Olympus WS-500 Digital Voice Recorder (Blue)

Comment: First of all, I bought this for my husband who is a drummer and a vocalist. He wanted a recorder of some kind to do karaoke music recorded with his voice. I had no idea about any of these recorders, so I started doing research. The Olympus brand seemed to have the better reviews. But none of the recorder reviews were great. Well, I finally decided on this WS-500 DVR. Well, I'm glad that I did because my husband took this and figured everything out by himself. This astounded me becuse my husband is not a technology person. He doesn't even want to know anything about technology. He has never been on my computer, programmed any of our DVRs, VCR's, etc. But you get my meaning. But the biggest surprise was the sound of this recorder. He recorded 4 songs. I uploaded them onto my computer (Just slid the lever on the recorder and pushed it into the USB on my computer to upload) I ripped it on WMP and then burned the songs to a CD. I was able to adjust the sound with the equalizer and it sounded awesome!

The only con I have about this recorder is that the instructions are really hard to decipher. You have to guess a lot that you are doing the right thing. But this is just a minor con.

Comment: I had an older Olympus voice recorder, which I lent out once too often and didn't get back. I really appreciated the direct USB design. This was the replacement. While I do not need a music player, I selected this model because of the battery recharge feature. The battery included with the unit arrived with no charge. After charging the battery correctly, and the unit showing that the battery was fully charged, I was only able to get 4.5 hours of recording done before the battery died. I contacted the company, and was told that they would not send out a replacement battery. This was after I was placed on hold until I disconnected once. I would have to send them the device for repair, or return it to Amazon for replacement. I kind of need it, and it is an inconvenience to do either. A single battery cannot be purchased: you must buy a pack of four. I paid enough for the recorder that a working battery should be included, or issued upon request, I think. All the mailing is going to mean time without it, or more money when the price is already not inconsequential. The menu complexity isn't bad, but I am used to the previous device which had one that was similar. The sound quality of recorded material was average, which is surprising with the noise filter feature. The max volume is not very loud, but plugged into a computer the volume was sufficient using computer speakers. The direct usb design is nice, but Olympus is not the only company offering that anymore. Back it will go, and I will order a Sony perhaps. I'm irritated with the company not standing behind their product and replacing the battery, and that I will have to buy something else, and wait for it to be delivered, before this can be replaced.

Comment: I bought this as a backup to my other Olympus recorder (which I frequently lend out). My other recorder is an Olympus WS-100 which I bought 4 years ago. It was one of the first digital voice recorders ever made. It has served me well.

This unit contains a number of improvements over the WS-100 and the WS-400.

When I bought this, I was afraid I would have to carry around a USB cable with me. However, this unit has a little slide button on the side which extends a built-in USB connector. Plugging this into a USB port is a snap.

This unit is a little more compact than the WS-100. It also seems to solve the record delay which was a time vampire on the WS-400. This unit starts to record almost immediately on pressing the record button.

I would give this unit five stars except except the menu is almost indecipherable without spending an entire day memorizing and studying it. This means that you pretty much have to have the manual available for the first months you use this or you will not be able to use most of the features (unfortunately, this seems normal for most digital personal devices nowadays (except for Apple products)).

The arcane menu arrangement does not lend itself to quick and easy use of the unit if there are constant changes to your recording requirements unless you memorize the manual or have it available.

Other than that the plusses are that it supports Vista 64 bit, and, contains all of the features of the WS-400. The unit is easy to snap record conversations and other items.

It is a good buy at the price and easier to use, with all of the features, than any of the other small personal recorders I've looked at over the years by other manufacturers.

Specifications:

Recording Format: WMA
Input level: -70dBv

Maximum working output: 60mW (8 ohm speaker)

NAND FLASH memory 2GB - this unit works excellently as a flash drive with VISTA 64 or 32.

MIC Jack: 3.5mm mini-jack; impedance 2k ohms

EAR jack: 3.5mm mini-jack; impedance 8 ohms or more

RECORDING TIMES:

STXQ mode 34 h 30 min.
STHQ mode 69 h 40 min.
STSP mode 139 h 25 min.
HQ mode 139 h 25 min.
SP mode 247 h 10 min.
LP mode 544 h. 55 min.