RCA RP5015 Digital Voice Recorder

I'm an avid user of the RP5012 that was the precursor to this model.

RCA RP5012 16MB Digital Voice Recorder

I love the 5012, where the keys go, how it just works for short snippets. Then I decided to 'upgrade' to this model-5015. Big mistake.

1. The screen freezes intermittently. You think it's doing nothing, but it is, just not showing you what it's doing. Then you gotta reset.

2. If you swap batteries it'll not destroy your data (thank heavens) but you'll lose all your settings. Budget 20 clicks for setting the time again, turning off the tone, etc.

3. I've had it lose data one me on one occasion. Could never replicate what happened. I went to bed with 30 items, woke up to find it empty. Battery was fine, etc.

4. Towards the end of a battery cycle it'll stop recording a few seconds after I hit record. So there I think I'm recording stuff, and I'm talking to an inert box of plastic.

All this used to work in the previous model. How the heck did you manage to screw up so badly, RCA?! I loved that the 5012 was reliable. If it didn't have battery you knew, if it did then it did the job. This one keeps finding insidious ways to betray me.