Olympus WS-801 Voice Recorder

I highly recommend the Olympus WS-801 Voice Recorder because :(1)Very simple, easy to use compared to Sony etc. Press button labeled "REC" to record, button labeled "ERASE" to erase file, button labeled "STOP" to stop recording or playing. No "accidental" erasure.Red light is lit up and is solid when recording.(2) Good sound quality when recording cell or land line phone using the Olympus TP-8 Telephone Pick-up Microphone for $14 on Amazon. Background noise is minimal.Olympus microphones for other special applications, all sold on Amazon, include :......$16 ME-52W Noise Canceling Microphone with 3.3 feet cord......$48 ME-51S Stereo Microphone......$14 ME-12 Noise Canceling Microphone, good for transcription etcSearch by the model number, like ME-52W.(3) Comparable products like Sony ICDPX312 ($59.99) etc cost more.(4) Price charged by seller Amazon is lower than 6 sellers I have checked.(5)Record on the internal built-in 2 GB card. Or record on a microSD card (up to 32 GB, not supplied) inserted into the port of the recorder.(6) 3 ways to connect to computer :...(a)insert slide-out USB connector into USB port of a computer...(b)insert micro SD card into reader port of a computer....(c)insert micro SD card into a card reader which is then inserted into USB port of computer.(7)An user's manual in a pdf format, provides much more details than the printed booklet, is on the CD under directory PDF.(8)Screen has a 3-bar battery charge indicator. Press + or - to increase or decrease sound volume in increment as shown by bar graph on screen.(9)Very durable. I have dropped it about 4 feet high at least 30 times with no noticeable damages to outside or sound quality.(10)Small and light weight. Both WS-801 and TP-8 microphone easily fit inside shirt pocket horizontally or vertically.Notes :-------Uses one removable AAA battery.One alkaline AAA gives 20 to 27 hours recording depending on sound quality, or19 to 24 hours playback.Time for Ni-MH AAA is about 4 hours less.A 2 GB card gives508 hours in 8 kbps WMA format, or32.5 hours of recording in 128 kbps WMA format, or16.5 hours in 256 kbps MP3 mode, or500 songs of 4 minutes each at 128 kbpsA 32 GB card has 16 times the capacity of a 2 GB card. 4 GB card has 2 times.It takes time to research all these information. Please click "Yes" if this review was helpful to you.

OLYMPUS WS 801I bought the Olympus voice recorder mainly for its size. It is so small that it can be easily concealed in my shirt pocket. The two stereo microphones are able to record even when you have it in your shirt pocket. You can also set it to voice activation mode. It picks up only the human voice and filters out other noise.It has many features for its size. It has 514 H of recording time. And if you think this is not enough you can add a micro SD card. It accepts up to a 32 GB card. You can also store music in this card and play it back through your recorder. If you want to transfer your recordings to a computer you may do so with the built in retractable USB connector.It comes with an alkaline battery. It can run for approximately 25 hours on this battery. You may substitute this with a rechargeable AAA Ni-MH.battery if necessary.Now for the downside, if you are using a rechargeable battery, it cannot be recharged through the USB port. But given the long battery life this is no big deal. The recorder does not have a built in FM radio. The model WS 803 has. The PCM recording option is not available on this model. But for normal recording purposes this may not be necessary.I use the recorder to record my own speech and for interviews usually by placing it within a few feet. It is ideal for that purpose. I haven’t tested it in a large lecture room or in the open. I have been using it only for a few weeks so I cannot say much about its durability. Overall I am fully satisfied with the product and at Amazon. price it is really worth it.

If you are like me and have used Olympus recorders before you are not going to be disappointed with this little recorder. I had to stop using my last Olympus recorder because the software that allowed the audio files to be transferred and then used by your computer failed to work with my new computer. All my efforts to solve this problem failed, but the thing was I love my little recorder and did want to see it go. I thought it did all that I wanted it to do and I didn't need to replace it.When I began searching for another recorder I turn to the company Olympus again with a number in my head that I was willing to spend. I saw a cheaper model than this, but I wanted to see what were the differences in features from the model I was going to purchase and this model and the one feature that caught my eye was the built in USB plug. The cheaper model needs a cable and if you go to buy that model Amazon will suggests that you also purchase the cable. I think it pays to get this model over the cheaper models just for this feature. The ease of use is a piece of mind and a time saver.Once plugged in the computer recognizes the recorder and you can quickly access the audio files (that can be recorded in the MP3 format) and you can copy or move them to any destination in your system. I like to rename the audio files right on the recorder before transport. It makes it easier to find them later in a folder full with similar type files. From inside the recorder's memory I can play each audio file before renaming it.I don't go too long before downloading so worrying about space isn't an issue for me. The most I have gone is a couple of hours of use. You can check the model range of limitations, but I think two hours is a drop in the bucket; besides the more your record, the more you are going to have to sort through later. It is not like you are going to be using this recorder for audio storage, because sorting through audio files on the device itself isn't really helpful nor is recording something and then going back to that same file and continue recording where you left off. That was a feature of my last Olympus recorder, not the Olympus WS-801 Voice Recorder.But another added benefit of this recorder is the stereo rerecording. I wasn't aware of this feature until I viewed my recording on an audio editing program. If you need a way to piece together different audio files that you made that is the way you are going to have to go. Chances are your are no going to get audio gold every time.With audio software and this recorder I have at last found a way to replace my older recorder and now I can record in stereo to boot.