OLYMPUS VN 120 DICTAPHONE (Dictaphones in General)

Member Name: killerwhale

Product:	Dictaphones in General
Date:	19/05/05 (2669 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Light, Sound Quality, ease of use

Disadvantages: Get PC version for USB connection

The size of a mobile, this handy little gadget will help anyone who is suffering from memory loss or if like me you are just overloaded with information at work. This can become your second brain!

I’ll get to technical stuff in a minute but will try and intersperse with my thoughts on the day-to-day use and functionality, which I hope, will be more help. Errrr….. Well I think that was my plan?…. I’ll just check the Dictaphone. (Sorry poor attempt at humour!)

Ok; so as I say, small and compact, slimmer and a tad smaller than my Nokia mobile, practically weightless this is NOT a ‘brick’ to carry about. Trust me this weighs about the same as two AA batteries. There is a handy clip to attach to shirt, trousers or wherever you fancy placing this about your person. Personally it just sits in my pocket and I often forget its even there.

Simple to operate, a’ hold’ switch on the side operates as on / off. A menu wheel, like many mobile phones allows you to stop/play/locate recordings with ease. There are separate record, erase, display and menu keys.

The Dictaphone has a clear screen, which displays all the information you need such as; battery life, folder, time remaining to record, date and time.

Digital technology means no tapes to replace or get tangled as with the old type Dictaphones.

TOP TIP!
As there is no tape please note that if you want to save your recordings then make sure you get the PC version (i.e. VN-120PC) as this has a USB terminal for connection to your computer.

There are three levels of recording quality and hence differing recording times.
HQ - 43 mins approx.
SP - 65 mins approx.
LP - 121 mins approx.

Two levels of sensitivity are available. I use LOW, as this proves best for dictation, as the microphone tends to be uni directional in this mode. HI sensitivity picks up sound in all directions.

As I say I use my machine mainly for dictation and the quality is excellent. If you wanted to record other stuff such as music, birdsong your screaming kids! I’m not sure about the quality. There is a socket for an external microphone that I’m sure would boost the quality.

Battery life is about 25 hours for ordinary batteries but the machine can run on rechargeable Ni-MH and you will get about 19 hours from these. The machine takes two AA batteries.

The machine has three folders A, B and.. Yes you guessed it C. Clever aren’t they!
Within each folder it is possible to record 100 files. Practically speaking this helps to organise and locate your recordings. I tend to use ‘A’ for work related topics, ‘B’ for home/domestic stuff and ‘C’ for any Leisure/ general interest information.



TOP TIP!

I work in a College for students who have various Speech and Language difficulties and we use these machines as aide memoirs for many students with memory loss. They do work well. Some students take a while to get to grips with the technology but the beauty is these machines offer adaptability as we have some students just using one folder and others who can navigate their way around all three.

Well that it except to say I picked mine up for £29.99 but as I seem to say at the end of these reviews trawl the Internet… A bargain is often to be had… but watch for added post and packing charges.

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