Comparison to Olympus VN-3100PC
Pros:
WS-210S has a much greater frequency response (especially in Stereo XQ mode), which I find useful in being able to later understand what I whispered VERY softly while trying not to awaken my spouse when I had an idea in bed late at night. This is the major reason I upgraded, and I am quite happy with this feature.
When playing back a recording and stopping in the middle to transcribe what you just played back, then when you hit the play (>/OK) button to resume playback, it backs up just a little so you can hear what was being said just before the point where you hit the STOP button. This is exactly how a transcription player or software works, and it definitely is the right answer. I am overjoyed!
There is no need for a mini-USB cable to connect to a PC. This is probably a bigger feature for folks who travel a lot, who now no longer need to worry about taking and finding and not losing the #$%&* USB cable. I work at home, so it didn't matter that much to me.
To do transcription on the PC, you really want transcription software. Fortunately, there is Express Scribe, which is FREE on the Web. The only caveat is that when you load it on your PC, it also loads a whole bunch of "stubs" (icons of programs that will load if you try to use them) to perform lots of other audio-related tasks... of course these cost real money to buy, which is probably why you got the simple transcription program for free.
Playback speed changes are now semi-permanent. Hitting the OK button during playback still changes the playback speed as before, but now the speed stays that way until you change it again, even on new voice files. Though I found this initially irritating, I have grown to appreciate it.
The unit is smaller and lighter. It feels more dense, which is a "quality" that naturally inspires a perception of "quality" quite irrespective of the facts. The button actions are generally good, and the unit snaps apart and together again with reassuring solidity.
It takes only one AAA battery. (Caveat: there were some power-saving decisions made by the design team apparently as a consequence of this single-battery design. The display shuts off more quickly and the device does not power up as nicely. See below for details.) The battery door feels a little weak, so be careful out there.
There are 5 folders instead of 4, and each can hold 200 voice files instead of just 100.
It creates WMA files instead of WAV files. This can be seen as a feature or a flaw, depending...
Cons:
The good old dependable Olympus transcription software does not work with the new unit. For the old unit, all you had to do was plug the device into your PC, and the software would automatically start up. You clicked one button and all 4 folders would be downloaded into your PC, ready to transcribe. (On the plus side, Express Scribe has its own Sync capability, which I have not yet explored, and which may perform similarly.)
When paused during recording, the LED is off, so you have no visual que in the dark (late at night in bed again) that the device is paused. This is minor, because the recorder will automatically exit the paused state after awhile, preserving what you recorded if you forget and think that the recording is done. Of course if you hit REC before that expiration time and expect to get a completely new recording started, you will later discover that you have appended to the end of the previous paused recording.
The hole for attaching a neck strap is on the "wrong" end of the device. It's on the "right" end for not losing the valuable data (as opposed to the battery) if the device somehow came apart (which it won't: it's very well made that way), but Olympus really should have put holes on BOTH ends, to give the user a choice. It is going to be awhile before it will feel "natural" to me to pick up the device when it is hanging on its leash, if it ever does.
It just doesn't feel quite as natural in the hand. The back of the device is not flat. It has a flat bump for the speaker, and a long bump for the single battery. The plastic is quite smooth and satisfying to the touch, and does not feel cheap in any respect.
The function of the MENU button to allow individual recordings to be moved to different folders has been removed. So if you rely on putting recordings into the proper folder, you better know which folder is active, which is harder to do in the dark...
The LED no longer flashes the same number of times as the alphabetic number of the folder (1 flash for A, 2 flashes for the B folder, etc.) when using the FOLDER button to change folders. This makes it impossible to tell which folder you are in when you are in the dark (thus both literally and figuratively).
The buttons are placed quite closely together, which may be difficult for larger hands and fingers to use in the dark.
If the device is automatically powered down (which, as noted above, it does much more quickly than the old unit), it takes 2 seconds to wake up. This may not sound like much, but if you hit the REC button when it is powered down, and you expect to just start talking and have it be recorded (which happened in the old unit), you'll have a rude surprise when your recording cannot be found. In this new unit, you have to learn to notice that the LED has not lit up, and so to press the REC button again! Even if one lost the first 2 seconds of a recording in the process of the device waking up, that would be far preferable to losing the whole thing. Of course, in anger one quickly learns to hit any button, wait 2 seconds, and then hit REC and be sure to check that the LED is now lit.
