Sony ICDUX70 Digital Voice Recorder MP3 Stereo Recording and Playback

I love the Sony ICDUX70, I use mine in college lectures. I make sure to sit up front (or have a friend who sits up front record for me). My preference is the higher quality monaural (non-stereo) setting since I have no use for stereo sound but I still want quality. The only true complaint I have is the ATROCIOUS speaker on the back! It is basically impossible to hear or truly understand anything coming from it, the first time I played something I almost returned the recorder. When you use headphones or earbuds, though, it sounds excellent.

The time it takes to start-up is a little long also, but I tend to be early for class so this was not a problem for me.

I purchased the ICD-UX70 because I need a way to take quick notes at work and my wife wants a recorder that she can use while she teaches from time to time.

Pro: Small, light weight, good close up audio recording, Stores as MP3 files, audio files have good sound when played on a computer.

Con: Integrated speaker, screen size, user interface.
The speaker on the unit is worthless!! The only way to hear playback is to be in a quiet room and put the recorder to your ear or use the supplied head phones. The recorder will also pickup each time you touch the device. Simply pushing the stop button will be picked up on tape and over power what is being recorded.

Summary: I would not recommend this recorder unless you are only going to listen to files on your computer or with headphones and never touch it while recording.

The Sony ICDUX70 Digital Voice/MP3 Recorder has met and exceeded my
expectations. I used it to record stories being told by Old and Distant relatives about the life and times they've experience. I've transfered these audio files to my computer and likewise copied MP3 music from my computer to the ICDUX70. It is a joy and user friendly. The small size makes it convenient to put in your shirt pocket to record casual converations or sales pitches for later review. However the small size, for me, has two drawbacks. I have to wear my glasses in order to use the device and it is too darn easy to loose it. I lost one, bit the bullet
and got a 2nd one. Love it.

I think your reaction to this recorder will be based on your needs. I bought an Olympus (which I LOVED!) but I could NOT get it to transfer the files to my Mac - actually I tried with three different Macs. I don't listen to the files from the recorder, so I don't care about the internal speaker at all. I am reading teacher recording lessons for listening back to for instructional purposes. I also agree that the file naming and organization lacks, but as far as the recording, use of plug-in and transfer files and use of the functions that I need, the recorder works fine.

Piece of plastic cr*p. Purchased it at Staples and decided to return it within two minutes of playing around with it

You can't hear anything

The buttons are cheap and will fall off quickly

The sound is horrendous

The microphones can't pick up anything outside of a foot.

The menu is unreadable and a disaster.

If you touch the main control button the recorder goes into another mode

Save your money. Do not buy this! You have been thoroughly warned!!!