Olympus Pearlcorder J300 (3 Hours) Handheld Cassette Voice Recorder

I haven't owned any other such units, but even so, I still feel comfortable to say that this is a pretty good recorder.

I used it to tape some conversations, among other things. Using simply a cheap cell-phone earbud/in-line-mic set, even with the mic concealed, it picked up conversation very well.

Sound quality is good enough for me, I dont know how it ranks comparitively. Has good features - dual speed, VOX, external DC jack. VERY light, compact.

Overall, a great value for the price, and a very good little machine.