Olympus S-711 Microcasette Recorder (Blue)

For those who don't want to invest in an expensive digital recorder, the Olympus Microcassette recorder is perfect for interviews and taking voice notes. The volume control allows for sensitive sound pick-up, and the dual speeds allow for either longer recording or higher sound quality. Use the voice activation feature for automatic recording. Although the sound quality is hardly perfect, it is adequate for most uses. Because of its small size, it fits easily into a average-size purse or small backpack pocket.

This little unit can be operated with minimal effort - practically straight from the plastic pack. It comes with one microcassette and the necessary batteries. Highly recommended for people who don't mind the older technology or for those on a budget.

If you are a student and just need a cheap, good quality recorder for classes- like I did- this is a real gem. Its just a plain old fashioned tape recorder- but compared to digital, the sound of this recording is excellent. For techno-freaks, be aware: It doesn't hook up to your computer to translate from recorder to printed notes via voice recognition software, it isn't the size of a pen (although it IS pretty small and lightweight), and it won't stand up on your desk and tap dance. It'll just make recording your lectures a cheap and easy proposition. As an aside: you will need a little adaptor ($2 on Olympus website)in order to use standard headphones with it (it has a mini-mini plug port, which is not standard) or else you will have to listen to it out loud. At this price, I think its worth grabbing these up while they last and while Olympus hasn't discontinued them yet (assuming that digital will eventually cause them to discontinue all 'tape recording' machines). So, even...Read more

The Olympus Microcassette Recorder S711 is the perfect utensil for corporate meetings, fun stuff, and stuff you know you will remember. It slashes a digital recorder, because the simple tapes that you buy may include almost 90 mins. of space. That's 270 mins. with all 3 tapes (if 90 mins. are included) That is even more then some of the digital voice recorders that top $50. This proves a digital voice recorder isn't and wasn't worth my while. At first, when searching I'd looked towards Sony and Olympus for their digital recorders. But that is nothing compared to their microcassette recorders. Sony has been doing well for quite a while, but it is tiny, puny, and not worth it once compared to the Olympus.

Pros
-Large, easy to use buttons. Nothing fancy
-Allows 2 type of speeds
-From a name brand that you trust
-Cheap, but accurate
-3 tapes with 90 mins. can hold more than some digital recorders which top $50

Cons
-Looks aging
-Some buttons are too...Read more