If you're serious enough about digital voice recorders to spend $250 or more, this is the one you should spend it on. I think Olympus beats Sony hands down in the ANALOG (microcassette) recorder department, but when it comes to digital, the exact opposite is true. I bought the MS1 (the one that is sold without the voice recognition software, for $50 less) after returning an Olympus DS2000, which cost the same. The DS was noisy, and the speaker was weak. The MS1 is strong and very clear in its output and has a surprisingly powerful speaker. In short it makes the DS2000 seem like a $30 cassette recorder, no kidding.The MS1 also feels sturdy and well made, has a backlit display and easy to understand controls (at least to me, but then I'm a gadget nut).
There are two things, however, that can be considered shortcomings. One is that there is no way to directly connect this unit to a PC. That's understandable though, because with the memory stick, I'm sure Sony would rather sell me a reader to interface with a PC. Still, I wish they had made that capability. Two, this unit eats batteries like they're bonbons! This is probably due to the powerful speaker and the backlit display, but still, I'd highly recommend rechargeable batteries.
Overall, I don't think you can spend a better $250 on a digital recorder.
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