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Review: Olympus VP-10

Olympus has long been in the game of producing Dictaphones. As technology has increased and our reliance on such devices has shifted to items such as mobile phones, the market has changed. However, Olympus hasn’t given up, and introduced their latest edition to their range, the VP-10. The nifty little device is designed to look and feel like a pen, and can happily sit in your pocket while you record.

Specifications

  • Discreet Omin-Directional 360 PCM Stereo Microphone with one-touch recording
  • 4 GB Built in Memory to hold up to 1620 hours Recording Time (LP) in MP3, WMA or PCM
  • Built-in USB connector to Save data or transfer recordings or data easily – PC or MAC
  • Battery Life up to 27 hours on a single Rechargeable AAA Battery (Included)
  • Anti-Rustle filter and Noise reduction
  • 13 x 1.7 x 1.7 cm, 36g

Look and feel

vp-10

The front of the device features an LCD screen for displaying various information, a one touch record button, a multipurpose button, as well as buttons to play and pause.

vp-10-2

The back features a pen clip as well as the battery holder.

vp-10-4

The top features the microphones, while the side has the power key.

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The bottom has a USB connector on it for you to transfer data, as well as load it up with files. This has 4GB of storage space, and can act as a USB drive as well. This also means that you do not need to have any cables with this device, as it should plug directly into your computer.

If you do find this to be a problem, they have also thrown in a small USB extender lead, just in case the USB port area on your computer is bit of a tight fit.

vp-10-bottom

The top features a headphone socket for you to plug in for your listening needs and play back.

Being reasonably small like a pen, and light, this happily sits in your pocket as you use it.

Ease of use

As far as recording goes, this is as simple as it gets. Just flick the record button on the top of the device, and it starts to record.

The other buttons allow you to access the menu options, as well as playback old files.

Older files are arranged with date and time stamps, making them easy to pick out from the menu.

Audio Quality

The audio on this is pretty good. It works quite well if you speak into it closely, or pop it into your pocket. One of the best features about this is how well it manages noise cancellation. Background noise gets cut out quite easily.

Being stereo also means that you get a nice spatial awareness, and that means that if you are recording an interview or a podcast, the stereo sound easily dictates who is speaking.

This works well both in an empty room, as well as a busy area such as a trade show or a public area such as a train station.

More information

More information on the VP-10 can be found on the Olympus website. It retails for around £69, and can be bought via various online retailers such as Amazon.

Verdict

The device is rather simple, and has the knack of simply working. Not many can boast that. Simple, cheap, easy to use.

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