Sony ICD-PX820D Digital Voice Recorder with Built-In 2 GB Flash Memory - Includes Digital Voice Edi

BEFORE you buy this, know this....If you are interested in the included Dragon NaturallySpeaking v10 R.E. voice to print software (this recorder model is more expensive because it includes this PC/Mac software) BE CAREFUL....I was interested in this capability, & was willing to pay the higher cost for it....But I emailed & called Nuance Company (maker of Digital Naturally Speaking v10 R.E. voice to print software) to ask about Mac compatibility before i made the purchase......they both referred me to Sony....apparently the R.E. means "Recorder Edition"....apparently this "D" model audio recorder has a Sony-modified version of the Nuance Dragon software....However, THIS VOICE to PRINT SOFTWARE IS NOT MAC COMPATIBLE (only for PCs)....the only aspect of the Recorder that IS Mac compatible, is the ability to connect the recorder to a Mac via USB, & be able to PLAY the MP3 audio files on your computer...Several places on the package it sez "PC/Mac compatible"...SO, if you want to have Mac software transcribe your audio text to a written script, YOU DON'T WANT THIS particular recorder...the Sony ICD-PX820 (about 1/2 the price of the "D" model) will work fine on your Mac, if all you need is to listen to your audio files.....you will have to purchase additional Mac software, if you want software to automatically transcribe audio files to text...BEWARE...this recorder creates MP3 audio files...if you want to transcribe your audio recordings to written script, make sure the software you purchase can process MP3 files....for example, the Nuance Mac-compatible scribing software, "MacSpeech Scribe", only transcribes MP4 files...this is from their website: "MacSpeech Scribe is versatile; it easily allows transcription from spoken-word audio recordings made on Mac, iPhone and digital recorders, and supports a variety of audio file formats, including .wav, .aif, .aiff, .m4v, .mp4, and .m4a......so JUST BE AWARE, BEFORE YOU BUY...!!

I bought this little gem to record ideas and notes while on the go. It is designed specifically for this task and it does it very well. Being designed by Sony never hurts either. I have always admired Sony electronics.

Features I found useful:

1) Pause and resume recording

2) Listen to recordings at faster speed than recorded

3) I can attach an external mic with 3.5mm jack

4) Audio out 3.5 mm jack

5) Device lock

6) You can use it as a 2GB flash drive if you want or you can use some of it and leave the rest for audio recordings. In other words, when attached to my computer via mini USB cable, it allows direct access to its memory area by showing up as a disk drive on my PC.

Annoyances:

1) If I forget to lock the device and it is in my pocket, any accidental touch or push starts playing back the last recording (barely escaped a couple of embarrassing moments)

2) Battery lasts too long

Ok. Just kidding. That's actually a plus.

I have not tried the bundled voice recognition software thoroughly but I did test it to see if it would take recording directly from the recorder and convert them into text and it does. To get more accurate results you have to train Dragon NaturallySpeaking to your speaking style.

Great little recorder and very good at what it is designed for. Good job Sony.

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The recorder is great even though it feels too light and flimsy. I've only had it for a couple days though; time will truly tell. The Dragon NaturallySpeaking however is another story. It took awhile going through the help sections for me to get it to transcribe after doing their steps for a new voice as there is NO paperwork/manual/how to anything that comes with the software. Also, don't expect it to be efficient enough, at least in the beginning, to transcribe accurately. On my voice, it gets around 65-80% of what I have said. I got the packaged product to record and transcribe lectures, obviously on a voice the software doesn't know, and using the parameters set for my own voice tried to transcribe the lecture recordings. It's almost hilarious how badly the software did, around 20-30% of what the prof said came through on the transcription--basically useless. I am going to keep trying and see if the software "learns" to get better...we shall see.

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Very good experience with vendor.

I will need to spend more effort to teach it my voice, but I expect the software to be successful someday.

Presently, when I carry the recorder in my shirt pocket while I dictate to the recorder, the Dragon software hears my breathing and transcribes a page of mostly: "him him him him ..."

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I bought this thing about 3 months ago, and have used it 5 times. It just quit working. New batteries, but no use it won't turn on.

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