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| Philips DPM 9300 | |
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Philips’ Digital Pocket Memo 9300 (with download to PC) allows for the creation and transfer of a digital voice recording to your PC. Digital voice dictation technology makes it possible to record your voice, then return to precise points for insertions or deletions, without overwriting the existing dictation. The Digital Pocket Memo 9300 operates similar to an analog, cassette-type voice recorder — except Smart Media digital cards record the voice dictation. It produces digital files in WAV file format that should be compatible with voice recognition programs, and can be played back using Microsoft Media Player or other sound application programs. I had no difficulty dictating audio files and inserting and overwriting existing dictation. I was able to determine the number of files and time length of each file easily. The Digital Pocket Memo 9300 has a sleek design format and a four-position switch for single-handed use. The switch allows for recording, stop, play and rewind. Fast forward is a separate button. The liquid crystal display panel displays the current time, the recording status and time length of recording, the current file and total number of files on the device, standard or long play status, amount of storage availability, dictation mode and a battery level indicator. Each 8MB Smart Media card provides up to 112 minutes of recording time in long-play mode or approximately 35 pages of typed text. High-quality mode (standard play) offers 80 minutes of recording time. It also has a voice-activated recording feature for hands-free dictation. It has a normal volume control and a compression mode to create smaller file sizes that are easily transferable. The voice recorder comes with a Download/Configuration Program (if purchased) that enables you to configure a PC download screen. This program permits you to configure your Digital Pocket Memo 9300 for more sophisticated options, including setting user preferences for keyword fields, author and download preferences. One option allows you to download your digital files into a specific file format. This is important when transferring files to a voice recognition program, such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It also has the ability to set up selected keywords for the author and for a department. These keywords are defined with the PC software and are downloaded to the digital pocket memo. This is helpful if you have more than one lawyer using the same digital pocket memo or to have the dictated files assigned to a specific case. The digital dictation files I recorded were easy to download to my laptop using a universal serial bus (USB) port. Once downloaded, the files can be transferred via network to your secretary or transcription service. If you are transferring files using a regular Internet telephone connection, the file size can slow down the transmission speed. However, when I attempted to the use a voice recognition program to convert the digital audio files, I was unsuccessful. The voice recognition program I use requested the audio digital files be saved in a specific format. When I contacted the Philips assistance and technical staff, they provided me with the recommended audio format to save the files. However, saving the files to this format didn’t allow the voice recognition program to convert the audio files. Also, contact with their technical staff for product assistance was not a pleasant or helpful experience. The hardware and software should have come with a wizard-type interface that checks the type of voice recognition software you are using, and configures your Pocket Memo digital dictation recorder to save the audio file in the appropriate file format for the voice recognition software. At the very least, it should provide the necessary links with a Web site to show how to configure the recorder and provide information as to the correct audio file format. For the download software, you will need 25MB of hard disk space, a USB port and CD-ROM drive. There are several accessories that are available for separate purchase: digital transcriber kit for transcription of the digital voice files, download to PC kit, conference/label microphone and belt clip. |
Royal Philips Electronics Price: $299 standalone; $369 with download software Reviewed by Michael Arkfeld, an assistant U.S. attorney in Phoenix and the author of “The Digital Practice of Law” (5th Edition). PROS CONS VERDICT |
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