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| Product: Digital Voice Recorder V-90 |
Company: Olympus |
| Web: www.olympusamerica.com |
Phone: 800-547-4027 |
| Platform: Your palm |
SRP: US$100
Street Price: same |
Cred Rating: | Special Award:
Object Value |
Olympus continues to outdo themselves with beautifully-designed personal audio devices that sport innovative features. Their latest offering is the Digital Voice Recorder V-90. This tiny silver object looks like something from Men in Black and weighs an almost imperceptible 1.6 ounces.
Using flash memory (instead of a removable media), the V-90 allows you to record up to ninety minutes in "long play" mode and thirty-three minutes in a higher-quality "short play" mode. The audio notes can be stored in three different folders. One is used as a "scratch"/temporary folder, a second is used for saving memos and the third is used for storing alert messages for scheduled playback.
A single AAA battery gives you about ten hours of record time. The audio quality is excellent. My son Blake and I put it to the test. We tried recording with the device at varying distances from our mouths, under different ambient noise conditions, etc., all with impressive results. While I was on the phone on our side porch making phone calls, my son tried taping me from inside the house (with the porch door open). To our astonishment, he got completely intelligible audio from inside the door (about 10'), in the middle of the living room (about 15') and half-way up the stairs (over 20'). I was sitting in a chair, around the corner from the door, behind a brick wall, so this was very impressive. Now I just need to make sure that he doesn't get ahold of this thing and record me when I'm not aware of it.
The V-90 also allows you to record messages to yourself that can be played back at pre-determined times. Scheduled alarm playbacks (without an audio message) are also possible.
I've always been reluctant to use a memo recorder because they were an obtrusive size and weight, you had to speak too loudly, and the audio quality was often unacceptable. The Digital Voice Recorder V-90 has handily erased these obstacles. Note to self: Start dropping hints to the wife that the V-90 would make a smashing Father's Day gift.
- Gareth Branwyn [5/17/99]
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