Customer Reviews

VXI-Voice It VT300 Personal Note Digital Voice Recorder

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

 

 

As a songwriter/general idea person -- one with a terrible memory -- this was a great little machine. Simple (I don't need multiple folders or shuffle play) and really small. However, like all the VoiceIt models, it has one major flaw, and that is that the buttons protrude -- they stick out. This means that keys in your pocket or the side of a desk you lean against can press the "play" button, and it's very embarrassing when your pocket starts talking! Worse, on more than one occasion, the "erase all" button was pressed and I lost everything. It doesn't take a genius to see this is a bad design, but these guys turned out several models with the same problems. I recommend against any brand that has a protruding "erase" button.

Almost two years ago I wrote a review on the VT300. I recently bought another (I'm sold on these great thought catchers) and found that VXI has moved to a AAA battery. A significant (and cheeper) advance over the four CR-2025 lithium batteries!

Like most harried Americans I have a life on the run. I find myself always in need of a scrap of paper and a pen to jot down fleeing thoughts. "Voice It" has helped simplified my beleaguered world by giving me the quick ability to capture my retreating memories.

The VT300 is a solid performer, and the battery life has improved significantly over the first VXI models. The sound quality is better, its playback volume (though not adjustable) is sufficient and the microphone sensitivity is appropriate.

I like the layout of the buttons. They are tactical and easily felt when driving or in the dark of night. I often leave my VT300 by my bed side where I can reach pick it up and capture my last thought before sleep. I also found the "Voice It" to be a great device for recording your dreams in the middle of the night.

I found the recorder to be most durable. I have sat on it, dropped it and spit coffee on it yet like the bunny, it runs and runs.

I commend buying "Voice It 300", over the VT90, as the difference in price is slight ([amt]). For those, like me, with porous memories, this very small, easy to use, pocket recorder will be continually used. Highly Recommended

I, too, upgraded from the VT-90 to the VT-300 for the extra time capacity. I also prefer not having to shop for foolish watch battery sizes. Standard AAA's are MUCH easier to find and last a lot longer. A volume control would be nice, since playback is loud, and that sucks battery life fast! Talking quieter into the unit improves the loudness, but fidelity fades along with it.

BUT -- my biggest gripe is the cheap buttons. They gradually deteriorated over time, either failing to connect or bouncing (start-and-stop recording immediately), missing the recording repeatedly. Now, I can't even get it to operate 1 time out of 30 button presses.

The BEST feature is how compact it is. Nobody else has one that even comes close in size. Too bad they didn't design a better keypad.

This little gadget is about as useful as can be. Small enough to carry all the time; long life battery, long message lengths, digital design w/no moving parts. They finally put in a battery (1 AAA) you can find anywhere, eliminating the one pain previous models had...an impossible to find AAAA battery. If you hate written notes all over the place, can't stand to carry today's 'fashion' bulky planners, then this is the item for you. Well worth the small investment, and would earn 5 stars except for the limited places of purchase nation-wide.

I up graded to the VT300 from a "Voice It" VT90. The extended recording time was the main reason. Like most harried Americans I have a life on the run. I find myself always in need of a scrap of paper and a pen to jot down fleeing thoughts. "Voice It" has helped simplified my beleaguered world by giving me the quick ability to capture my retreating memories. Now, when I have a `brain burp', and need to remember that which I will undoubtable forget, I just grab this little black device, punch record, and retain that brilliant thought that will bring forth the next great invention for our generation - like "buy T.P.."

The VT300 is a solid performer, and the battery life has improved significantly over the first models. The sound quality is adequate, its playback volume (though not adjustable) is sufficient and the microphone sensitivity is appropriate. I like the layout of the buttons. They are tactical and easily felt when driving or in the dark of night. I often leave my VT300 by my bed side where I can reach pick it up and capture my last thought before sleep. I also found the "Voice It" to be a great device for recording your dreams in the middle of the night.

I found the recorder to be most durable. I have sat on it, dropped it and spit coffee on it yet like the bunny, it runs and runs.

