Sony ICD-SX700

I originally used one of these (much older model) back in the day at school as I found I was missing a lot of the lectures and my notes tended to have gaps in them. Worked a treat and made school a bit easier for me. Over the years I've been part of a few research groups and they tend to use recorders so that they can go back and listen to comments later if they can't remember them. Probably quite useful as I think they do a handful of research groups in one day and I know I'd forget which people were in which groups and stuff like that.

It all started a few years ago but a form went missing with a certain company and suddenly I was faced with an enormous bill. At first I wanted to curl up into a little ball and then I got myself together and went through all my paperwork. I'm one of those people that keeps every piece of paper just in case I ever need to refer to it and thankfully I had a copy of the form that had "gone missing". It came down to my word against theirs and things were called quits. It took a very long time to get to the end of this saga and it was a rough road to travel down but I knew I was right so I had to fight on. Sometimes when you ring up big companies it will say at the start before it puts you through to a person that they record calls for training purposes and that got me thinking. I had stopped talking to them on the phone at all come one point in the fight as each person gave me a different story and I wanted everything in black and white but every now and again they would try to phone so I went out and bought the Sony ICD SX700 recorder. If they were going to make it hard for me then I was going to play the same game! I always made a point of stopping them and saying I am turning on my telephone conversation recorder and that way if I needed to use the conversation at a later date they couldn't say I recorded it illegally or whatever.

It worked really well and I could 98% of the time hear all the words said in the conversation. It was a bit difficult at times to hold the recorder and go through paperwork but I eventually figured out how to put my phone onto speaker and that made life much easier. I never ended up needed to use the few conversations I recorded as that was right at the end of the dispute but I'd do it again if heaven forbid I get into a similar situation.

My husband took it with him to a big work pension meeting so he could listen to it back later (think he was sleepy and couldn't be bothered to take notes). He also trained the dragon and dictated work letter which I thought was very cool and worked perfectly.

Currently one of these will set you back £189 on Amazon.

So product information:

• High quality digital voice recorder featuring triple built-in stereo microphones and playback speaker
• 372 hours recording time (Long Play mode), with 1GB built-in memory for easy storage of all your audio files
• Use as a music player for MP3 / WMA files and store up to 18 hours / 263 audio tracks (MP3, WMA, ID3 tag supported)
• Linear PCM enables you to capture superior CD quality recordings with STHQ (stereo high quality) mode for voice, musical instruments and outside live performances
• Choose from five recording level settings: High (meetings), Low (taking notes), S-High (conferences), Music (instruments) and Manual adjust
• Triple microphone configuration for centre-focusing or stereo recording: 3x noise level reduction (stereo) and 3x more sensitivity (uni-directional)
• Microphone Frequency Optimizer adjusts the response to enhance natural tones
• Noise Cut technology enhances human speech for a much clearer audible range
• Enjoy fast file transfer (voice, MP3 and data) with high-speed USB connection
• Convert recorded sound files to WAV/MP3 format with the supplied Digital Voice Editor Software
• Advanced dictation and recording functions: Divide, Voice Operated Recording, Digital Pitch Control and A-B Repeat
• Pop, Rock, Jazz and Bass equaliser presets, and new "SYNC REC" to automatically divide a file between songs
• Easy-to-read dot-matrix LCD display with backlight
• Recording Level Indicator lets you monitor activity on screen, to ensure a high quality result
• Charge up your battery direct via the high speed USB connection (AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries supplied)
• Table stand reduces noise when recording and carry bag protects your digital voice recorder
• PC/Mac compatible for simple drag & drop file transfer
• Dragon 5 star qualified
• DPC 36 steps speed control

No computer nearby to charge up the recorder? Don't worry you can purchase a plug charge.

© znh3ra54 & oioiyou on Dooyoo 2011