Review on Enhanced Panasonic RN-505 Rechargeable Micro Cassette Recorder with Voice Activation System by Andrew Frison

This recorder is very small and very delicate. Having no experience with new recorders, this came as a surprise. The image does not match its thumbnail size. It measures 7/8" wide, 2-5/8" wide (including the top of the knobs) and 4-5/8" tall. This will easily fit in a shirt pocket with plenty of room for extra pens. Appearance This recorder It is made out of plastic and not metal as the silver color would suggest.With prolonged use the silver color may wear off but I haven't had mine long enough to tell.It looked a little cheaper than I expected. However, a metal case would make it heavier and of course more expensive. While learning how to use the voice recorder, I found that the instructions left a lot to be desired. Showing battery insertion and charging might seem ok in a picture, but when it came to recording and playback with the many possible settings, they were practically useless. It took me a few times to realize that if you're recording with VAS (Voice Control System), you need to set the middle switch of VAS/FAST PLAY to OFF to play at normal speed. This is because this switch controls the recorder in both record and playback modes. It wasn't intuitive and didn't live up to the user experience. If you want to record and then immediately play back at normal speed, you can't just rewind and play, you have to rewind, change that setting, and then hit play. If you record again, you will probably forget to save it back to VAS. I don't like how they implemented it. I found the sound quality to be excellent for my purposes, mostly in a medium sized room with little background noise and just a few voices. However, this recorder boasts that it can be used in classrooms and large conferences with the Sound Level Equalizer (SLE) setting. I plan to try this but haven't done so yet. The additional speed settings also seem to be a plus for playback, when you need to review a lot of notes. I discovered that VAS (Voice Control System) works very well. I don't speak slowly and he didn't understand my first words at all. He stopped as soon as the conversation ended. I'm sure a lot will depend on the volume set. The sensitivity you set will most likely affect this performance. The recorder volume uses the same volume control that you use to listen to playback. I also found the instructions confusing. Although there are no numbers on the dial, the instructions give you the numbers to set the volume dial to to record different sounds. You have to use the grip game to guess which range is from 1 to 10. Can't tell how it performs in a larger room or noisier environment as I haven't tried it yet. A charger and power cord are welcome additions. Batteries and a charger add about $15 to the cost of the unit over the recorder itself. Since the RN305 is similar to this and costs about $28, you'll need to decide whether to add the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger cost an additional $21. to you. it was for me I also found the instructions confusing. Although there are no numbers on the knob, the instructions give you the numbers to set the volume control to to record different sounds. You have to use the grip game to guess which range is from 1 to 10. I can not say, how it will perform in a larger room or in a noisier environment as I haven't tried it yet. A charger and power cord are welcome additions. Batteries and a charger add about $15 to the cost of the unit over the recorder itself. Since the RN305 is similar to this and costs about $28, you'll need to decide whether to add the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger cost an additional $21. to you. it was for me I also found the instructions confusing. Although there are no numbers on the knob, the instructions give you the numbers to set the volume control to to record different sounds. You have to use the grip game to guess which range is from 1 to 10. I can not say, how it will perform in a larger room or in a noisier environment as I haven't tried it yet. A charger and power cord are welcome additions. Batteries and a charger add about $15 to the cost of the unit over the recorder itself. Since the RN305 is similar to this and costs about $28, you'll need to decide whether to add the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger cost an additional $21. to you. it was for me You have to use the grip game to guess which range is from 1 to 10. Can't tell how it performs in a larger room or noisier environment as I haven't tried it yet. A charger and power cord are welcome additions. Batteries and a charger add about $15 to the cost of the unit over the recorder itself. Since the RN305 is similar to this and costs about $28, you'll need to decide whether to add the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger cost an additional $21. to you. it was for me You have to use the grip game to guess which range is from 1 to 10. I can't say how it will perform in a larger room or in a noisier environment as I haven't tried it yet. A charger and power cord are welcome additions. Batteries and a charger add about $15 to the cost of the unit over the recorder itself. Since the RN305 is similar to this and costs about $28, you need to decide whether the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger cost another $21. to you. it was for me Since the RN305 is similar to this one and costs around $28, you'll have to decide if the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger give you that $21 extra value. it was for me Since the RN305 is similar to this one and costs around $28, you'll have to decide if the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger give you that $21 extra value. it was for me there is an additional cost of $21 for the optional sound level equalizer and this battery and charger. to you. it was for me Since the RN305 is similar to this one and costs about $28, you need to decide whether that extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger give you $21 extra value. it was for me Since the RN305 is similar to this one and costs around $28, you'll have to decide if the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger give you that $21 extra value. it was for me there is an additional cost of $21 for the optional sound level equalizer and this battery and charger. to you. it was for me Since the RN305 is similar to this one and costs around $28, you'll have to decide if the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger give you that $21 extra value. it was for me Since the RN305 is similar to this one and costs about $28, you need to decide whether that extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger give you $21 extra value. it was for me whether an additional sound level equalizer and that battery and charger add an extra $21 value. it was for me Since the RN305 is similar to this one and costs around $28, you'll have to decide if the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger give you that $21 extra value. it was for me whether an additional sound level equalizer and that battery and charger add an extra $21 value. it was for me Since the RN305 is similar to this one and costs around $28, you'll have to decide if the extra sound level EQ and that battery and charger give you that $21 extra value. it was for me