Review on 🎙️ Olympus WS-853 Voice Recorder with 8GB, Enhanced Voice Balancer, and True Stereo Microphone by Jared Poinson

I'm a writer and I interview people almost every day (mostly by phone) and have been using Olympus Pearlcorder microcassette recorders for years and they've always worked very well for me, ok, but I just hated using tapes (scrolling back and forth to look for a specific part of a conversation is a nightmare, especially when the interview lasts an hour or more). Digitally, I can just download the interview to iTunes and then do a quick search by just fast-forwarding the file or making a few guesses and navigating to the right place. It's a trillion times more efficient. In addition, the counter of Olympus digital voice recorders is very accurate, so you can take notes while recording to find specific passages. A few years ago I switched to a digital voice recorder and this is the second Olympus digital voice recorder I own (the other is an older VN-702PC) and they both work great but there are two things I like about them really like. First, the USB port is built-in, so I don't have to dig through my office's cables to download recordings. There is a small slide button on the back that opens the USB adapter and tucks it away when you're done. Another thing I really like about this particular device is the simplified display mode. My main complaint about the 702 was that there was so much technical gibberish on the screen that I never knew what half of it meant. Aggravating. If you now select the simple display mode, all you see is basically the word "record", a large counter (I can actually read it without glasses - a miracle) and a level meter. There are still a few elements on the periphery (folder indicator and battery indicator, etc.), but they are shifted up and down and do not block the main information. This simple mode is much easier to use and I'm sure it was created in response to user complaints about older models. Another improvement is a much simpler and more visible power button on the side. The old one was almost invisible and very difficult to see and use. Also, this model comes with rechargeable batteries, which is a nice touch (and you can charge them via the USB port, so charge them right in the device). The sound quality of all Olympus recorders is excellent and this one is no exception. Also, the internal storage on this device is huge at 8GB - I can't imagine filling it up every time, and when you do you can just delete the folders that you no longer need. My only gripe with this recorder (as with the old one) is that while the manual is clear, it's also physically small. This makes the demo screens hard to read for my ancient eyes. I solved this problem by scanning and enlarging a few pages and then printing. But it would be better if the manual was just physically bigger and the illustrations were bigger. Overall this is an excellent recorder with significant improvements over previous Olympus digital recorders.