Best Reviewed
Digital Voice Recorders
- Budget digital voice recorder Olympus VN-6200PC *Est. $60
- Best digital voice recorder with MP3 player Olympus WS-500M *Est. $100
- Professional-grade digital voice recorder Samson Zoom H4n *Est. $300
- Digital voice recorder for dictating and transcription Sony ICD-MX20 *Est. $250
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- Good performance with heavy dictation and transcribing
- Variety of functions specific to these tasks
- High price
- Limited recording time (five hours)
The best coverage of the Olympus DS-4000 is a message-board posting by an employee of the Tennessee-based retailer Know Brainer. Another credible review is available on the site of retailer NovuScript. Because the DS-4000 is meant mainly for office work, we found no consumer reviews at mainstream websites.
The Olympus DS-4000 is a professional digital voice recorder for dictation and transcription. The DS-4000 has more editing functions than you'll find on basic voice recorders and its highly compressed audio format (DSS) allows faster transfer of files, whether to your computer or to a transcription service. The DS-4000 uses removable memory cards, and the included 32 MB card will hold about five hours at the highest recording quality (or about 11 hours at the lowest quality). If all you want to do is record lectures or notes, the less expensive Olympus WS-311M (*est. $80) would be a better choice.
Our Sources
Reviewer Tom Hamilton, an employee of Know Brainer, a Tennessee retailer of dictation equipment and voice-recognition software, compares the Olympus DS-4000 to the Philips 9600 digital voice recorder. Both are called "outstanding."
Review: Philips9600 vs. Olympus DS-4000, Tom Hamilton, Jan. 12, 2008
2. Digital Bits
Reviewer Andy Kaiser is a syndicated newspaper columnist who writes about technical issues. He addresses the Olympus DS-4000 in terms of features, but no performance notes are included.
Review: Digital Voice Recorder Review, Andy Kaiser
PocketLint.co.uk is a British product review website. Reviewer Dan Leonard gives the Olympus DS-4000 a score of nine out of 10, nothing that it's worth the price for professionals.
Review: Olympus DS-4000 Voice Recorder Review, Dan Leonard, June 15, 2004
Bret Williams is general manager of NovuScript, a California retailer of dictation and transcribing equipment and voice-recognition software. In this review, he compares the Philips Pocket Memo 9600 to the Olympus DS-4000.
Review: Review: Philips 9600, Bret Williams, June 11, 2007
Digital Voice Recorders Runners Up:
3 picks including: Amazon.com, O'Reilly Digital Media…
3 picks including: Amazon.com, O'Reilly Digital Media…
3 picks by top review sites.
2 picks by top review sites.
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