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Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2OAPL46G538DH my review on the vn 4100 pc recorder
I have had this recorder's nearly identical little brother, the VN-480PC for well over five years of very heavy use now, and I wanted to move up to this, the largest capacity version of Olympus recorders with the exact same feature set.While the VN-480PC has just short of three hours total record time at the highest resolution "HQ" setting, this has just short of twelve hours total at its highest resolution "XHQ" setting.I wanted the extra capacity, plus the possibility of slightly better sound quality over that of the already excellent VN-480PC.There are a few other minor features of this recorder, such as two variations in playback speed, but I will detail only the features I use often.1) Five way controller that even a first time user can understand for fast forward, rewind, playback, and volume adjust.2) Five separate buttons for other purposes, including folder selection/index, display/menu, record, stop, and delete.3) Two settings - HI and LOW - for recording level settings - I use LOW for recording up close and HI for large rooms or even arenas.3) USB port to allow download of the audio files to computer - While this does work, the port is only USB 1.1, making it ten times slower than the industry standard USB 2.0.Also, since this recorder is not recognized as a Mass Storage Device, you MUST use the rather clunky software packaged with the recorder to perform the downloads.I rarely use the download capability, though, so this is of little concern to me.4) An integral speaker with decent sound quality, an excellent quality integral microphone, and a microphone jack and headphone jack.5) A clock with date that allows file dates and times to reflect exactly when they were created, as well as for the timer.6) A timer function that allows the user to precisely set when the recorder automatically starts, then automatically stops - I use this function daily to record talk radio shows to listen to later.7) Four folders to allow the user to separate his recordings to better organize them - This should come in handy for organizing interviews or lectures. Each folder can contain up to 100 recordings.8) Up to ten index marks per file - These are basically like bookmarks for the audio files that allow instant access to any point that has one inserted, and they come in extremely handy for jumping to specific points for later study.As for the recorder itself, the interface is quite easy to master, and the instructions are only really needed to better explain some of the more advanced functions that most users will never employ.Also, for those of you who are out looking for something to make CD quality stereo recordings, look elsewhere.This is a mono recorder intended mainly for speech, even though it works extremely well for that purpose.Also, anyone intending to use the headphone jack should know that the audio plays only through the left channel, but that is fine with me, as that lowers power consumption, and because I only listen through the left side anyway.I have also used the VN-480PC, the lower capacity version of this, for over five years, for six hours combined record/playback time EACH DAY.That would be unbelievable in a recorder that was kept in a padded box, but I carry mine around on my person the entire time I am listening to it, bumping it occasionally and even dropping it about six times.It's the Energizer Bunny, even though I have put it through upwards of 10,000 hours of use already.That is remarkable, to put it mildly.I still use that old recorder daily, but this will be there to replace it when I either somehow destroy it (one wonders.what would it take). or lose it altogether.One last vendor specific note is that my particular recorder was posted on here as brand new, but arrived in opened packaging and was damaged.I contacted the vendor about a return, then (just to see if I could do it, since I am very good at repairs) very carefully disassembled it.I figured out how to make it work by very carefully straightening a thin plastic pin on the backside of the controller, although I am extra careful with it now because the plastic pin is now weakened, but the vendor already refunded the full price in that time without asking for a return.I appreciate the honesty of the vendor, but I will hang onto the recorder, since the vendor apologized for the inconvenience and declined a return.Consider it just the cost of doing business.
The data was worth it, so I gave them the go ahead. I bought this for taking notes in the field which I would later edit, so that connecting to a computer was not an issue and neither was fidelity. When I got it back, it was fixed but my data was lost. After learning to use it I took it on an 8 day trip in the woods; when I got back, I could not retrieve my data. I sent it to Olympus and they said they could fix it for $40 and I would probably get my data back. Evidently this happened because I did not replace the battery as soon as the "battery low" sign appeared. This seems to me to be a pretty serious design flaw.
I borrowed this device from a friend and must place a review about this product. I have many files and there is no way to individually copy over certain files. Problem is when its connected to my PC, I have no idea which files are in which folder.
I consider this software almost unusable if you record a lot of files. Now I must blindly transfer the ENTIRE FOLDER which takes forever. I think the product works fine, but where it FAILS is the terrible terrible software.
I simply am not allowed to view the file names. The transfer rate is horrific and I cannot even see what files are in the folders. This system uses 4 folders (A-D), it allows you to separate where you record your voice files.
If you only have a few files, its no problem. You have to copy everything and at a snail's pace.This need to update this software badly.
I HAVE USED THIS SEVERAL TIMES AT MY MEETINGS SO WHEN I GET HOME I CAN REVIEW PEOPLES SUGGESTIONS AND NEW POLICIES.ITS LIGHTWEIGHT SO I CAN TAKE IT ANYWHERE.MOST OF THE TIME I JUST TURN IT ON AND STICK IT IN MY POCKET.
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