Sony ICD PX333 Digital Voice Recorder

Sony makes these recorders to last! I bought a new one after the one I had by accident fell in the toilet (don't ask). It was completely submerged -- but I did snatch it out fast (clean water, it was a stupid accident I can't even begin to explain). I took out the batteries and left the back door open so it might dry out and work again. I thought, however, nothing is going being totally submerged in water, especially a digital device. The Sony voice recorder that took a swim is just like this but an earlier model. I had it since January 2012, and paid about the same amount of money for it. After it fell in the commode I thought there goes a nice item I used daily down the toilet, quite literally. So after it dried out for a few days, I put back in the batteries. Nothing. I shopped around and bought another Sony voice recorder at Amazon, this very one. It arrived in a week -- nice fast shipping -- and well packaged. It did not come with the Sound Organizer software CD, though I have the software CD from an earlier purchase of the recorder, but I'll bet you can download the Sound Organizer software from the Sony site. It's worth it because the software is very good. When the new one arrived, I put in the batteries and it did not work. WHAT?!? Then I realized I put the batteries in backwards, so I turned them around and that did the trick. So I wondered, maybe I should see if the dunked recorder would work because I might have put the batteries in backwards. HOLY TOLEDO!!! The dunked recorder turned on right away and works just like it did before it took the dive in the toilet. I thought of returning the new one I bought because there are so many other things I need, and these really aren't cheap. But I decided to keep it instead and use the older model as a back up. Overall they are excellent digital devices, well made and the support from Sony is superb. Let me say this about the voice recorder: It has many options and features for recording: you can set it to lecture, voice recording, meetings and more. Each will impact how it records. You can set it to dim background noise, to make the mic very sensitive (and boy is it!) and a host of other useful features. At first the recorder might seem overwhelming because there are so many options. I always end up setting the date and time manually, but that's easy. After you play around with it for a while, getting the hang of everything is fairly easy. AND you can add a microSD card to increase the capacity or just to have other storage. I use an 8 Gig microSD card because if for some reason you mess up (just like I did) and unplug your voice recorder's USB cable from your notebook (just like I did) before going through the process of disconnecting the connection in your notebook, you can mess it up and it won't work like that anymore. But you still have the ability to transfer to your notebook by using the SD card in an adapter. So with my old one (that took a toilet bath) I have to remove the SD card and an adapter to transfer voice notes into my notebook. It's easy and works well. I also kept the new one because I like using the USB cable (that DID come with the recorder.) What else can I say? The Sound Organizer software is great. I have used music files in my notebook and edited them into ringtones. Then transferred them to my Samsung software. You can use the Sony Sound Organizer software to adjust settings in your voice recorder and also to make playlists and probably a whole lot of other stuff that I haven't even tried. In the range of easy to hard, I would rate the software as easy and intuitive. THIS is probably the most important aspect of these Sony devices: the excellent support. If something is STILL causing a problem or you can't figure out something (just like me) there is the Sony phone number where you can get fabulous and friendly service. Sony items may cost a bit more than their competitor, but when you are stuck and just need help, they are there ALWAYS THERE. I never thought about factoring in support when I bought items, but now I do because for example, Samsung won't do squat to answer questions because I bought an international version from Amazon. Sony, on the other hand (and like HTC, too) has support that is among the best. You would be amazed how much it matters. I had to reinstall the software and could not figure out where my voice files were (good old HP notebook hard drive crash after only two months) and those people at Sony offered to remotely connect and they not only fixed the issue but explained how to do it and were not resentful about it. They also were professional, the focused on the issue and not like some others, they ONLY does the repairs (ie: without tampering with browser settings and setting that may just be too tempting to techies at some companies. I have come to learn that it's worth spending a few extra bucks on an item if the support is good. It is not just selling the item but the support that should go with it. . This is actually my third Sony voice recorder. They have all been this make, but newer models. My first, which I loved and got the software CD and handbook with, was stolen in a burglary in January 2012. I had it for maybe three years. The second took the commode dive but is still working perfectly And this model. So if you are on the fence about which voice recorder to get, I hope this review helps. I would not pay more than $59 for it (I got my first about six or seven years ago for $39) so if you see anyone selling it for more, shop around. They are now in the range of $55 to $59. My only reservation about this one is there was NO software CD or little Sony booklet. But it would not be a deal breaker, because nowadays I'll bet you can download the handbook in pdf form and the Sound Organizer software from the Sony site. I just think the sellers should say so, because people might not know you can get software. As far as this seller goes, (World Class, Inc) the recorder arrived within a week, it was packed well to be safe and was shipped USPS, which in my opinion is a smarter faster way for small items. I don't know about where you live, but UPS cannot deliver a package to me that doesn't look like they ran over it first. Because of torn, opened, damaged and mangled packages have been so bad I have now decided I either reject them or send them back. Oh, and this recorder also arrived with two AAA batteries.

