Olympus WS-400 S Digital Recorder (White)

Comment: Bought and tested it today. Nice thing actually. I am satisfied with the quality of the recorded sound of the lecture.

Just do not keep it in your pocket when recording - put it on a table. There are some more advanced models I have seen today in class but I don't know how and what makes them better.

Comment: My wife washed this one in a pair of pants that I left - ruined it of course. I used it a lot before this though, and will tell of it. I liked the USB (plugs directly to computer, no cord needed). One battery is indeed less expensive and lighter than two.

However, I think the USB Direct link part replaces some components that could be used for more memory, as the similar priced one that requires a USB cord is 2GB (889 hours LP, 142 hours HQ, and 72 hours MP3 - which this one does not even have MP3-format recording). The advertised 272 hours for this one is LP mode, a mode which sucks in quality. HQ is good, but is around 40 hours if I recall correctly. I didn't time the battery life, but the battery life seemed rather limited, I doubt it is actually 21 hours, but may be if using one of those super titanium batteries. Besides, what good is much recording capacity if you're constantly having to stop and change batteries? This brings my second point - the USB Direct link part also is the REASON it only requires one battery - There is no space for TWO which would allow for superior lifetime, preventing fears of a recording being cut short because the ONE battery died, which happened unexpectedly several times for me. I started to feel that I needed to change the battery after every few hours to be sure it would be on for the duration that I needed it.

So, the summary is that the USB Direct link is convenient. But, it is at the cost much recording time, lack of features such as MP3 recording, and battery life because it can only hold one battery, with which you are taking a major gamble if trying to squeeze anywhere near 20 hours out of.

If you want tons of lifetime between battery changes and tons of recording time for about the same price, and can deal with having to use a cord to transfer the audio to computer, I recommend the Olympus VN-7600PC, which I have now. - It is indeed less convenient having to use the cord to transfer data, but I am enjoying the worry-free two battery capacity which lasts forever, and the 2GB memory(mentioned above).

Comment: The item arrived in better condition than I
expected. Also, it was properly packaged
and received it prompty. I find the recorder
such a help and plus, it is so easy to use.

Comment: Not the best speakers but good quality over all. Small, light, lots of memory. Only needs one battery and it's lasting a long time so far

Comment: The vendor never delivered the item and refused to investigate the reason until 21 days after the purchase date (their policy per an email). Multiple emails that I sent were answered by canned responses that didn't address my questions. Furthermore, the vendor refused to cancel the charge to my credit card until the item was restocked in their warehouse, placing the burden on me. I placed a stop-payment with my credit card. I still have not received a final reply from the vendor. I'd shop elsewhere.