cassette players and recorders

i'm a 17 year old filipino student writer/filmmaker and when an idea pop into my mind, im always armed with a pen and paper to write my ideas and to review it later. there were also times when pen and paper are not appropriate, while in the bath, while sitting at the toilet, while walking, etc. so I decided to buy a voice recorder to record my ideas everywhere and anytime. I'm considering a digital voice recorder but it is out of my budget. microcassettes however are good and small in size but it cant be played in ordinary cassette players. i originally bought a cheap 375 pesos or about $6 Platinum cassette recorder but the microphone is so bad so i needed a replacement. im considering an aiwa model with Voice activated recording, 2x recording time and a tape counter for about 34 dollars but because of sony's clear voice recording, i got this tcm-200dv tape recorder for 36 dollars. i really love the cool features such as 2x recording time, speed control VOR or Voice activated Recording, Clear Voice system which filters sound to make it more audible and its design. the microphone in the aiwa model is positioned in the hood of the recorder which is very bad because you cant direct the microphone to the sound source you want; sony however, positioned it excellently in the body facing up so you can direct it easily to the sound source. the VOR also is nice but it needs a litte practice to use and is so sensitive. the only thing lacking in this product is a tape counter. the recording is excellent and you can use it on meetings and during class because the mic is sensitive enough to "hear" sounds from a distance. overall, i recommend this product for students and professionals. you will really deserve what you pay for.

I use this for class to record lectures. I sit in the front and I pick up adequate amplification. However, if someone in the 4th through 6th row asks a question, it is a difficult to hear. During playback, I have to turn up the volume on those sections.

A few things I wish I had were
* a LED light signalling that I was recording. I have accidently forgotten to press the record button and just hit play. So, I have dead air.
*Auto shutoff when I am recording and get to the end of the tape. It doesn't shut off and it makes this screeching (but not too loud) noise when it hits the end of the tape. Which is kind of embarrasing. i have to pay attention to where the tape is at, which you can see through the window.
* It doesn't have a counter on it, so if I am taking notes, I can't write down the position I am at during the note taking.

Yet, for the price, I got what I paid for. It is a decent recorder. I have no complaints, only suggestions I want to get when I upgrade to another recorder.

I got this recorder to tape rehearsals with my band. Unfortunately, it's not well suited to that purpose--both settings on the microphone are too sentitive to record such loud sounds as drums and amplified guitar. For lecture recording and other similar purposes, though, it seems like this would work really well. It's a good recorder, just not what I was looking for.