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Good Cheap Digital Voice Recorder for Car/Carry?

-C4-

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As I consider open carrying I am looking for a good cheap digital voice recorder to use just in case something should occur. Can anyone recomend one?

-C4-
 

Mainsail

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-C4- wrote:
As I consider open carrying I am looking for a good cheap digital voice recorder to use just in case something should occur. Can anyone recomend one?

-C4-

Answer and review:

I recently picked upthis little Sony model at Best Buy

41qIpvIucyL._AA280_.jpg


It records somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 hours on long play; I have it set for the highest quality so it’s about 21 hours, still way more than I need.

I chose it because it was very small and because it was the only one that I could see through the packaging had a lanyard hole. The lanyard hole was key though. My old one had to be carried in my pocket and that doesn’t allow for very good voice recording. Holding it in your hand isn’t a good option either, I already have a cell phone and car keys I have to juggle. With the lanyard hole, I can wear the recorder around my neck under my shirt or sweatshirt, and it isn’t noticeable.

Gun: carried openly
Recorder: carried concealed.

I went to a coffee shop on Pacific Avenue in Tacoma Saturday. I had to walk about four blocks from where I parked (right past the Federal Courthouse and a somewhat bewildered security guard) so I started the recorder right before I got out of the car. It recorded the whole trip to and from the coffee shop, including my coffee order, the chit-chat I had with the barista and floor mopper, and even …uh… my urinating. When I got home I used the Sony software that came with the recorder to isolate the order and chit-chat and save it as a sound file. Then I deleted the file off the recorder so it’s ready to go again. The audio is slightly muffled but discernable. My only criticism is that the lanyard hole is on the bottom, so the microphone is pointing down when I’m wearing it. Nevertheless, I could hear what I was saying quite plainly, and could make out what the cashier, barista, and floor mopper (three to six feet away from me) were saying with only a little difficulty. With headphones on I could probably hear it even easier. I imagine if I was speaking to someone standing right in front of me, the recorder would pick that up even better.
 

vrwmiller

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I have the Olympus VN4100-PC. It has served me well, good quality, good recordings. It even took a dip in the Shenandoah River and worked just as good as it did before it took that dip. Of course, it had to dry out for a day first.
 

-C4-

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Cool. I was looking at that one as well as some of the higher end Olympus ones with the built in stereo mics.
 

possumboy

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vrwmiller wrote:
I have the Olympus VN4100-PC. It has served me well, good quality, good recordings. It even took a dip in the Shenandoah River and worked just as good as it did before it took that dip. Of course, it had to dry out for a day first.
So does it have a lanyard or a way to carry out of pockets and hands free? I need the lanyard option also.
 

RogueWarrior

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Go into your local Office Max they have a lot of digital recordersand some of them are reasonably priced

John
 

Mainsail

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-C4- wrote:
As I consider open carrying I am looking for a good cheap digital voice recorder to use just in case something should occur. Can anyone recomend one?

-C4-
RogueAussie said:
Go into your local Office Max they have a lot of digital recordersand some of them are reasonably priced

John
[/quote]

:question:
 

BB62

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I like the idea of having an external microphone that I can clip to my collar. Both recorders seem to have that ability.

Does anyone have any experience with external mics vs the built in ones?

BTW - I still like the idea of video too. This one records to a memory chip:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=8&scid=86&pid=709

And if you Google "helmet cam" you can find other, more concealable, but more expensive ones.
 

OC-Glock19

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BB62 wrote:
I like the idea of having an external microphone that I can clip to my collar. Both recorders seem to have that ability.

Does anyone have any experience with external mics vs the built in ones?

BTW - I still like the idea of video too. This one records to a memory chip:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=8&scid=86&pid=709

And if you Google "helmet cam" you can find other, more concealable, but more expensive ones.

I have this recorder: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1271

It records 72 hours of audio, but considerably less than that in high-quality mode, but I don't forsee having the need of 25 hours of continuous recording. The benefit of this recorder is that it's less expensive.
 

