What do you record lecture with?

WDWpixieRN, RN · Jan 28, 2008

I use an Olympus WS-300M Digital Voice Recorder which I like for the most part. No tapes, quiet, fairly easy to use; only requires one AAA battery; USB port adapter built right in to the recorder which means I don't have to carry cables; extremely small and easy to carry with my other stuff.

Downsides? Need to keep an extra AAA battery handy at all times to use as a back up as it dies at the darnedest times; difficult to hear in the car which necessitates transferring all my lectures to CD to listen to while driving; after trying different media players on my computer, I found out that the best one for the purposes of transferring my lectures to CD is ITunes -- Windows Media Player and others don't seem to transfer to a format that my car will play (this really frustrated me for some time).

Those are the main things I come up with quickly. This particular model also does some MP3 storage, but I don't use that. You may be able to find an Olympus that's slightly cheaper that doesn't include the MP3 stuff.

I spent time looking around on allnurses for suggestions and then also dug around on Amazon.com for 'voice recorders' and read reviews from that site. There's always

some great information to be found there.

Best wishes!!

SusanKathleen, RN · Jan 28, 2008

Hi,

I have an Olympus Digital Voice Recorder VN-4100PC. Very nice, very tiny, easy to use. Has great sound. Can be hooked up to the computer.

I have used it in class: first microbiology last semester, but it was useless there because the acoustics in the room prevented good recording. It picked up EVERYTHING! Shuffling papers, coughing - everything reverberated. The prof moved about too much. I was recording him because his accent was so thick, I missed many of his comments. I gave up after trying 3 times in that room.

Next - I'm using it this semester in orgo/biochemistry. Different room, apparently great acoustics. It works extremely well here, and I glance at the time recorder and write it down for things I want to listen to again. I can just fast-forward to any time stamp. Very nice feature. This prof also wanders around, but I hear everything clearly, without all the background noise.

Battery life is great. Very small, lightweight, unobtrusive. Easy-to-read screen. Worth the money.

APBT mom, LPN, RN · Jan 28, 2008

I have an Olympus VN-1000.

Good points: small, no tapes, records for 15 hours if you play with the settings, has 4 folders so you can separate lectures by class, and batteries last a long time

Bad points: sometimes it doesn't record clearly, picks up a lot of background noise, and doesn't have a port to attach to a computer and burn a CD like other models do since it the technology wasn't available at the time I bought it.

I've had this one for a few years so I'm probably going to upgrade to one that does have the port for the computer but it gets the job done.

Kitty Hawk, ADN, RN · Jan 28, 2008

I have the Olympus DS-30 and I love it! It's prob the priciest of the bunch b/c it has a bunch of bells and whistles, and I don't even use it for that but it's the best on clarity for our school. (a classmate went through 3 of the other models before having to take them back and get the DS-30) It could be a set up of our classroom though...it's seriously a refurbished pool!

I like that it has different settings, lecture, conference etc... It also has noise cancel and voice filter that you interchange (one for when recording one when playback) that help to really capture voices. It also has index tabs that you can hit the button during a lecture and then when you are reviewing you can fast forward to that point. To be honest anymore, with taking nursing plus 2 co-reqs I don't honestly have the time to go back and listen to all the hours of lecture (wish I could!) so at least I can hone in on specific points.

Some people that started off w/recorders aren't using them anymore b/c of the time element, but I find for me it def helps me relax incase we have a speed demon for a lecturer or are covering a complex subject....mine is the best "tool" I've bought yet, I def use it more than my PDA.

HTH