me everywhere.

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This recorder is an excellent piece of electronics. It is easy to use, and has some handy features such as pause (while recording in the same message), fast playback, hold (to prevent inadvertant button operation), and forward or back skip. Holding in the stop key allows one to see how much recording time is left. The erase button is indented to avoid accidents, and the user is prompted to confirm any erasures with a second press.

Voice quality is great in 33 minute mode. I frequently use mine in the car with the radio on and get excellent results. In 90 min mode, however, a deep voice is hard to make out clearly (I agree with the reviewer below: a 60 min. mode would have been a good compromise).

I've used mine daily for 3 months to make brief notes. I had to change the AAA battery for the first time only recently. It gave a low battery signal and saved all my messages while I replaced the battery.

It is small enough (4.5") that I keep mine in my front pocket at all times, with the strap hanging out so I can whip it out quickly. It is very well designed and easy to operate. I have not used other digital recorders, but compared to the many microcassette recorders I've put up with, this thing is fantastic!

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I just picked this up on a whim at a different store. They have a 90 day return policy.

Without cracking the book I understood how to record,playback, change quality settings, set the clock etc. Very easy to understand the basic functions. Read the 25 page manual to get the advanced tips and features.

I found the long play mode to be difficult to listen to. I could understand myself, especially if I spoke right into the microphone, but it was tedious listening. The 33 minute mode sounded just fine.

I really like the voice activated recording. It turns off after 1 second of silence and reactivates instantly. It never cut off the beginning of a sentence very nifty. This results in your 33 minutes capturing quite a bit of information since silent spots are 1 second max.

Use the "Hold" button to avoid the problems some of the reviewers have mentioned about accidental recording. Their VCR's are probably blinking 12:00 right now. It's hard for me to understand how anyone could have that problem.

Functionally it really only has 2 folders to store regular messages because the the third folder "S" is intended for scheduled messages. You can still use it like the other two folders, but it only holds 15 messages per day and is not quite as easy to navigate.

It's a little small for my hand. A rectangular shape would probably fit me better, but it's really not an issue.

I still may take it back if I find a unit with better quality long play sound but this unit does what it's supposed to do.

It's cool looking...a real conversation starter, and small enough to tuck in any pant or shirt pocket. You'll keep it with you, but you might forget it's there :-)