I have been looking for a reasonably priced, small but decent-quality recording device for note-taking and to record the minutes of meetings. Size and weight is important (it has to be as light as possible) and the quality of the recording has to be good. The recording cannot be scratchy, making transcriptions difficult. I have noticed at electronics stores new digital recorders with no moving parts. Are these worth considering instead of an old-style, but new model, micro-cassette recorder, or a mini-disc recorder? JOANNY MITCHELL Happy Valley I have bought all three - but then I am a silly gadget nut who just cannot seem to kick the habit of going in for new bits and bobs at the drop of a hat. Let me start by ruling out the digital-recording devices available. They are just not going to cut it for the kind of work you want to do.
Digital recorders such as the Toshiba DMR 120, which I bought for about $1,200 some time ago, are lighter than micro-cassettes and mini-discs and priced between them. As its name suggests, the DMR 120 can record two hours of sound. I have seen other brands of such recorders advertised as being able to handle up to four hours.
The problem is that the sound quality sucks big time - on the DMR 120, at least. To get any sort of recording, you have to shove the thing halfway up the speaker's left nostril. Even the use of a directional microphone stapled to the speaker's lower lip improves things only slightly.
Transcribing notes taken on such a recorder will drive you spare well before the recording time limit is reached. More importantly, when the recording device is full, you obviously have to erase sessions on it to tape new ones, or transfer existing sessions to other media via an adapter jack. The latter is easy to do, but the time spent on the job adds up. On the positive side, the DMR 120 runs on two AAA batteries and I have not needed to change the batteries in mine for two months. I use the device at least twice a week for about 30 minutes at a time.
A micro-cassette recorder is your cheapest alternative and models from Sony, Panasonic and Philips are quite small and offer decent recording quality and battery life. Depending on your choice of functionality you can pick one up for between $400 and $1,300.
My money would be on a mini-disc. Of the three systems, its sound quality is far better and it also is much more durable than a cassette. Mini-disc players chew up batteries like popcorn, but at least they come with rechargeable batteries that can be used longer than standard alkaline cells.
With all the bits and pieces attached such as extra rechargeable battery, earphones and external microphone, even the smallest mini-disc player will be bigger than a digital recorder or micro-cassette player, and a little heavier. However, for recording important meetings it is the best option. Prices for original products - as against Shenzhen knock-offs - range from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on size, model and functionality.