Tomahawk

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OC-Glock19 wrote:
I have this recorder: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1271

It records 72 hours of audio, but considerably less than that in high-quality mode, but I don't forsee having the need of 25 hours of continuous recording. The benefit of this recorder is that it's less expensive.
I don't see a way to get files from that thing onto a computer. USB interface is a must.
 

imperialism2024

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Here's an interesting question: Is digital audio admissible in court? There's no use in having one of these items if only tape is admissible. Any thoughts on maybe using those miniature tape recorders?
 

vrwmiller

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possumboy wrote:
vrwmiller wrote:
I have the Olympus VN4100-PC. It has served me well, good quality, good recordings. It even took a dip in the Shenandoah River and worked just as good as it did before it took that dip. Of course, it had to dry out for a day first.
So does it have a lanyard or a way to carry out of pockets and hands free? I need the lanyard option also.
Mine did not come with one, but I have an Olympus digital camera that has a lanyard. I use that one. I loop the lanyard around my belt and carry the recorder in my front left pocket.
 

OC-Glock19

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Tomahawk wrote:
OC-Glock19 wrote:
I have this recorder: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1271

It records 72 hours of audio, but considerably less than that in high-quality mode, but I don't forsee having the need of 25 hours of continuous recording. The benefit of this recorder is that it's less expensive.
I don't see a way to get files from that thing onto a computer. USB interface is a must.
It comes with software and a USB cable. After you install the software you plug in the recorder and click the file folder you want to transfer and it does it automatically. It saves the audio clips as WAV files. I hope this helps.
 

Tomahawk

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OC-Glock19 wrote:
Tomahawk wrote:
OC-Glock19 wrote:
I have this recorder: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1271

It records 72 hours of audio, but considerably less than that in high-quality mode, but I don't forsee having the need of 25 hours of continuous recording. The benefit of this recorder is that it's less expensive.
I don't see a way to get files from that thing onto a computer. USB interface is a must.
It comes with software and a USB cable. After you install the software you plug in the recorder and click the file folder you want to transfer and it does it automatically. It saves the audio clips as WAV files. I hope this helps.

Looks like the advertising is selling it short. From the "package contents" tab on your link:

title_1271.gif





• VN-3100 Digital Voice Recorder



• 2 AAA Alkaline Batteries
 

Thundar

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Newport News, Virginia, USA
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Mainsail wrote:
-C4- wrote:
As I consider open carrying I am looking for a good cheap digital voice recorder to use just in case something should occur. Can anyone recomend one?

-C4-

Answer and review:

I recently picked upthis little Sony model at Best Buy

41qIpvIucyL._AA280_.jpg


It records somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 hours on long play; I have it set for the highest quality so it’s about 21 hours, still way more than I need.

I chose it because it was very small and because it was the only one that I could see through the packaging had a lanyard hole. The lanyard hole was key though. My old one had to be carried in my pocket and that doesn’t allow for very good voice recording. Holding it in your hand isn’t a good option either, I already have a cell phone and car keys I have to juggle. With the lanyard hole, I can wear the recorder around my neck under my shirt or sweatshirt, and it isn’t noticeable.

Gun: carried openly
Recorder: carried concealed.

I went to a coffee shop on Pacific Avenue in Tacoma Saturday. I had to walk about four blocks from where I parked (right past the Federal Courthouse and a somewhat bewildered security guard) so I started the recorder right before I got out of the car. It recorded the whole trip to and from the coffee shop, including my coffee order, the chit-chat I had with the barista and floor mopper, and even …uh… my urinating. When I got home I used the Sony software that came with the recorder to isolate the order and chit-chat and save it as a sound file. Then I deleted the file off the recorder so it’s ready to go again. The audio is slightly muffled but discernable. My only criticism is that the lanyard hole is on the bottom, so the microphone is pointing down when I’m wearing it. Nevertheless, I could hear what I was saying quite plainly, and could make out what the cashier, barista, and floor mopper (three to six feet away from me) were saying with only a little difficulty. With headphones on I could probably hear it even easier. I imagine if I was speaking to someone standing right in front of me, the recorder would pick that up even better.

I made the same choice. It is the Sony ICD-PS20. At Best Buy in Chesapeake (With SIG 229 on hip) it was out the door for less than $60 with tax.

Funny how we have differentpreferences inrecorders, just like we have differentpreferences about firearms.
 
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