the Sony ICD -BM1 is useless and should be banned from marketing.

The recorder has no internal memory. It operates on memory sticks like a digital camera. A 32 MB memory stick is usually supplied with the sale of a new recorder. Sony states in its specifications that A MSA-16AN,MSA-32AN,MSA-64AN,and MSA-128AN are optional accessories that are recommended for use with the recorder. They further state they only warrant proper operation of the recorder, while using Sony memory sticks. However,Sony no longer makes 16, 32, or 64 MB memory sticks,only 128MB memory sticks. But,they say that the 128 MB memory stick is not recommended for dictation.( see Sony's official site@Sony.com). If it's Sony's only dictation recorder and you can't use it for dictation, what good is it?

I did not learn of the above information, until I went to Sony with the complaint that the speech was distorted and had very low sensitivity and playback. Trying to deal with Sony is like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. If there is a worse place to do business with I haven't found it yet.Document your dealings with those people. Sony promised a check back two months ago, so far I haven't seen it. I suppose it's in the mail.