Olympus DP-201 (DP201) Digital Voice Recorder - Renewed

Good

I was extremely pleased with the condition of my refurbished recorder. It came well packed, with what appears to be an original instruction manual (as opposed to a poor Xerox copy), and the recorder itself is in pristine condition - you can't tell if from a new device, other than by the packaging.William M wrote an excellent review, and my use is similar to his - taking the occasional note while driving - so I won't repeat what he's already said. I like the fact that the recorder is exceptionally easy to use. I'd used this Olympus to replace an older Sony, and if I hadn't used my Sony in a while, I felt like I needed to pull out the manual to reread it.I will note one additional feature that I initially overlooked by not reading the instruction manual closely enough. In his review, William M mentions having a 2-step process in order to record (turn device on, press 'Record' button). I liked the fact that with the Sony you left it all of the time, so all you had to do was press the 'Record' button. I found this much better than the 2-step method, so I decided to simply leave the Olympus on and see how long the batteries lasted. Surprise! When I returned to the device, it seemingly had turned itself off.Looking more closely through the instructions, I found this: 'If no operations are performed for more than 10 minutes when the power is on, the display automatically turns off and the recorder enters the power save mode. To exit the power save mode, press any button.'So does this mean that you can push the 'Record' button to wake it up and start recording? Unfortunately, not quite. Pressing the 'Record' button (or any other) begins the wake-up process, which actually takes several seconds. After the device has waken, you have to push the 'Record' button again to begin recording.So that leaves two questions:(1) Does the power save mode wake up faster than using the on/off button? Yes. Coming on using the on/off button takes 7 seconds; coming out of the power save mode takes about half that time.(2) Does the power save mode actually save any power? I hooked the recorder up to a Fluke meter to measure the power use. Making a recording consumed roughly 14 mA; playing it back at a fairly low volume burned 24 mA; having the unit on but doing nothing was using 6 mA; by comparison, the power save mode reduced power consumption to 0.06 mA.So if you left the recorder turned on 24 hours a day, you'd be using the same amount of power as if you'd made about fourteen or fifteen 10-second recordings and played them back. If you like the idea of saving the 3 seconds or so over powering up from the recorder being 'Off' each time, or you find pressing a button easier than sliding the power switch, go ahead and turn on the recorder in the morning, then don't worry about turning it off until you're done with it at the end of the day.

I have been using this product for several years and recently bought one for a friend who is writing her second book.First, this is not a traditional voice recorder. It is a "note" recorder. You reference files by their date.It is very convenient if you maintain any sort of schedule. For example, if you are trying to remember the name and conversation of someone you met three weekends ago, use the menu selection to scroll to that date, then sample the files within that date to recover the person's name and the substance of your conversation (assuming you did record them at the time!). It's ideal for students -- details of a homework assignment.I also like to use it while driving to record reflections about things that matter. It makes time fly while driving safely.This version does not offer a way to transfer digital data to another computer. but it does have a "line out" for headphones that can be saved on another recorder, however, you'd lose date info. The 250 hour memory served me for a few years, but eventually, I had to prune files.This is easy to do. find a date, press erase, select one file or all, and erase. Most notes will be stale after a few months so no problem.Casio made another version with more memory and (if memory serves me right) it could record many more hours and supported removable (SD). Haven't been able to find it again.Two improvements I'd like to see. Use different color LEDs to indicate when recording and when on pause to avoid distraction when recording while driving -- so you know instantly whether you are switiching from pause to record, or the opposite.The other improvement would be the capability to do a key word search. You'd program a keyword search directory with topics of interest, then be able to find files with matching keywords. The keywords for a file would be attached at the end of the file when you are sure they are relevant to what you recorded.

I commute around town on my bicycle a lot, and as I ride, I'll often think of something that I want to remember, but I don't want to stop along the road, dig out my notepad and pen, and write it down. I tried using the recorder function on my cell phone, but that required going several layers deep into the menu -- too distracting for a guy on a bike. So I decided to give this a try and I'm very happy with it.I don't use it often enough to keep it turned on all the time, so using it does require a multiple-step process: (1) Slide to power switch to "on"; (2) Press the REC button; (3) record my thoughts; (4) Hit the "STOP" button; (5) Then turn the recorder off again. This really is not hard to do, as the power switch in easy to feel on the side of the device, and the "REC" and "STOP" buttons are large and well-marked in the middle of the recorder's face.The built-in mic is plenty sensitive enough to pick up my voice even when I'm holding the recorder down by the handlebar. And the power-on and power-off functions make a small sound -- not obtrusive, but enough to let me know the machine is on or off without my having to focus on it.For my use, this was a great buy.

I think this digital recorder will be great, if I ever figure out how to use it. The instructions that came with it are unreadable, and when I went to the Olympus web site to download another set of instructions, they were unreadable too. It cannot be that complicated, but I am blind, and need someone to show me what the controls are on it.

It records like a dream. I needed it to record a customer who's been giving me the runaround about paying me. I couldn't believe it tape a clear conversation from inside my purse! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it doesn't upload to a PC.