Dictaphone?

nikki2804

I'm hopefully progressing to Uni in September and as such I've begun looking at dictaphones but most seem to have mixed reviews. Has anyone got any experiences of using them for lectures?

Any recommendations?

Thanks

jackieblack

My daughter and her boyfriend both bought these before starting Uni but neither actually use them so turned out to be a waste of money.
(DD's lecturers upload the lectures to website and her boyfriend's lecture room is too big to get a clear recording.)

I would wait until induction/you've started and then decide whether you would find one useful.

wiogs

Unless you can place it near the speaker/lecturer then it is likely to be a waste of money.

nickwxm

We use them all the time for dyslexic students. We recommend the Olympus DM-650 or 670 (second has larger capacity). It's good to also get an external mic such as Olympus ME-34.

WestonDave

We use them in work and there is no way most of the Dictaphones on the market would get a clear recording in the background noise of a lecture hall, especially if you are further away than the front row. They are designed to be spoken into like a microphone (i.e. held up to your mouth) and at a push you can put one in the middle of a table as you have a discussion around it.

sopranolmu

Hey Firstly, as a fellow student (PhD) - congrats on your uni decision!

Secondly, I used a dictaphone all throughout my first and second year on my BA, and found it really useful. My uni does post lecture notes online, but it's amazing the extra info you pick up by recording the vocals to lectures too.

The room you're in can be an issue, but if you know the type of rooms they have at your chosen uni (I presume you've been on Open Days and seen their lecture theatres?), I'd recommend it. There were three of us who used to record them with a dictaphone, and we all just used the lectern that the staff stand at to put our machines on. The staff were all fine with it. And because they're stood right in front of the machines, the sound quality was always pretty sound.

And let's face it, you can always just be a front-row person if you want to make sure on the sound.

CarlBruno4

As for I use just Iphone dictaphone, pretty good & free)

Maggie.Moo_2

I saw a fair amount of people using them in my first year (I also considered getting one myself) but I didn't see any after the first month or so.

I think some good points have already been made and there's a few more things to consider. If you think you need one due to a disability (including dyslexia) it will be worth talking to your student support team and seeing what they can do for you. Support varies depending on the uni and severity of the disability but you could be offered a really good recording device or even a note-taker!

The next thing to consider is that you actually do need the speaker's permission to record them. Of course, most lecturers will give you their consent but they have every right to say no.

And finally, do you intend to conduct any primary research such as interviews or focus groups? These are probably the only time dictaphones actually get used during uni but I know plenty of people who recorded on their phones instead. I got an Olympus Digital Voice Recorder VN-6800PC as my phone isn't great and I found it much easier to use when transcribing interviews but I don't think it could adequately record a lecture. It was only £15-ish secondhand from eBay which is probably the best place to look as you'll find lots of students who realise they'd rather have the money than the device :P