There are always times when the convenience of carrying a notepad and pen is out of the question and you are forced to rely on your memory.  Wouldn’t it be a pleasure to have a voice recorder with clear, high quality sound that is so small and lightweight Tom Thumb could use it as a surfboard?

The Olympus WS 300M has all the features a serious tech jockey would need for less than 80 bucks.  This compact little tool measures 1.5” x 3.73” x .43” and uses one AAA battery.  You can record up to 68 hours of WMA audio, (Microsoft audio format) and has a built-in music player for 66 WMA or MP3 files.  For those of us who use our recorders in the car – for making audio notes, practicing “chunks” for speaking engagements, or bouncing around writing ideas – the voice activation mode makes for easy, hands-free recording.  A sensitive, built in microphone is adjustable for your recording requirements. 

To download files to your computer, a built-in USB plug is cleverly hidden and easily accessible by removing the body cover at the end where the battery is located.  No cables!

Is the sound clear?

WOW sound enhancement technology makes for crystal clear sound, even with the challenge of noise in the background.  Noise canceling technology serves to eliminate hiss and clutter noises.  If you have used voice recorders in the past, you know how frustrating it can be to separate these ghost noises from the important stuff.  Even more important is efficiency of playback, a task that can be painstakingly time-consuming.  The Olympus WS 300M has the capability for fast and slow playback, at 50% and 25% respectively.  You can also insert an index service mark for fast-finding the most important sections of your recording.   You cannot, however, back up and record over something just recorded, like you could with a microcassette recorder.  This is the only real limitation.  

Four recording modes add to the versatility of this premium product:

HQ – diminishes background noise;  superior for recording those with low-speaking voices.

LP and SP – extend recording times.

Stereo HQ – creates two-channel recordings. 

If you would prefer your recordings to be MP3 files, rather than those in WMA format, you can convert the WMA’s to MP3’s with iTunes:

Drag and drop the files inside iTunes; screen-prompts verify that you are automatically converting WMA files to the MP3 format – they can then be added to your iTunes library where you can access them.

If you do telephone interviews, the TP7 device can be used successfully to record even the softest whispers. 

For more information:

Olympus WS-300M 256 MB Digital Voice Recorder and Music Player  

Product Review Date:  May 9, 2007