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This is the best recorder I have for recording EVP - not good for recording voices in large, echo-ey places, but is very easy to work with and I have had NO problems with it and it has been used and abused in all types of weather.The only time I had a hard time hearing playback was trying to listen to human voices recorded in the pool area on the Queen Mary. (Very echoey area)LaurieDirector DCPR
The sound isn't the greatest when listening to what was said, but if you put on headphones, that helps A LOT. It plays it back. I use this to record lectures. It records. If you want something small and digital that records with no bells and whistles, this is it.
Both devices have a sliding switch which enables/disables the buttons but on the Olympus when the unit is locked the display is mostly blank, so you can determine that the device is locked at a glance. Keypad lock is useful when you have always full pockets like I do and need to make sure the unit does not accidentally start recording or playback. This means that you can't quickly adjust volume like on the Olympus. The Sony keeps the display exactly the same, so the only way to determine whether the unit is locked is to either check the lock switch before operating OR press a button and see if the function starts (in which case it's unlocked) or the display flashes "lock" (in which case it was locked when you pressed a button). This means it is always falling out of my shirt pocket when I lean or bend over. Let me explain:With the Olympus, you press the same button to start recording as you do to stop it. This is not the case.For starters the Sony doesn't come with a shirt pocket clip like the Olympus.
This is intolerable, especially for a product that has Sony's name on it.Both use two AAA batteries and are approximately the same size although the Sony is a bit taller.As for the user interface and overall product usability the Sony is the loser here. If you mistakenly press the PLAY/STOP one the recording will stop but immediately playback the just-finished recording, which is probably NOT what you meant to do. In theory if you hold down VOL + the volume will increase rapidly but in reality there is a delay before the rapid increase kicks in, making the feature useless.As you probably can detect from this review I am somewhat disappointed with the Sony ICD-B100. Why have multiple buttons marked STOP.Another stupid thing is how the Sony handles the keypad lock function. One would expect, then, that the Sony is the superior product.
The Sony implements volume control using two digital buttons, one each for up/down. To start recording you press REC, then to stop you press the small inconveniently located STOP button (not the PLAY/STOP one). This is truly poor interface design.And thirdly, the volume control on the Olympus is a old fashioned volume control that you rotate with your finger to increase/decrease volume. This is nice because you can quickly change the volume. There is a REC/PAUSE button, another labelled PLAY/STOP and yet another smaller one labelled STOP. I've compared the Sony ICD-B100 recorder to the Olympus VN-1800 which I bought a couple of years ago.Keep in mind this Olympus recorder is few years older than the Sony.
With the Sony there are many more buttons, making operation more difficult. The Sony doesn't have a shirt clip but comes with a *hole* for use with a lanyard or handstrap but *no lanyard* was provided with the product. I guess you have to find your own. Although from what I understand even newer Olympus models are different in operation from the VN-1800.
When there is no recording going on the and hold button is activated, the device will turn off itself and everything will be saved. If you try to do hold while recording, it will keep recording. To all those saying that there is not an off switch, there is. duh. Just like an ipod's hold switch, this works very well. The hold button on the side acts as the power button. the reviewers that gave this recorder one star obviously didn't read the instruction manuel.
For good quality there are only 1hour 30 minutes. Also, eight hours are enough for records with very low quality. I bought it in WalMart and returned it. I wonder, why there is no switcher ON/OFF. In the end, you can not put you information somewhere else (computer or other tape recorder).
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