Home > Consumer Reviews > RCA RP5010 Digital Voice Recorder

I have had this recorder for about 3 years and have used it off an on. If you are left handed, it it better to learn to use it in your right hand as important controls are on the right edge of the device.

It has good sound quality and is reliable. Buttons on the front are a little small but you get used to them. It is worth the price.

Aside from the fact it is French. I found this recorder to be quite versatile and quick to learn. Care has to be exercised when using the buttons since they are marked but have no tactile cues. This was not an issue when I used it to take notes during an investigation. Playback quality is acceptable. Very understandable with all clearly spoken voices. I didn't have a problem with battery drain since I use rechargeables. For what I paid for the recorder, it performs very well.

I bought this recorder to record lectures, and it does record lectures reasonably well.

However, in playback mode - the silly thing has NO PAUSE BUTTON! What were they thinking?

Normally, a device of this kind has a "playback pause" button - so you can pause playback. A Pause feature is always standard, because it is an essential recorder function. But not this RCA unit!

Instead, you can only stop the playback - which is like a playback reset - and then you have to hold down the "fast-forward", (which is only about double normal speed) - in order to get back to where you left off!

It is so incredibly frustrating - I felt compelled to write this review about it!

Normally, a "pause button" is standard - it is on EVERY OTHER recorder I have ever owned. But it is not included on this RCA unit.

What were they thinking?