Boy do I feel old! I've been out of the loop for so long. Looking online for a voice recorder I have discovered some reasonably priced digital recorders. Are they really better than the tape recorders? I found two priced @ $39.99. Panasonic® RR-QR170 IC Digital Recorder & Sony® Digital Voice Recorders; ICD-B500. Does anyone know anything about these? To me the digital recorder sounds like a better deal than the tape version b/c you wouldn't have to buy the tapes. But are there any...

A: If you do not need to retain the tapes for legal purposes or whatever then go with the digital. No moving parts to brea/die.

I checked out Best Buy's website (it's the first store I thought of) and they seem to have mostly Sony, Panasonic and Olympus. I am thinking Sony is the best (their brand, all their electronics and name recognition) I am going to check out reviews and such but I wouldn't mind hearing from other people on their favorites.

I am getting one because I may take singing lessons in the near future and I've heard that teachers will recommend I purchase one, so of...

A: So, different companies have different specialties. Since you mention that you want one for singing lessons, I'm assuming that the fidelity of the recording is very important to you. (It isn't to everyone, like if you're just using it for transcription.) From what I know, Sony specializes more in recorders with long recording times that work well with automatic transcription. http://digital-voice-recorders.info/sony.html So Sony is good, and has some great features, but if...