This is a great digital voice recorder. It's really small, perfect hand-held size. The main buttons are easy to use and see. I purchased this for my grandfather to record his life stories, and he's not the most tech-savvy person. I wanted to find a device that had capabilities I could use, like emailing the digital files to family members, but would still be easy enough for him to figure out how to do the basics, like record and play back. The two main buttons you need are front and center, easy to see, easy to press. You just have to press the record button to record, press it again to pause, or press the stop button to finish the recording. You can then press the play button to hear what you have recorded. It has rewind/forward buttons, which seem basic, but were not on the last recorder we had. It made it difficult for someone transcribing the recorded information because they would have to listen to the whole recording several times to get it all transcribed. If it was a long recording, this could be a bit time consuming. However, this recorder has the rewind/fast forward options built-in. The device has plenty of storage space on its own, but you can also put an SD card in for additional storage. You can also plug the device into a computer via USB, and download the files to the computer. They save as MP3 files, so you can easily email them to anyone, and play them on other devices. MP3 is a pretty universal format, so I prefer that over a WAV file. The microphone picks up sound really well, almost too well. Make sure there's not too much background noise where you're recording. The volume can also go up pretty loud, so you can easily hear playback.Overall, really happy with this recorder.

This is my 5th voice recorder since 1999. All Sony. They have been great. Reason for so many is that I use them a lot! I still have two others that I'm using but they are "attached" to particular locations. This one I carry with me most of the time, use it to capture the "next big idea" while I'm dring to/from work. This recorder is excellent. Really well designed, lots of nice features, no down side at all, so far. The microSD flash memory port (I'm using an 8G for 168 hours total recording time) is a really nice addition from previous recorders, as is the USB port. And this model records in mp3, perfect to allow others to email to other so they can listen to my ramblings. The sound quality is excellent, easy to use record/playback. If I have a gripe, it's that the user manual is non-existent. I have no problem whatsoever using all the various options, including the "hidden" options in the secondary menu. But that's because I've had previous Sony VRs. Someone who is coming to this device "cold" may not find and utilize all the neat features buried within. For example, you can play back at a different "speed" than the original recording but the pitch of the recording does not change, like with a mechanical tape recording slowed down. No small design / engineering feat, but it's buried within the options menu. Too bad, Sony, you're missing the boat when it comes to touting your features and benefits to buyers/users. Short story: great recorder, excellent value for the money ($50 or so).

I had one of these for over two years then I lost it while in the woods. All of the features matched my needs. The ability to store music, podcast, and make my own voice recordings made it a one-device does all for me. You can set date/time on recordings (music or voice recording) to play as an alarm so I wake up to a different song each day of the week. The sound quality is excellent and when you use Sony's Sound Organizer you can easily set-up podcast downloads, move music and recordings to/from your PC. Anyway, I lost one of these and I looked for it for a month or two and I just couldn't stand being without it so I bought this replacement. I didn't rate it at 5 stars because the display isn't back-lit. Everything is great on this device except you can't see the screen in low light without you flashlight or something. Some folks say the menus are complicated but I disagree. The right-left button scrolls through the top level menu and then there is a choice for "Details" to take you to a second level. A different list of menu items may appear if you are in playback or record mode. It wasn't long for me to get familiar with how it works. Oh and the batteries...I have left it running all night in the woods to "listen" for game sounds. I retrieve it and review the recording in Sound Organizer for peaks in the sound graph. I can do this three nights on one pair of batteries. It's very efficient with energy consumption. It can go 16-20 hours easy on a battery and records. Another cool thing about this device is it has an external speaker so you can chose to use ear phones or just playback through the speaker. It also has a mic-in jack so you can add one of those ear piece microphones and record meetings or conference calls for later use to take notes. All in all, I have been very pleased with this device and my 15 year-old son has bought one and is using it to keep all of his music on now...and he has iPhone and other devices but he likes this thing better.

