[SongBird]

I am looking for a good voice recorder to use to record some of my lectures. I was wondering if any of you guys have any personal recommendations for one.

I did quite a bit of research and found many people like the Olympus DS-40 model, but I can't seem to find them in any stores around where I live and if I can't touch or try it out I am hesitant to buy it, unless it is something really good.

I am looking for something with good recording quality. Ease of use when it comes to control/buttons. Sony's ICDUX70R joystick/jog dial is a little too tricky to use. Sometimes I erase files by accident because of it. What I did love about it is that it was capable of recording in stereo, files are recorded as mp3 and the unit can be used as a USB removable drive. But the recording really lacked quality.

I just purchased a Panasonic RRUS 750. It just came out last month. But I am thinking about bringing it back because the recording quality could be better for the price I paid for it. The unit won't be recognized by your computer if the battery isn't in it. But it does record in mp3 format and the files are drag and drop-able. I like the fact that I don't need to install any softwares. The zoom mic feature was really attractive to me, but when put to use, it sucked. You would hear annoying white noise and when people move their papers, drop a pen, fiddle in their bags, you could hear it all while the professor's voice is put in the background. The speaker on the unit sucks more than my Sony cassette walkman with a speaker from 8 years ago.

I know I would have to pay more to get something that has better recording quality and you know what at this point I wouldn't mind that. I am even thinking about investing in a mini disc with an external mic to do my recording which isn't a bad idea because I would like to get a decent recorded session of me on my guitar. And since MD's are capale of CD quality recoding, it really appeals to me.


So anyone with any recommendations?

Edit:
So no one uses them?