RCA RP5130 512MB USB 140 Hour MP3 Recording Digital Voice Recorder

Comment: At the time of my order on Amazon.com, I definitely saw the condition of this item as like new, but when I received it, one of the plastic button was already fallen off and gone and the speaker sound quality was terrible with breaking noise. Never do a business with this seller!!! Never ever!!!!!!

Comment: The product came to me by U.S. Post about a week ago. I must say for $25 (one of the stores) it was used like new and it is still in excellent condition. Here's my opinionated details.

Pros
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Has pc connection.
Good instruction manual easy to understand.
Has red indication light that is nice and vivid.
Good mic and speaker placement ( speaker can be loud and clear)
36 hours of recording time on High Quality mode (HQ)
Comes with a usb for it (as if we need more ^_^)
has multiple folders with tracks and indication on lcd.
has slow and fast playback.

Cons
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Batteries that came with it are crap.
buttons may act iffy at times. i.e. button clicks but nothing happens, do it again and boom it works.
Although I noticed if i pressed firmly but not too hard it would respond great.
even when on lock. the screen says loading for a second or two then says locked and shuts off. still taking about 5 secs to do so.
after continuous pressing throughout the day, batteries could get a bit of juice taken.

My conclusion. Great product for the price. Use lithium Ion batteries, preferably Duracell or Energizer (order them here its cheaper ^_^

I hope I could help let me know.

Comment: Excellent voice recorder. Files are easily transferred to audacity. Great sound quality and long battery life. Excellent product.

Comment: El desempeño de la RCA RP5130 es bastante aceptable (cumple a cabalidad con los objetivos para los que fue diseñada). El tiempo de uso de la batería dependerá del uso que el usuario le de, aunque generalmente proporciona una autonomía confiable de 6 horas de grabación continua con cada par de baterías nuevas (2 AAA). Su uso es bastante sencillo (al menos en las opciones básicas) porque la tarea se complicará un poco más si quieres usar las funciones avanzadas como editar audio y otras cosas por ese estilo. Le he dado 4 puntos sobre 5 porque no tiene compatibilidad completa con Mac. Si bien puedes conectar la grabadora al Macbook para sacar de allí lo que has grabado, luego te darás cuenta que después de ésta acción deberás formatear la RCA RP5130 para que vuelva a trabajar al 100% de su capacidad (si no la formateas desde ella misma [pulsando los botones de erase-rec-erase] no podrás escuchar (reproducir) en su altavoz el material que en ella has grabado).


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The performance of the RCA RP5130 is quite acceptable (it fulfills with the objectives for which it was designed). The time of use of the battery will depend on the user, although, generally provides a reliable autonomy of 6 hours of continuous recording with each pair of new batteries (2 AAA). Its use is quite simple (at least in the basic options) because the task will be a little more complicated if you want to use the functions like editing audio and other things by that style. I have given 4 points on 5 because it does not have complete compatibility with Mac. Although you can connect the recorder to the Macbook to remove from there what you have recorded, soon you will realize that after this one action you must format the RCA RP5130 so that returns itself to work to the 100% of his capacity (if you do not format this device [pulsing the buttons erase-rec-erase] you will not be able to listen to (or reproduce) in its loudspeaker the material that you have recorded previously on it).

Comment: This is a great little recording device. If you have done anything with these recording devices this is pretty much the best one made so far for the price. It does everything and that's why I give it such a high star count plus very easy to just plug/play into computer.

Pro's
+ Starts up within 4 seconds and ready for recording
+ Small and extreemly light weight (from it's cheaply made plastic design)
+ Extremely easy to export audio files to computer. Plug usb cord from the recorder into computer and your done. A Folder will show up with your recorded files (it's plug & play so no installer when using XP)(File format it records in is .mp3 but Mono)
+ Has a port for a microphone
+ Has a port for a head phone
+ Fairly long battery life (for me anyway)
+ Very Low Price compared to other recorders (I think this price is fair for a recorder)
+ The display screen lets you know everything that's going on with the recorder (If it is recording or not and other data such as battery life left!)

Cons

- The record quality is not so good and has a slightly static background, It records in .mp3 but in lower quality Mono. Lower the volume for a less static background noise when playing back if you can.
(BUT most recorders out there have similar audio that is lacking so not much you can do at this time and date)
This is for voice notes and to remember stuff on the fly, not for perfection or high quality anything.

- Feels and looks cheep (but who cares it gets the job done)

- No off and on button so you have to always remember if it's the "stop", "Record" or "Play" button that starts and shuts off the recorder.
I would of liked a very distinct button that starts and shuts down the recorder.
If you don't use the recorder to often it's just a slightly annoying feature but they really should of added a little on/off button or switch.
I like when I can hand a device to someone and have them know exactly how to switch it on and with no on/off button people have to try a few times to get it to start when first using the device.

- The playback speakers are not so good, you will have to load the audio files on your computer for maximum quality of playback.
(In all defense of this recorder it is a RECORDER and not meant to be a PLAYER) It's so small so the speakers are small and no sub woofer so naturally it's not going to have great quality play back quality but it's fine for it's size and price.

That's 8 Pro's & 4 Cons.
Maybe you don't care about the start/stop button con or the cheep feel con so just 1 con then.

If you need a recorder, need to put the recorded audio files on the computer, want the average recording quality that these recorders give. Then you should get this. The extra mic and head phone ports will just be a bonus plus the cheep price.

This is about the best deal you are going to get in a small package like this as of September 2009. I don't see any other options right now that even come close to this price range.