Olympus DS-2400 Dictation recorder (142015)

Summary:

The DS-2400 is one of Olympus' newest voice recorders optimized for dictation. It provides the ability to record conversations under a variety of conditions with excellent quality. Its intuitive controls make operation so simple that the 8 (2"x4") page Quick Start Guide is all you'll need to start recording and playing back conversations of all kinds. The included DSS Player software supports both Windows (2000, XP, and Vista - including Vista Ultimate 64-bit) and Macintosh (OS X 10.39 - 10.5.6).

Details:

I have owned a voice recorder once before, but it finally got lost, so it was time to do the research to find a replacement. A number of things impressed me, on paper, about the DS-2400
- Brand new model from Olympus (so a long life of support is expected)
- Compact model with all the features I wanted (built-in mono microphone and speaker; 3.5 mm min-jacks for connecting external mono or stereo mics and speakers) clear,...Read more

I have used Olympus recorders for many years overall they are good machines. But, Olympus often decides to change file formats without consideration of the end user. This is the case with the DS-2400. This new handheld recorder from Olympus uses a new voice file format called DS2. This file format is playable only with the new Olympus software that comes with the Ds-2400. Olympus will not share this software. You must buy a machine to get a player. This is a serious deficiency for users that may want to send their voice files to transcriptionists or to other people that do not have an Olympus player.

I was just going to post this, and you beat me to the punch...I bought one of these at the urging of the transcription company, which handles 1000 clients, when my DS-2300 died. There is absolutely no support for DS2 files and you have to convert them every time. Transcription IT spent a week working with Olympus and couldn't get it right. I finally returned this device and got a Philips 9370 which makes only DSS files. Dont get this handheld unless every single person you dictate to knows what to do with DS2 files.

Poor job on this one Olympus, you just cost yourself about 150 handheld dictation devices from our corporation.