I picked up this Olympus microcassette recorder from Staples for 35 bucks. Why? It’s a quick way for me to record an idea or something I need to remember to do. My cell phone has a voice recorder but it allows only 10 notes. There’s also a voice recorder on my PDA, but I need to enter a password then navigate some menus to get at it. I also have pen and paper in my wallet, but it’s faster to speak than to write.
So whether I’m sitting in the car, or taking a shower, or walking along the street, I can quickly take this out and press Record when I need to note an idea for later. Of course, it’s sometimes not appropriate to pull out a tape recorder, such as when you’re having a conversation with someone, in which case you use pen and paper. But it’s pretty handy for most situations (not to mention cheap).
I transfer these voice notes to my main system (Outlook) every few days, or during my GTD Weekly Review on Saturdays.
It’s a hardy little unit. As General Chuck Yeager said in praise of an engine, “Simple, few parts, easy to maintain, very strong.”
You couldn't find one that is solid state rather than mechanical?
ReplyDeleteI made the mistake of buying a solid state recorder (not waterproof) not realizing it didn't sync to a computer (who would have thought?).
Hi Doug,
ReplyDeleteThe solid state ones were a bit more expensive, so I decided to go with this one. Also, I had an Olympus microcassette recorder in the past, and found it to work well.
What do you like about the solid state ones?
No moving parts - i would presume its more reliable and compact! And small. But it frustrates me I can't sync it to my computer.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd take it into the shower tho.
Whatever happened to a pen and a notebook? Just sayin'.
ReplyDelete-Lola