Olympus DM-1

The trend for blending devices continues with the Olympus DM-1, both MP3 player and digital voice recorder. