Customer Reviews

GE 35383 Micro Cassette Recorder with AVR/Batteries/ and Tapes

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with this recorder. It comes with an external mic, but I think the internal one works great. Not only can you select "high" and "low" for recording levels, but you can fine-tune the recording level with the volume control, so you won't get that annoying buzz when there's not enough sound or too much sound for the microphone. Plus, you can plug in a set of headphones while it's recording, and listen to exactly what's being picked up by the mic.
The only (slight) bummer is that this recorder does NOT have auto-reverse. Luckily, not much noise is created by ejecting and flipping the tape, so you won't disturb anyone during a lecture if you have to do so.
You can record at 1/2 speed (to conserve tape), play at normal or 125% speed (to skip through to the part you really need to hear), and cue forward or reverse. It has a built-in tape counter (great for matching up your notes to the tape), Auto Voice Record (which I'll probably never use, because it clips the first second or so of noise), and a Record/Battery LED that dims when it's time to replace the batteries. Runs on 2 AA batteries (included), which are far easier to find (and cheaper to buy) than AAA batteries. Also comes with 2 60-min tapes.

I bought this player for class, and it worked fine for the first two months. Then it just started acting up on me. At first I thought it was the batteries, but then I changed them and the thing still doesn't work. It can rewind and ff fine, but forget playing or recording...it only works for two seconds!

Unlike other reviews, which include shipping experiences, I am reviewing this PRODUCT. It's a great recorder, and mine came with a little microphone on a wire for recording voice. It picks up sounds well, and even has a minute meter so you know how much you've recorded and how long you have left. It's small enough to keep in a pocket or purse, so it's been great for recording lectures at school.

Highly Recommended.

Since I wanted to make use of all my tapes that I had from previous recorders, I went ahead and against common sense of buying a digital voice recorder, I went ahead and went with the mechanical. Had I gone with another Sony, or Olympus with less features, maybe would have lasted longer.

I trust GE products, but I'm used to their appliance line, and consumer electronics is totally another story; apparently more so for the ones with micro mechanical electronics. I bought it for school, and it broke before the quarter had finished: the motor just won't turn the tape. Never mishandled it in any kind.

Audio Performance was good with the AVR feature; when set on High sensitivity, the tape would always run and it did a fair job at catching even sounds that you'd think that it wouldn't pick up with other recorders, but it gave the recording a lot of noise, that I think should have gotten filtered before being recorded. On the low setting, it gave a less noisy signal, and it was good enough for a middle classroom session.

The recording button would come loose and managed to get it to sit firm after putting some silicone on the inside

Should have gone with a digital with no moving parts, but I got nostalgic and since I didn't want to get wasteful by throwing away my old tapes, I got what happens when you buy against the flow of technology...a broken useless piece of nothing.