I commend buying "Voice It 300", over the VT90, as the difference in price is slight ([amt]). For those, like me, with porous memories, this very small, easy to use, pocket recorder will be continually used. Recommended

I was given a VT 300 for Christmas. After some 20 - 25 short messages and 5 months later the unit failed to respond. I tried replacing the batteries ( 5 times with brand new Duracells) but to no avail. Upon calling VXI, the customer rep told me to initialize the unit, again to no avail. She further told me since the unit was older than 3 months she could do nothing. And NOTHING VXI did! Well a 3 - 5 month performance for the price IS NOT good for me. VXI keep your indifferent attitudes, your clearly inferior products and my money. Good bye!

I bought one of the early Voice-It's several years ago when they were about $129, twice as expensive for the same amount of RAM, and I found it to be about as useful and convenient a little device as I had ever owned. This was in the days before I had a Palm Pilot, and I used it in conjunction with my Franklin Planner. I would dictate notes and later I would transfer them to the larger notebook-based planner if needed. Having this little gadget made it unnecessary for me to haul the larger Franklin notebook with me much of the time, and I found this extremely useful. It was easy to operate and small enough to fit in your front shirt pocket without any bulk.

On the downside it did occasionally run into some sort of glitch and then it would erase all the messages, but that was rare. This newer model looks like it writes them to flash ROM, so that would eliminate this problem.

I now do most of my notetaking on my Palm Pilot, but if I couldn't have that, I would again buy one of these nifty little gadgets for all those miscellaneous little notes that seem to clutter up one's life. Another very nice feature of the solid-state memory is that you can instantly page forward and backward to go to the message you want, rather than having to play with the forward and reverse buttons on a tape recorder trying to find the message, and then find the beginning of a message. With solid-state memory, you just hit the button to advance to the next one, and it starts right off at the exact beginning of the message.

I never really used the capability to have up to four separate folders, but the instant-access feature without having to thrash around searching for things is very nice.

All in all a very useful and convenient little device that is well worth the money invested.

This is a mixed review. I have owned two Voice Its (and several other brands) to date. The first one was my constant companion LOVED IT! It died in the wash a couple of weeks ago (I'm still in mourning!) The good stuff: Excellent sound, tough case, it took a daily beating in my pocket. I dropped it many times, as you would expect from something handled so much. The battery door doesn't fall off when handled roughly (within reason). The smooth case doesn't get hung up on things in your pocket. Thin profile doesn't create a bulge either. Very light in weight. Simple to use.

The bad stuff: Had to pour some plastic model glue over the "Erase All" button in order to stiffen it up. This helps to prevent accidentally wiping out your entire weeks to-do list! It happened to me more than once, after accidentally bumping it into something inside or outside my pocket. It has a lock/unlock mode but holding down a button for five to six seconds just isn't convenient when your really on the move. The glue trick worked perfectly, however (I hope you Voice It guys are listening) a recessed "Erase All" button would be even better. You seldom use this feature, and a reset hole you push with a paper clip would be the safest bet. Also (still listening?) an optional rubber bumper that would slip around the edge of the unit would help its shock worthiness, and keep it from slipping out of your shirt pocket so easily.

By the way the second (bought a back up unit,with the first) is in my pocket only the sound [is bad] on this one. (too late to send it back) If it doesn't sound good when you first buy it don't keep it!

Awful. Owned (and lost) an earlier version of the Voice It product line, and this is pretty much inferior in every way. Vocal quality is bad at any speed. No matter, since the buttons seem to have deteriorated to the point where I can't record anything anyway. All I get is three beeps - no action. Evidently, the manufacturer hates it too. Called the customer support number on the back of the unit and all you get is a recording saying they no longer support the Voice It line. Avoid like Katrina backwash.

I bought this for my child who has auditory problems (age 9). It has been a *great* tool for him to get his writing ideas down as he thinks them. Then he can replay them and write out what he was thinking.

The buttons are simple to use and understand (that's why I chose it for him). It's small enough to fit comfortably in a pocket. Seems pretty rugged.

I also use one of these to record ideas for poems and songs when I'm on the road. Though the sound fidelity is not great, it does let me capture the moment. You can capture a lot of vocalized ideas in the 3 minutes or so of recording time.

Pros: easy to use, small and thin (compared to similar products), you can change the battery without losing what you recorded

Cons: sound fidelity is not great, more recording time would be better