Review on 🎙️ Panasonic RQ-L31 Portable Cassette Recorder: Compact & Convenient Audio Recording Device with Slide Microphone by Reginald Pitt

Great recorder! Audio playback (speech) is surprisingly good at 3x recording speed. It's much better than my Sony microcassette even when the Sony is running at normal (better) recording speed. As another reviewer mentioned, one downside to 3x is that you can't play it in your auto deck (but who has those these days?!). But you can record 12 hours on a 120 minute tape at 3x speed! 6 hours off. This can be good or bad; good for capacity, bad for finding specific places e.g. the beginning of the things you write down. So I think 60 or 90 minute tapes might work better. I've also heard that the longer the tape, the more likely it is to stick. and the quality of the tape itself is lower because the tape has to be made thinner to fit the longer length in the cartridge body. This player is not much bigger than my Sony microcassette player. Side by side they look about the same size. At first I thought mine was defective; The straps didn't seem to fit properly. Insert the tape into the door/lid and close it using a little more force than you think is necessary (because it doesn't seem to close properly and you could damage it). Or you stick the tape and then close the lid. This method seems less "hard" or harmful to me. I think this model offers better value for money compared to the more expensive RQ-L51. The players themselves are identical in terms of characteristics and performance. The only difference is in the accessories; The L51 includes an AC adapter and nickel-cadmium batteries (which don't work as well or are said to last as long as LMWH). Neither model has a strap (unless I accidentally threw them away), which would be nice; There's room to place one on one of the corners. Overall I think this is a great little recorder for the money and I recommend it. Note: If you are using this for 2 weeks in college, 120 minute tapes will last about 5 hours per side at 3x speed; not 6 hours as I mentioned above. Not sure why.