Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony ICD-P520 Digital Voice Recorder with 256 MB Built-in Flash Memory and USB

For a small recorder, this does a good job, I think that this is a good deal. The price was good and the quality of the unit is better than I was expecting.
I use the recorder to record an open meeting and the pickup is great, I can record someone from across the room as well as someone close by. The software is easy to use and this permits burning to a CD a snap

I bought this recorder as a quick replacement after I lost my Olympus on a trip. The Olympus was so much better for my use. As a student, I like to record lectures and notes and burn CD's to review as I drive. The trouble with the Sony is the complicated software that comes with it. Sony corp is so concerned about music rights that they have made it a nightmare for the user to burn CDs from recordings that they have made themselves. Forget drag and drop into your your preferred software(like the Olympus.)With the Sony you must bow three times, kiss the ground and use their proprietary burn program and format--with no guarantees that the CD will play back on you chosen CD player. On the up side, the sound quality is very good for such a small recorder. Its just a real clunker once you try to do anything more than record. I just ordered another Olympus.

I bought this to record my lectures and I was pleasantly surprised! It can hold up to 130 hours on the LP setting and 24 hours on HQ setting, which is nice if you go to lecture a few times a week.

I find that the recorder is very sensitive, so you might want to put a notebook or jacket underneath it - otherwise it'll pick up noises from you moving or someone walking by.


The recorder has 4 folders, which I use for separating my classes (that way you know which lecture is in which folder). The menu gives an option to display the time, date, how much recording time is left, or how many minutes you've recorded.


Also, the recorder comes with software and USB cable that's very easy to install and use. All you do is install the program, hook up the recorder to the PC and it'll download all your files! You even have an option of converting the files to mp3 wav. files.

One thing about the software, though: it doesn't run on Macs.

The battery that comes with the recorder will last for a while but if you use it a lot, I'd recommend rechargable batteries.

Overall, it's a very sturdy, neat recorder and it's very easy to use!

The recorder is of a nice compact size and manages to pick up a decent range of sound (i.e. I can record lectures from the 5th row, rather than placing it up on the podium next to the professor). However this product is in no way shape or form compatible with Mac. That should be in big bold letters under the product description. I had to load the software and recordings onto my roommate's computer.

I bought this recorder after reading positive reviews of the product on Circuit City's website.

I like the small and discrete size, fits easily on the half desk prominent in most colleges and into my bag. The software is very easily and quick to install and use, windows only I believe. The four folder function is nice for the number of classes the average students take and for organizational purposes. I already have rechargeable batteries so battery consumption is not a problem for me. Audio playback is good on both the product's speakers and using headphones, probably best when downloaded onto the computer though.

I can record a lecture in a large 200+ people auditorium from the very back of the classroom (literally) on HQ mode! Although it should be noted that the professor has a microphone but the speakers are location in the front of the room and the speaker is very soft spoken. I would recommend the Sony ICD-P520 DVR.