Olympus VN-120 Digital Voice Recorder

I have to admit that this is the first Digital Voice Recorder I've ever owned so I am not an experienced reviewer. I did some research prior to purchasing it and pretty much decided this was the one I would start with based on price and features. While I would have preferred one a bit smaller, I'm really happy with this recorder. I have a pretty small hand and it almost fits into my palm. It does everything I need it to do. It has three "folders". I use one for making quick reminders, etc (that will be deleted later) for myself, the second for gift ideas for others, and the third for secret shopping.

I've used all three of the quality settings and prefer to use the best one as it picks up GREAT even in noisy areas. That makes the time to record less, but I don't use it for lectures or anything like that and have yet to fill it up (even when my 7-year-old nephew got his hands on it and recorded himself singing songs and telling stories during a road trip). I think in a quiet classroom you should be able to still get pretty good quality on the medium setting and prolong the time some.

I got very lucky and found the very one I wanted, clearanced out at Target when they updated the packaging for this model, so I got it for an amazing price of $20. MORE than worth the price I paid. The only thing now is that now I REALLY would like to have the PC model that plugs into your computer (VN 240 PC) so you can save your recordings. Now that my niece and nephew have played with it, I want to save some of what they said to play for them when they "grow up". However, that model runs a bit more than I was prepared to pay, so for the money, this one is awesome.

I recommend this model if you are looking for an affordable but quality digital recorder that doesn't have to be "spy sized" or connect to your PC. I'm very happy with it myself.

The VN-120 works well enough for audio notes to myself, but I can't say that I really like it. I bought it to replace an Olympus VN-900 that went missing, and really like the older VN-900 much better. The VN-120 is larger, really a bit bulky for the storage space I use for it in my car. The VN-120 is also much more cumbersome to operate. On the VN-900, one can delete a memo by clicking delete twice. On the VN-120, it's necessary to click delete, toggle to yes, and then press enter; these are three separate buttons, and so eyes-off operation is inconvenient.

I'd send it back, but it appears that Amazon no longer carries the VN-900.

****[Note added 7 years after purchase]

This thing is still working fine after seven years. I've adapted to the size, and drive a different vehicle with a slightly larger space in the driver's side door armrest. Deleting is slightly awkward, but I'm upgrading my rating to four stars from three because of durability.

It works fine with NiMH batteries.

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This was my 1st digital voice recorder purchase and it is easy to use considering I am a veritable technological idiot. I could figure out for myself how to use every feature and that is a huge accomplishment for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mentally challenged, graduated college Magna Cum Laude,

I just didn't grow up with this stuff.

Back to the Recorder, every time I use it I find myself thinking how wonderful it is. Living a hectic life, I don't have time to stop and write down every new thought, now I don't have to, I just record it on the go. If you choose to purchase it I hope you get as much pleasure out of it as I do.

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Perfect for note-taking. I use it when taking pictures (at the zoo, for example) to indicate what the subject is, conditions, etc. If anything, the microphone is TOO sensitive: even at the low setting with the VN-120 in my shirt pocket, it picks up enough ambient noise so the VCVA function doesn't work. Still, it's simple enough to press Record/Stop to take messages.

The first thing the instructions should tell you to do is, peel off the clear plastic from the display ! It took me a while to figure out why the LCD display looked funny. Once past this hurdle, you hardly need the instructions.

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This recorder worked OK for the first 6 hours of recording. At that point it would shut off in the middle of the lecture and flash "Full" when I tried to record in another file. The erase function did not erase. I also did not like the dual function buttons, and I felt that the instructions were not as clear as they could have been. I eventually took it back and got my money back.