How to Choose a Voice Recorder

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By Christen Henderson
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Choose a Voice Recorder

Voice recorders are a great tool for students, teachers, researchers, or even for personal use. Instead of writing, you can just record memos and events to play back for yourself. There are so many different types of digital voice recorders now, that it can get confusing to know which would be the best for your needs and uses.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

To start off with, you need to determine what and for how long you will be recording. This can save you a lot of time and money. Digital voice recorders usually have an average recording life of 50 hours or more. However, some digital voice recorders use tapes, and some just have a memory card.
Step 2

As I mentioned in the above step, some recorders have a memory card and some voice recorders use tapes. It's important to decide which kind you will need. If you own a computer, the digital voice recorders with USB memory cards are a lot more convenient. You can simply upload all recording to your computer and listen or burn a CD. If you don't have access to a computer, it's best to go with recorders with tapes, so that you can your information for future playback.
Step 3

You also need to think about the size of your voice recorder. Do you need it to be hidden or undetectable? If so, you should think about purchasing a pen recorder. These look just like a regular pen, but have full capable audio recording. If size isn't an issue - there are plenty of hand held sized recorders easy enough to fit into a pocket but big enough to see all the buttons and functions.
Step 4

You might also want to think about the microphone options. Almost every recorder has a built-in microphone. Some recorders have a jack for an external mic. You may want to think about buying an external mic to use for speeches or interviews.