Sony ICD-PX820 Digital Voice Recorder (Black) Online Shop ... OnlineShop-Neo Amazon-USA

- happy first time user -
  Bought this to use at college and have found it quite easy to use. And it picks up sound very well.

- Not that great for lectures -
  After reading reviews for different sound recorders, this one appeared to be excellent for recording lectures, so I ordered it. I'm disappointed. My laptop records lectures better with its crappy microphone. I sit around 8 ft away from my professors (any closer and I'll be hurting my neck trying to view the PowerPoint slides). I have two professors who speak in an average lecturing tone. In one class, people 20 ft away from him can hear him just fine, yet this recorder can barely pick him up. In the other class, we're at lab tables, probably 6-8 ft away from my professor. Same problem - his voice is drowned out by hissing. Another professor speaks very loud. His voice sounds "sharper" than my other professors and is picked up quite well, though the hissing makes it difficult to understand his accent.

Settings I'm using:
SHQ (super high quality recording)
H (for recording sounds from far away)
I've tried it with N-CUT turned on and off, but it doesn't seem to affect the sound quality.

I don't know if I can return this product since I've already used it. I view it as a waste of money. If you know of a better recorder for lectures, please leave your recommendation as a comment!

- Working with my banjo -
  I looked through all the reviews and could not find anyone who bought this to practice and critique their playing of a musical instrument. But the reviews were positive enough and the price was not a deal breaker, so I gave it a try. I play the banjo and need to hear what I sound like so I can correct playing errors. And I wanted something simple and easy to operate. This baby fits the bill. I don't even bother with the folders or transferring stuff to my computer. I just play some tune and then play it back with ear buds on. Then I delete it and do it all over again. I also intend to take it to my lessons. I'm happy with it for sure.

- Does 128k mp3s and easy to use -
  I bought this to replace my older digital voice recorder. I needed one that does mp3s, because my blackberry recording quality is rather subpar. When I first got this, my impression was the plastic made it look rather cheap. It was also fairly light in weight, so doesn't have much mass.

After working with it in the HQ 128kbps mode, I'm quite pleased. I can only imagine the 192k SHQ setting. I copied over a 320k mp3 from my computer and this was able to play it back no problem so it is an mp3 player as well. I tested with a headset mic, and found it's own internal mic to be better. I enabled a function called n-cut that filters out background noises that are outside the typical human vocal range. It filtered out the sound of a fan in the room quite nicely.

When I copied over an mp3 recording to my computer, and listened with headphones, I must say the quality is much better than I expected from a $50 device. I'm going to be using this to make podcasts regarding different processes of how I do things. Some of them will be 30 mins or more.

This recorder is easy to use, even at night in the dark when I get some last minute thoughts I need to document. Makes it much easier than having to get up to the computer. It has an indicator light that is red when recording, and green when playing back. The red light flashes when on pause. So even in the dark I can know which mode I'm in.

I carry this around with me everywhere, because you never know when inspiration strikes. I haven't compared really any other digital voice recorders except another one I had, and the blackberry which isn't really made for that purpose. In short, I am very pleased with this. I've used it for around a week now. I'm sure many other recorders would have done the job as well, but the sound quality is much better than I expected. 128k for the 2nd best quality setting is impressive. Considering I'll be downsampling to 64k when I publish my podcasts.

At the 128k setting, I get around 35 hours of recording time. Haven't tested with the 192k setting though. It has 2GB capacity as far as I'm aware. I read it can record stereo with the right adapter, but for voice, mono is ideal. I can always mix later into stereo background audio if I need.

The only con I would have would be somewhat cheap look on the plastic. Though it does feel solid. But then again, most digital voice recorders I've seen are plastic. Takes 2 triple-A batteries. Not sure how long battery life is, as I'm still on full power after doing maybe 30 mins to an hour of recordings so far.

- Really easy to use -
  This little recorder has amazing sound quality for voice recording. It's easy to use, and I am SO challenged with anything electronic. It's small size is easy to slip into a pocket. There is also a lot of memory. I love it.