OM SYSTEMVN-541 PC (Successor Olympus VN-541 PC) Digital Voice Recorder with Omnidirectional Microphone, One-Touch Recording, Noise Cancellation & 4 GB Memory

Very good voice recorder, did the job perfectly well. Connected to my MacBook Air with no problems and transferred the relevant files easily. Would recommend without any hesitation.

This comes with the recorder, a micro USB lead and 2 X AAA batteries. It is really nice it comes with the batteries but the downside of this is that there is no build in rechargeable battery. However having separate batteries does mean you can carry some spares with you.It is fairly small and light and while you can transfer files to a PC you can also playback on the device speaker, although it is not brilliant it is serviceable for voice.It is really easy to use, to start a recording you just flip a little switch and off it goes. The quality is very good on playback but it does pick up background noise with the internal mic but you can plug in your own with the 3.5mm jack and also plugin headphones too, which gives this some very good versatility. It means you can do proper voice recordings and listen to them with proper wired headphones. This is a big benefit over using something like your phone as you can't beat some really good quality wired headphones when listening to interviews and trying to spot any sound issues.The main thing I don't like is the lack of backlight, only an issue in the dark but while the LCD screen is large and readable a backlight option would have really helped in low light.The supplied lead is also pretty small, if like me you have a laptop that is on a riser this will just hang down so I think it would have been better if they supplied a little longer lead or even a retractable one.This is a pretty good voice recorder with mic and headphone socket and a number of useful features, it works really well but a backlight would have been a nice option.

Works perfectly, thanks again.

Badly made. Impossible to close the cover for the batteries.

My elderly father has been struggling to write for some time now, also his memory is failing and this can be very difficult for him as he wants and needs to keep records of many things, I tried to get him to use a phone as a recorder but he found it too fiddly.He mentioned to me that he used a handheld tape recorder in the past and this seems to be the updated version.Its taken a little while to get used to but this device now allows him to record things such as chess game moves and use a speech to text convertor on the pc to later transcribe everything.He's got into the habit of getting doctors appointments or anything else important to be remembered recorded and then we add it to the pc for a record later.Really useful piece of kit for the right person, also I got to pretend to be Agent Cooper from Twin peaks for a good couple of days while testing it out for him.

This has so many features that the instruction manual was scary (it’s bigger than the voice recorder!)The quality of the recordings was good however it is definitely required to be on the correct setting as if it is just the plain voice recorder mode and not music mode the quality definitely shows on playback.I’m impressed with this little gadget and it even comes with the batteries and so is useable out of the box. I can see this being really useful and the potential is huge. I really like this and will be using it at all lectures and concerts

I am always writing lists for reminders, and I often have ideas which if I don't make a note of them when I think of it, I can easily forget.This little voice recorder is ideal for that. I did have an Olympus in the past that used micro cassette tapes (yes, that long ago 😂), but this is more convenient, and allows you to easily store your sound files on the PC. The OM System VN-541 PC was Olympus before, so it has a quite long history in this kind of device.I would have preferred it if this had been rechargeable rather than two AAA batteries, but that is neither here nor there really.This has several modes, note taking, chat, music and LPs, I am not sure of the reason for this, other than perhaps keeping the recordings in seperate folders, because I couldn't see any real difference in sound quality from one to the other, even when transferred to the PC.It is very easy to use, there is a one touch recording button which is useful too, and it is very small. Given the availability of voice recording apps on your smartphones, I am not sure how many people still buy voice recorders, but it is more convenient for quick recording on the go, and I will certainly make good use of it.

This is a great device, which I have found useful to quickly note down my thoughts and ideas from meetings, and while working on projects and assignments. It’s also great for getting soundbites for some of the marketing activity I do for my job. I was pleased that the device comes with batteries supplied, as so many things now need you to buy the batteries as extra! It comes with clear instructions, which make set-up easy, and you quickly remember the settings etc you need for the things you use it for regularly. I think the price is good for what you get and compared to others out there. I also think it is worth investing in a device like this rather than using your phone, as the quality is much better (certainly than my phone!). It also lends you a more professional appearance.