Related Sponsors

What do I need to know before buying a digital voice recorder?

Home » Gadgets » Digital Voice Recorders » What do I need to know before buying a digital voice recorder?

Before you buy a digital voice recorder, you should figure out what features are most important to fit your needs. The following list will give you an idea of what’s available.

Recording Time - Some recorders boast over 250 hours of recording time. Generally, advertised recording time numbers, however, need to be taken with a grain of salt. The higher the quality of the recording, the fewer hours of recording time will be available. Be sure to check the box to see how long you can record in high quality mode. This is the quality of recording voice-to-print or voice recognition software will need for transcription.

Data Storage - For business purposes, it's handy to have a digital voice recorder that can handle more than just voice files. Digital voice recorders with USB mass storage class support can store other types of files, such as documents and images, as well as audio.

Another aspect of data storage to look for is the ability to organize your files. For file management purposes, be sure that the digital voice recorder will store voice recording data in a minimum of three separate folders.

Recording Features - Look for a digital recorder transcriber with a full range of features to help manage your recordings easier. Does the digital recorder have voice activation, for instance, which stops recording automatically whenever there's a period of silence, or include cue/review features that make it easier for you to find the section of the recording you want to play back? Does the digital recorder have an LCD display and what information is displayed?

PC Connectivity - PC connectivity is a feature that the most inexpensive digital voice recorders don't have, but for some is a must-have. By plugging your recorder into your PC, you can save the files on the hard drive and not have to store them on the recorder until you have time to manually transcribe them.

Transcription - If you want to be able to transcribe the voice files you record with your digital voice recorder into text, you will have to have some type of software that will perform transcription. Some digital voice recorders come bundled with voice recognition software or their own proprietary transcription software. In other cases, you will have to purchase it separately.

Special Transcription Features - If you're going to share your digital voice recorder with your business associates or employees, look for one that allows individual user IDs. Some transcription software includes management features, such as allowing you to assign different work types to dictation, or automatically sending all your downloaded transcription to a specific e-mail address.

Next Page: What are the top digital voice recorders?

Related Digital Voice Recorders Articles