Voice recorders during lectures?

[xnfs93hy]

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I am interested in buying one as I feel that I can benefit from recording lectures. My profs. do not have their lectures up on online.

Can any of you recommend a nice one to me? I'd prefer if it were under 100 dollars and is effective enough to be used in a big lecture hall.

 

[Tots]

I am interested in buying one as I feel that I can benefit from recording lectures. My profs. do not have their lectures up on online.

Can any of you recommend a nice one to me? I'd prefer if it were under 100 dollars and is effective enough to be used in a big lecture hall.

Do you have a laptop computer? Microsoft Office 2008 can record sound. With a mac you go into the Word notebook mode and it will record sound as you type your notes. This is awesome because you can click certain parts of your notes to listen to what was going on at those points.
For windows I believe it is a little different but I am not sure on the specifics.

 

[CoolWhipp]

There is a nice Sony one I wish I would have bought. It has the USB integrated so you can do away with annoying cords. I think it was about 90-100.

 

[njbmd]

Get one of these for $10. Plug it into your 1/8th inch port on your laptop and record away. Why waste money on something that you can get for $10 or less and use with your computer. This mike is omni-directional. You can even download Audacity for free and convert your files to MP-3 for use with your Mp-3 player.

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[just one]

Olympus ws110, around 50 bucks when I bought it a year ago, works great

 

[orthomyxo]

Holy crap, that little microphone thing is awesome!!! GIMME!!!

 

[axeon123]

You'll still need to sit a little close to the front. I'd go take a look at the different models Olympus has to offer. If you want to try to use a laptop for recording, then you'll definitely need an external microphone (not sure how well these work), since the mic on the laptop faces you, and the professor is on the other side...plus you should see if your professor is okay with the recordings.

-ax

 

[kiks]

if you have an ipod, i would strongly recommend the belkin tunetalk.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TG217LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA3NA&mco=MTA4NzQ3NTI

i've taped my lectures for a couple years and have found them to be an invaluable resource. when i first started, i used the 10 mm cassette tapes. then i used this. this is an extremely reliable recorder. excellent sound quality (though it will pick up harddrive sounds). last quarter i used the notebook/recording settings in microsoft word. that is one option, but the belkin recorder is extremely convenient because 1. it will directly import your voice memos into itunes and 2. is user-friendly (you can see the red light to verify it is recording, saves automatically if interrupted/ipod dies, easy to rewind/pause/fast-forward when listening to lectures). i can then listen to lectures when i'm on the bus/working-out/etc. (one quarter while i was starting ochem, i had a job at a smoothie place. i opted to be the sole dishwasher so i could just stay in the back and listen to lectures while i worked.)

this quarter i tried using the new voice recorder on my iphone. it was very unreliable and would turn off after 30-odd minutes without warning

time and time again i just go back to my belkin recorder. it is by far one of the best investments i've made.

just make sure you run it by your lecturer before you tape them without their knowledge. i've never had a professor tell me no. (one was concerned about people using recordings against them in the instance he misspoke during lecture, but it wasn't a big deal.)

edit: i would even say that it is worth buying an ipod to record lectures onto.

 

[gibbons482]

There is a nice Sony one I wish I would have bought. It has the USB integrated so you can do away with annoying cords. I think it was about 90-100.

I have this one. It's great. It has folders you can separate lectures by class, plus two different mic sensitivities.

 

[GellaBella]

I got the Smart Pen and it is awesome.

http://www.livescribe.com/Smartpen/index.html

My fiance actually bought it for me for whenever I get accepted to vet school. But it's so cool that he uses it now for lab stuff (we're PhD students) and we'll get another one when I go to to get my DVM.

There are settings for recording in a lecture hall and smaller rooms and as you write notes, if you miss something you can later just tap on the part of your notes you missed and it will begin playing back the lecture so you can fill in the info.

It also syncs really quickly with your computer (maybe 5 seconds or less) and then you can view your notes (in your own handwriting) on the screen.

It really is pretty neat. And I have no affiliation with the company. Just a happy user.

 

[CopToEM]

If you're anything like me, you'll find out that you're a very auditory learner once you start recording lectures, and you'll wonder why you didn't do it all along!

I picked up the Sony ICD-PX720 for about 40 bucks from Wal-Mart and it's served me well. I got my hands on a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking software as well to dictate lectures to written notes.

I have no complaints on the product.

 

[xnfs93hy]

Okay so I got a recorder and it works quite well. I'm just trying to find an editor so I can delete (a lot) the crap (where the teacher goes off talking).

I can't seem to find a free program that's easy to use to edit it.

 

[Sammich117]

I plan on using the voice memos feature of my iPhone.

Plus, it depends on the school, but I think a lot of them will videotape the lectures and post them nowadays.

 

[xnfs93hy]

I know at UC-Berkeley they do that and at a number of other schools but I'm at a community college right now so...yeah. They don't exactly do that lol.

 

[jiayo]

I've got one from Olympus, the VN-5000 and it's been amazing so far 🙂 I've tried it in a lecture hall and it worked..although I was sitting the first few rows, so I wouldn't know about its effectiveness sitting further back.

It cost $40, and for an extra $20 that I was not willing to spare, you can get the digital version and put it on your comp.

Hope this helps!

 

[armybound]

voice recording is actually against school policies a lot of places

 

[Poliscidoc]

voice recording is actually against school policies a lot of places

Make sure you ask your professor. But most of them will let you

 

[xnfs93hy]

I've got one from Olympus, the VN-5000 and it's been amazing so far 🙂 I've tried it in a lecture hall and it worked..although I was sitting the first few rows, so I wouldn't know about its effectiveness sitting further back.

It cost $40, and for an extra $20 that I was not willing to spare, you can get the digital version and put it on your comp.

Hope this helps!

I have the VN-6200PC

 

[xnfs93hy]

voice recording is actually against school policies a lot of places

I checked with the school and prof's and they actually encourage it.

I see no reason why it would be against the rules to do so in other places. Albeit, I'm sure there are logical reasons.

 

[musafirah]

i have a sandisk sansa clip 4gb MP3 player, which i now use to record. its a nice music player too.. and has built-in radio. you can voice record and record radio. its a really TINY cute little thing thats only 2" long. its REALLY sensitive to sounds, so even if you dont sit in the front it'll pick up the lecture pretty well.. even if the teacher doesnt use a microphone.

 

[mrivera]

Buy any sony device. My teacher spoke faster than the speed of light so purchasing a recorder was necessary. Oh dont forget to put it near her/him... and always have spare batteries in your bag 🙂