Olympus DM 20 128 MB

Author's product rating:   

Sound Quality	Good
Ease of Use	Average
Look & Design	Good
Range of Features	Average
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Very small and light
Disadvantages:	None !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I was recently assessed for Disabled Students Allowance at my university. One of the things that we decided would help me was a dictaphone and so 6 weeks later the Olympus DM-20 turned up on my doorstep!

~*~ First Impressions ~*~

I had expected a cheap dictaphone as the university was providing it for me, and therefore that is what I expected it to look like. How wrong could I be?

I have never had a dictaphone before and therefore wasnt quite sure what to expect but the first thing I noticed about this is that it didn't have a tape. Instead you had to download the files onto the computer and use the software provided with the player to work with whatever you have saved. I originally found this a little complicated but that probably wasnt helped by the fact that I went straight in without even looking at the instructions!

The other thing I had noticed about this player was how small and light it was! I had expected something bulkier and heavier.

~*~ Looks ~*~

The Olympus DM-20 measures 11cm x 4cm x 1.5cm and weighs just 85g including the batteries.

The dictaphone is made of silver metal and has several buttons on the front and side. The buttons and writing on the front are very small and I have trouble reading it if I dont have my glasses on. However the buttons are spaced well enough to make them easily accessible and easy to use without pressing the wrong one by mistake! The optins on the front are: Display/menu, Index, Folder/repeat and Erase. The erase button is marked with a red line to stop it being pressed by accident.

The buttons on the side are much larger although the writing for them is silver making it even harder for me to see what they are! However this problem is at least partly solved by the fact that they have the usual play, rewind, stop symbols marked on the buttons. These are also silver but they are large enough to reflect the light so I can usually tell what they are at a glance. The buttons on the side are: volume, fast forward and rewind, play, stop and record. The record button is also marked with a red line to prevent me pressing that by accident. Although havin said that there have been times when Ive mistaken the erase for the record and vica versa! Although seeing as theyre on two different parts of the player that shouldnt be that easy to do and probably says more about me than it does about the player!

~*~ Features ~*~

Built-in microphone - To be honest with you as I've never had a dictaphone before I can't compare this with one that didn't have a built in microphone! but it des semm to work well, Ive never noticed any problems using it and my friends have commented on how it reduces background noise.

Built-in Display LCD - The screen is small but it is bright enough and the writing is large enough to be able to easily see what track your playing and how far along in it you are. I have dropped the player a few times and the screen has not cracked or showed any visible problem

Display Illumination - Ok, now this may just be my player but there is a button to enable you to turn on a light behind the screen so that you can see it in the dark ... but it doesnt work! Never has and probable never will! However that doesnt affect the playback or recording at all and so I've never worried about it. And as Ive already stated that may be just a fault with my particular player rather than with this make as a whole

Record Level Control Automatic - Again I can't compare this with a player that doesnt have this as Ive never had one! But I haven't had any problems with it, even when the person I'm recording has been sat quite far away from me it has always picked it up and just the right level, so Im guessing that means it works!

Stereo sound - I don't tend to use my player for music and so I've never had a need for this feature, but it's there and I just tried it quickly now and it does work, actually it probably works better than it does on my CD player!

Battery life - Ive used two sets of batteries in this now, both lasted for about 60 hours, which is more than enough for me!

Quality of playback - I can't even find one fault here! The playback is excellent. When recording it reduces the background noise automatically and this is reflected in what it plays back, the music quality is also just as good. I can't find one fault here at all

Travel Lock - Excellent feature! Its a sliding switch at the back of the player, I love this feature on items as Im always accidentally pressing buttons, and it's normally the ones such as record or erase and its always that most important piece of work that I erase! The only problem I had with this feature is that as Its at the back of the player and slides easily it can take itself off... which kind of defeats the point of it being a key lock.

~*~ Other points worth noting? ~*~

The playback time is claimed to be 1255 mins, Ive never had to record anything for that long (and hopefully never will!) and so can't tell you how true that is but I have been able to record multiple songs, lectures and notes on here and still not come near to running out of room.

The playback time is divided into 5 folders. You can easily switch between the five of them and so I tend to divide the different things im recording into each of its own folders so I dont have to skip through all my lectures just to get to my music.

With the player you also get: a hand strap, a USB cable, a docking station for your computer and a carrying case with room for the headphones (including the microphone), spare batteries and the player

This player cost £185.00 and in my opinion is well worth the money. It does have a few faults such as the screen not lighting up but despite this the player is still very good quality and I would recommend it.