Olympus VN-702PC

Bottom Line

Resting at the low end of the digital voice recorder spectrum both in terms of price and added extras, the Olympus VN-702PC handles a solid range of everyday recording tasks like a boss. It's a top choice for anyone looking to capture lectures, classes and interviews.

Performance

Pared down but reasonably powerful. The Olympus VN-702PC can only record in MP3 and WMA audio formats, meaning it's not appropriate for music and professional work. But if you are looking for something to for lectures and general note-taking, the digital voice recorder's value and performance are hard to beat. On the whole, users report getting excellent audio quality in classrooms and meeting spots, though some settings can produce more background noise that interferes with recordings. Audio playback through the internal speakers suffers due to low volume, reports say, but it's fine when using headphones or listening on a compu

Ease Of Use

It's elementary. There aren't a lot of advanced functions to get tangled up in with this voice recorder. Many users find it intuitive to operate, easy to handle and reliable when they need to capture audio for work, class or play. A very limited number of users raised complaints over problems with understanding the manual or transferring files to a computer. We also saw complaints that you are apt to lose part of a recording if the battery runs out of juice while it is being made. The built-in 2 GB of memory holds a lot of recording time, and the Olympus VN-702PC can accept microSD cards (up to 32 GB) for additional recording time if needed.

Value

Basic and affordable. The Olympus VN-702PC delivers reliable performance and great sound if you're looking to record speech and little else. Despite a dearth of fancy features, this recorder hits the sweet spot in affordability for basic day-to-day recording needs.