The display showing how many seconds remain in playback of the present recording is now much smaller, and thus much harder for over-50 eyes to read. This is mitigated by the vast improvement in the playback pause behavior as noted above.
Verification of ERASE can now be done only with a click on the right arrow >>| button. The older unit allows either right or left to work. This is either a feature or a flaw, or immaterial, depending on your point of view.
The menu system is harder to understand and use. This is likely another consequence of single-battery power conservation: a smaller screen was used without room to display the whole menu at once. Certainly it is now nearly impossible to change to BEEP setting in the dark. (The input string is now: MENU || >>| OK >>| OK MENU.) Accessing File Lock is relatively easy but still involved: MENU |>| OK MENU.
OVERALL:
I'm glad I got the new device, for the reasons stated at the top. I wish the designers had:
(*) allowed single-click wake-up-and-record, even if it lost 2 seconds at the start
(*) kept the ability to move recordings between folders
(*) kept the flash-folder-number feature when changing folders
(*) put leash holes on both ends
I bought this recorder for use during face to face interviews and recording press conferences. Works great in both quiet and noisier environments. The stereo recording capability of this recorder does give it an edge over the mono models as the recordings do come out a lot clearer. Even at the lowest recording quality (out of the 3 that are selectable), it still comes out very clear.
Battery life is quite good with alkaline batteries, I can probably get 20 hours or more of on/off use.
Works well with a Mac, just plug it into a free USB port and it shows up as a device on your Finder. The files are in WMA format so it does require a Quicktime plugin to read that format. I'd suggest something like VLC Player which is free and painless to use.
Highly recommended!
An accessory which you should consider if you want to record phone conversations, it works beautifully as a cheap phone recorder. Olympus TP-7 Telephone Recording Device
Buy Olympus WS-210S Voice Recorder (141960) (Brown) Now
UPDATE: Following is a comparison between this unit and the ws-311m, but after only 2 months that unit broke. It's the second Olympus I've had that broke very easily, so now I'm switching to Sony.
I ordered this from Amazon, and then found a local deal on the WS-311M, which a teacher of mine uses. Being just a little type A, I played around with both of them to decide which to keep, and I've decided on the WS-311M.
Basically, the recorders seem to be identical in terms of ability and sound quality with few exceptions.
DIFFERENCES
--The WS-311M can also be used as a music player, though I don't really care about that.
--The WS-311M is a teeny-tiny bit larger and feels a little less plastic-y (though both are made of plastic). The bigger size and brighter color is actually a small plus for me, as I kept having a hard time finding the WS-210S in my bag.
--Most important for me, the WS-311M has a much more intuitive menu system. It presents menu options in a list and it's easy to move forward and backwards in your choices, while the WS-210S presents options at the bottom of the screen. It's easy to lose your place among choices because you only see one choice present at a time; also for the life of me I cannot figure out how to go backwards in the menu other than to press "stop" and start over. It's a pretty frustrating plan, and the deal breaker for me. Why they'd take something good and ruin it in a newer model is beyond me.
--It feels as if the screen on the WS-311M is brighter and has a little more orange to it, though that could be because it's surrounded by silver as opposed to black, or it could be a menu setting I haven't found yet.
These are all minor differences this model is a little cheaper, so it really depends on what's most important to you.
But the sound quality and the options for controlling it seem pretty much the same.
Read Best Reviews of Olympus WS-210S Voice Recorder (141960) (Brown) Here
I bought this item after much research at this price range, this seemed to be the best recording device for my needs. I am starting to record stories from my older family members and this device picks up more than I have ever heard in the previous recording devices I have owned. It's extremely light, and much smaller than I thought was possible. And it has lots of recording time. I also use it now to record important "to do" notes for myself when I am on the go, so it's with me a lot. I recommend it.
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This item is sleek and works well. Drawbacks--TINY buttons, slightly unclear instructions. After MUCH trial and error, I was able to transfer some recordings to Windows Media Player, etc. Overall, pretty decent for the price.
If you have Sony products, you're stuck with Sony propriatary memory stick formats. Thankfully, you're not stuck with only Sony branded memory.
