Holiday Wishlist: A Digital Voice Recorder for Long Lectures
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 by HackCollege It's Thanksgiving Break, and many of you are at home with your parents. Are you studying for upcoming exams? Finishing papers? Finally buying the textbook and reading it? None of the above? If you're looking to procrastinate, why not give your parents a good start on your holiday wishlist. Ask for a digital voice recorder.
Think back on this semester. How many classes did you miss or skip? Of those, how many did you miss or skip because you were coughing, sneezing, hungover, lazy, or just too tired? Probably all of them. Here's an idea: Get a digital voice recorder. I had one during my undergraduate years, and it was a lifesaver.
If I was ever too tired or just with a head cold, I'd still trudge to class. Maybe I didn't take notes, but I still didn't miss anything. I would record the lecture, start to finish, and try to absorb as much as I could without pen and paper. This process was a lot less stressful, and I wouldn't have a guilty conscience for skipping yet another lecture class.
I used a tape recorder, but I would recommend one that records to .mp3 or .wma. This way, you can store them on your computer and even send your recordings to your friends.
I did a quick search on Amazon and came upon the Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder. It records to both .mp3 and .wma, has 512MB of internal Flash memory, runs on AAA batteries, has 5 folders for organization, isn't too ugly, and is priced under $150. But feel free to look around, yourself, for one that you like.
Reader Comments (9)
Chris actually has a sweet voice recorder. I'll ask him which model it is and tell him to post it here.
I know it's an Olympus and has a USB plug on it, but it's not as fancy as the one you linked to.
Indeed, Rosario, this has been in my pocket of hacks for a while also. I use the http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-WS-100-Digital-Recorder-Interface/dp/B0009N9PJA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1195729238&sr=1-4" title="" rel="nofollow">Olympus WS-100 which I got for less than $50 on eBay. It's got more hours of recording than anyone could need, requires no proprietary software (like most things from Olympus), and my favorite: it has built-in USB (a la first generation iPod Shuffle).
It only records in .WMA which is easily remedied by the great program http://www.nch.com.au/switch/plus.html" title="" rel="nofollow">Switch. I also use it in tandem with http://www.yellowmug.com/sk4it/" title="" rel="nofollow">Sizzling Keys for easy interview transcribing through iTunes.
Wonder if any work well with Ubuntu linux?
Good idea maybe I could use one for the wife and just get back to her with the answers when I am ready .Anyway hope you had a good christmas and new year from me and all at www.darlokidsfooty.co.uk
[...] for some other things. The Skip Backward/Forward hotkeys are an invaluable way to scan through a recording while transcribing an interview or lecture and Toggle Shuffle can be handy if you’d like to [...]
I dare bet they have come down in price now christmas has past and they are having to work for sales again
I use an iRiver H340 its like an iPod but it can record. So you get a 40Gb mucic player that can also record from an internal mic or a supplied external mic. It can also record via a line in or of its inbuilt FM tuner. It alos doesnt need any drivers on Win98 or XP as its just seen as an external drive. In fact it can also copy from USB memory care readers. It can also play video and show photos.
In the last couple of years, voice recorders have become so much more hi tech, yet so much more affordable! When my brother went to college, he had some crappy one, but I just got an Olympus one last year, and it's great! Especially for those Mondays following long weekends :)
http://wize.com/voice-recorders-and-transcribers/for/college-lectures/491" rel="nofollow">Great Recorders for College Lectures!
Personally I cant live without my coice recorder. I take it everywhere. I use an olympus because even my previouse voice recorder was an Olympus as well. When I have class I take it with me wnad even when I don thave class I carry it around to listen to music and take mental notes.