Help & Advice Will be Most Appreciated! Dictaphone Recommendations...

Gracie10_2

Hello Everyone!

I really will love your advice on where I can buy a cheap (£20-£30) dictaphone! I need it for recording lectures at Uni. So, I guess max recording time per day is 8 hours. Are there devices which can be charged via a USB connection or plugged into the main socket (a bit like a mobile (ie free from batteries-helps the environment and a student pocket!))? And ideally so that the material can be transferred onto a computer and USB stick so I can listen to it without it being on the recording device.

Really looking forward to hearing from you - and thank you for reading this post ))))

bluesnake

can't you mobile do this? Both my 2 year old work blackberry and my hd2 can, so could my manky even older sony

Gracie10_2

What a fantastic idea! The only thing is it wouldn't be able to hold 8 hrs/day worth of material and I don't know how to transfer it onto my computer :-/

bluesnake

firstly big sd card. think mine took about 400meg for 7 hours of special sony format sound. Also about 2 gig for approx 6 hours of mp3 sound.

Possibly get a spare battery, but I put my hd2 in aircraft mode and record a full 7 hours when on training course.

the big trick is to always get a front row seat so the person virtually sits on the microphone, and not to eat crisps or any crinkly packet food while recording etc.

Normally transferring the sound is very similar to transferring music mp3's

bluesnake

forgot to say, also with a microphone attached to your laptop, you should be able to record straight to your hard disk too

Gracie10_2

THanks bluesnake!! WHats hd2??? I'm not sure it can even record anything beyond 1 hour because it only shows on the screen for up to 1 hour recording(I have a nokia 6330)

bluesnake

Gracie10 wrote: »

... WHats hd2??? ..

HTC HD2, think there is now a HD7 out which technically is better but software is windows 7 mobile with bugs - enough said.

just take your phone into the lounge, make sure you have a large enough sd card????, turn on the tv and press record on the phone. Then go to bed.

you will soon see how long the battery lasts and if it will record more than 1 hour.

Think most lessons will be less than an hour anway, just record the tutor and when he has finished, switch off the recording. if you do not switch off the recording after they have done their spiel, as it is a real pain going back to edit out the bits after.

Gracie10_2

bluesnake wrote: »

HTC HD2, think there is now a HD7 out which technically is better but software is windows 7 mobile with bugs - enough said.

just take your phone into the lounge, make sure you have a large enough sd card????, turn on the tv and press record on the phone. Then go to bed.

you will soon see how long the battery lasts and if it will record more than 1 hour.

Think most lessons will be less than an hour anway, just record the tutor and when he has finished, switch off the recording. if you do not switch off the recording after they have done their spiel, as it is a real pain going back to edit out the bits after.

I really appreciate the creative yet simplistic ways of your thinking! I will do the experiment..
I don't know what HTC HD2 stands for?? high definition :-/