Olympus V404130BU000 VN-7200 Digital Voice Recorder

This recorder is very easy to use as it has only two large buttons, one for Stop and one for Record. There is also a toggle wheel that allows skipping back and forth through recording and a button in the center that serves as an ENTER button for message prompts. So it's easy to grab and start recording and to hit Stop when finished. Battery life is excellent, the delete recording button is small and you get a verification prompt before deleting so you will never accidentally delete a recording. Usage is very intuitive and I started using it without reading the instructions. The LED readout is not backlit and that is a downside and this is the model that does not allow uploading the audio files to computer (which I did not want or need). So the only improvement would be to backlight the LED readout but then that would shorten battery life. I'm very happy with the simplicity of use, the uncluttered ergonomic design and layout of controls, it's very light weight even with batteries,...Read more

When my daughter called me and said, "Mom; it would be SO helpful for me to have a voice recorder for classes", I came right here to Amazon, read some reviews, and went with this mid-priced model. According to my daughter, it is worth it's weight in gold to her. It's easy to use (which is a definite plus) and very good at picking up her professors' lectures, capturing in digital form what she wasn't able to catch in her notes. A very good buy without breaking the bank!

Very easy to use machine! Real shame that there is no usb connection or any way to upload. If you're sure you'll never need to back a recording to a hard drive it's fine.