Customer Reviews

Sony TCM150 Cassette Voice Recorder - Portable

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I've been using this Sony for recording church services for a couple years now. Obviously, this is not a high-tech operation. I convert the tape into digital format for editing on my PC to create CD's. I've been able to make some great tapes so far and I'm recording in a huge "cathedral" type church. For the size and cost, I think it's great. I don't think I'd use it for listening to music as the microphone is rather "noisey". I recommend this for persons who aren't ready to make a major investment in high-tech recording equipment.

This is a terrific tape recorder.

I've always found that bells and whistles like voice activation don't work. This one does. You want it on, you turn it on. You want it off, you turn it off. It's recording quality is very good for this medium. We're not talking digital sound, of course, but no magnetic tape machine will deliver that quality.

I've used probably a dozen recorders over many years, and this is one of the best values out there.

The Sony TCM-150 is about the cheapest cassette recorder on the market at this time. For five to ten bucks more you get voice activation, an external microphone jack, a tape counter, and extended play/record. The models with these features are the Sony TCM-200DV (without the tape counter) and the Panasonic RQ-L31. Of course, in all these cases, you're getting a cheaply made recorder intended for lectures, notes and inteviews. If you want something for music or that's built to take some punishment you'll have to pay more.

Last word on the 150: The odds are you're going to need at least one of those extra features - especially voice activation. Pass on this one and pay just a tiny bit more for something better.

My new car doesn't have a cassette player, not even an option, so I decided to try a portable cassette player and see how cumbersome it would be. It's great! This little Sony T150 stores in my center console, has loud volume if I need to hear it heavy traffic, and it's clear as a bell. Now I carry it back and forth to house and car - just easier than my plug in boom box. the 2 batteries are supposed to last for 26 hours but actually lasted 34 hours in play mode. Am very happy with this Sony.

I WANTED A NOT TO EXPENSIVE CASSETTE RECORDER. I WANTED A BRAND NAME. I SAW THE SONY RECORDER FOR A GOOD PRICE,AND I FOUND IT. RECEIVED PRODUCT VERY QUICKLY. RECORDS FULL LENGTH CASSETTES. EASY OPERATION. PLAY, RECORD, STOP, REWIND AND FAST FORWARD. LARGE SPEAKER, WHICH IS IN THE FRONT, WITH THE CASSETTE WINDOW DISPLAY. THIS HELPS ALOT. SOME CASSETTE RECORDERS HAVE WINDOW ON ONE SIDE, WITH THE SPEAKER ON THE OTHER. WITH THIS RECORDER, YOU CAN LISTEN AND RECORD WITH THE PLAYER ON IT'S BACK. YOU ONLY HAVE TO USE THEBACK SIDE TO CHANGE BATTERIES. RECORDS CLEAR VOICE. PLAYBACK FINE. THANK YOU

I am quite disappointed with this sony product. It works well but the big drawback is that you hear the motor rumble in your recordings. I wonder if other buyers have this problem or did I get a poor model? Buy cheap and get cheap I should know better.

Not bad for its price: this recorder works fine and has no annoying drawbacks. Just don't drop yours--I just did and that was enough to break it. My only complaint about its design is that it lacks a clip and, as dorky as these are, if you are walking around the house or doing any other hands-free mobile activity while listening, then you have to find some way to affix the recorder to your body without the clip.

This little cassette player is great for listening to book tapes & other recorded info. It's great for carrying around the house while doing chores or cooking.

This review refers to the "Sony TCM-150 Cassette Recorder

I use this little recorder for a couple of different reasons. I listen to audio books, old music cassettes, and record thoughts and notes to myself for various projects or interviews.

FEATURES-
First the recorder itself is very easy to use. To record just put your standard size blank(or reuseable) cassette(the side you are using or listening to always faces you or front of recorder)and then press play to listen -with or without headphones- or press the red record button(there is no mistaking this button for another and start talking or recording someone else.It has your basic stuff - play, fast forward, reverse, stop - all buttons, and a little slide bar for pause.Volume control(excellent) and headphone plug in on side. The microphone is on the end (easy to point towards your victim) and is part of the player, no need to attach or worry about it getting lost. The front "grill" is silvertone and the rest is grey.Also another nice feature on the player is the window where in most cases you can see which side of the cassette you are listening to or recording on(providing the cassette itself shows side 1 or 2 - or a or b). The only other feature I wish it had was a counter. It does not, and may take a little longer to find the part you are looking for. It uses two AA batteries. I can tell you that my personel playing and recording time has lasted many hours, but that may also depend on the type or brand of batteries used.

PLAYBACK-
When attaching standard headphones(NOT INCLUDED) I am getting sound coming from both the left and right sides on both my own recordings and pre-recorded music or books.The audio books sound great - readings are clear and distinct. On my own recorded tapes I am getting a bit of a humming or static kind of noise in the background on playback. It's not enough to bother me personally, and I can still hear my voice clearly, but enough for me to take off just one star as this may be an annoyance to some who are using this for study notes. It just sounds like a radio station that is not quite on the mark. This does not happen on the books and studio recorded music.

I made several tests for distance and I had good playback up to about15- 20 feet(after that I faded), speaking a little louder then I usually would. Of course I didn't speak as loud as a lecturer in a hall would probably speak(and with possibly a microphone of their own), and turning up the volume did help some, but I wouldn't recommend it for recording speakers too far away.

Carry It Around-
It doesn't come with a belt clip, so for walking around it fits in my back jeans pocket(snug but fits), or if I'm wearing a jacket with pockets that works great as I can easily get to the buttons if I need to pause for any reason. I also like to listen to cassettes on the treadmill and in that case I just put the players on the little shelf.

I'm really getting my money's worth, other then that little hum on playback of what I recorded it works great. For very basic features I would recommend it.For more serious needs, I would recommend, something a little higher up on the scale.

Thanks and enjoy .....Laurie

This product does what it sets out to do, record. How well it does that is a whole nother story. In a lecture hall you have to make sure to sit at or near the front of the hall, otherwise you can barely hear the speaker over the room noise and the noise of the recorder. The recorder itself makes a good amount of noise when recording and when playing back. And when the machine gets cold or has been used a bit, it likes to make a high pitched squel that is very disruptive in lectures. Not the best choice ever.