The machine is attractively packaged, having a black and silver case and weighs about 275g. It measures approx 11cm by 4cm by 9cm, taking a standard cassette size, as opposed to the micro ones. This should mean that the overall quality is better but you pay for the size and bulk of the thing. It's as heavy, and the same size, as your average Walkman.
The voice operated recording (VOR) works fine and the sliding switch on the front to vary the recording time gives 'Normal' and 'Double', effectively doubling the amount of recording time you can use. The microphone is a built-in electret condenser mic and is mono. Again, this does the job as an effective dictating machine but not alot else.
The Record button is at the side but above the other buttons and is coloured red. As you might expect, it's a one-touch operation to record. The Stop button is just below it, followed by Play, then REW/Review and FF/Cue. The Pause sliding button is at the bottom, which can be frustrating when you're recording and not using VOC, especially if you only have one hand free.
The machine does have a hand strap attached to the main body. You can easily get your hand through but you'd have to cut the strap off if you didn't want it. (Mine remained sellotaped to the back of the machine for ages)
Also on the side is a variable speed dial, rotating between fast and slow.
On the top of the machine, you have a small dial for volume and MIC and EAR jacks. The MIC has 'Plug in Power'. The EAR jack is supposed to be mono, but I recently used a pair of Walkman headphones out of necessity and was very surprised to hear the sound coming out of both ears!!!! People thinking that it could therefore be used as a Walkman should be wary; the sound quality is not as good and I only listen to spoken word on it.
The VOR slide switch is also on the top, featuring OFF/LOW/HIGH options.
The built-in speaker is an obvious feature, situated at the front. It has a 'Clear Voice' noise reduction. It's fine for spoken word but only has 0.2 Watt as power. If you listen to things like Radio Plays or Audio books, this is fine if you're in a quiet room and the player is relatively near.
The cassette recorder is mechanical and there's no button to press to open the tape compartment. This suites me and isn't a problem.
The buttons have a slight plasticy feel to them but the machine is robust enough, surviving frequent trips to work in rucksack and briefcase.
The unit takes two AA type batteries. The big plus for me, however, is that it can be mains powered. A word of caution though, the jack to fit this isn't the standard one, but one of Sony's own. It's a lot smaller than you would expect but you can buy adapters with multiple fittings, which is what I did.
Overall, a good product. If it's just personal dictation you need, I'd look elsewhere for a micro-cassette machine. Those wishing to combine recording with some audio book listening (in a quiet room!) may need look no further.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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