Olympus VN-4100PC Digital Voice Recorder

I would have rated the seller with five stars but they sent the product without any instructional materials. All they sent was the device.

I'm using this recorder to collect interviews for my dissertation. So far, I'm very pleased.

I borrowed my friend's unit VN-4100PC for my wife to do an interview. It will not download to my machine. After investigation, the FAQ suggests using Digital Wave Player 2.1+, but it was shipped with 2.0. I downloaded the update, but it doesn't update the software. So it's useless. My wife will have to work on the recording from the recorder, rather than from a transferred file on our computer.

I once had an Olympus digital camera, admittedly, it was four years ago. But I had similar problems with that software. I can only conclude that Olypus doesn't do software. Or maybe they just don't know how to do it right.

My Pentax camera, OTOH, has a very easy, intuitive interface. So I will probably continue to stay away from Olypus products.

The product is okay although reading the instruction should more in depth than it is. I tried it in a class I was taking but the noise it picked up was recorded more than what lecture. I tired every other way. but in less hectic environment it does record okay.

The reviews of this product smacked of the manufacturer's marketing department hiring interns to post bogus positive reviews. Sure enough, over and over again so many of the 4 and 5 star reviews are by accounts that exist only to have posted the bogus reviews here.

Please, someone who is familiar with similar models by other companies, name other recommendations here. I hate to give business to a manufacturer that engages in such smarmy and deceptive business practices. Much less the red flag that those posting the bogus reviews clearly don't have confidence in their product based on its own merits.

Especially welcome would be reviews of a competing product with a USB connection that enables it to appear as a another storage device in Windows file management without requiring the install of kludgy software. If my digital camera can transparently display its contents for file copy or move to the PC within Windows File Manager as soon as the USB connects, I'm sure that someone else is manufacturing a voice recorder capable of doing the same.