I bought this to record voice-over narratives for a movie I'm creating on my PC. All I can say is: 1. Wow!!! . 2. I wish I would have been smart enough to purchase it before starting my project. Prior to purchasing the ICD PX333 I was recording my narratives using the microphone embedded in my web camera. This generated good recordings but putting myself in a good position/posture while holding my script was an ordeal. Additionally the recording levels that resulted varied greatly and I spent an inordinate amount of time getting them evened out. No more... The Sony unit allows me to sit comfortably in a quiet place and read my script in a normal tone and volume. I bought the clip-on mic and attach it to my shirt over my sternum. What a difference it makes! My recordings sound much better and - almost as important - the levels are consistent. All I have to do is adjust the overall level of the audio clip, then I move on to the visual tracks. No more hours wasted adjusting dozens of isolated peaks and valleys for a 2 minute voice segment. It works so well and so efficiently I went back and re-recorded most of my previous voice-overs. I would not have done that if there had been too much time or effort involved. If you're doing anything that requires a good voice track like a voice-over for a movie or video, a speech or a presentation or an interview, I highly recommend this unit or something similar. The clip-on mic takes the quality to another level, so that's worth considering too. Hope this helps...

Using Amazon's star system for this review, I'm rating this recorder as "Okay." It's not bad, but it's not great. Perhaps I've just been spoiled by the fine quality of field recorders and voice recorders from Zoom and Olympus. All portable recorders have their quirks, and a little learning curve. Fair enough. I was able to get this Sony up and running with a full understanding of it's functions (and limitations) within minutes after opening the box. My first disappointment came with the size of the unit and the quality of it's feel. Its bigger than I thought it'd be, and about 25-30% larger than my Olympus. The buttons and plastic case also feel cheap. I actually like that this unit is black plastic (I think the faux chrome plastic used on the Olympus units is very dated and cheesy). But something about the plastic of the Sony feels like it's brittle and will break easily if dropped. My second disappointment was that it took forever for the unit to start up with a large microSD card inserted. Then it had trouble reading the card later. With the card out, the unit fired up more quickly. My third disappointment was that the recorder records in mono only. I suppose I should have noticed this from the specs online, but it was a surprise. Granted, most people recording dictation or lectures won't need-- or care about-- stereo sound, but I like the depth and natural realism it gives recordings, so I prefer it. I haven't decided if I'll keep this unit, or return it and get another. My goal was to keep the Olympus at the office and simply use this for trips in the car and taking notes & memos while traveling. Based on my prior experience with Olympus-- and their high quality-- I think this Sony unit should be no more than $29.99. But given that it's within ten dollars of a comparable (or likely superior) Olympus, I'm leaning towards returning the unit and getting another Olympus. By the way, in case you're wondering: I use a Zoom for high quality field recordings. It's in a whole other league compared with this Sony or even other Olympus units, but it costs three times as much. I mention this only because some people might be looking for real high fidelity to record more than dictation, and in that case, a field recorder from Zoom, Tascam, or Yamaha would really be your best bet. There are some very high quality units that start at $99.00. Better sound quality than what Elvis, The Beetles, or the Beach Boys ever had in their heyday.

I wish I'd bought this thing 20 years ago! It's easy to use if all you're doing is recording your voice and managing the MP3 files. (It's got a lot of extra features when synched to a computer which I simply don't use, so I don't know how user-friendly those features are.) It's easy to navigate, and if you plug it into your computer, your computer will treat it sort of like a flash drive and you can copy and drag the MP3 files to your computer, and you can also rename the 5 default folders that come programmed on it. I was quite impressed with the audio quality -- I could barely hear the traffic when I walked down the sidewalk during rush-hour while talking into it, and I put it in my open purse and walked across the room and talked in a fairly low indoor-voice to simulate recording people talking in a meeting or a soft-spoken interviewee, and it picked up every word clearly. It's really tiny too, smaller than the remote for my TV, so perfect fit for a purse. I carry it with me everywhere now, everyday, as a convenient alternative to having to stop and write down miscellaneous blog-post ideas as they occur to me at otherwise very inconvenient times.

Works flawlessly. Some people are saying that this only recording in mono is an issue for them, but I would actually prefer mono so all sounds are recorded uniformly. You can use software to edit the recordings later if needed. The microphone is very sensitive, and can be adjusted in the settings. There are several pre-programmed scene modes to choose from to suit your needs, and you can also make your own settings. Another thing I love is that you can insert an SD card with mp3 music files and use this as a portable mp3 player. I haven't found anything I don't like about it yet. For some peopl'es needs, the more expensive multi-track, stereo recorders may be better, but for what I need, and the price range I'm very happy with, especially since a separate mp3 player I was going to buy would have costed an extra $50 or so. I also like that this runs on 2 AAA batteries. I've used it for several hours and the battery life hasn't even came down one notch. Some people prefer re-chargeable units, but I don't like the idea of the battery going dead while I'm out somewhere, or having to constantly remember to re-charge it. Plus re-chargebale batteries eventually get very weak or die after a few years, especially if not charged properly every time. I can carry a few extra batteries in the bag with this, and know that I have weeks worth of recording available wherever I go, without needing power.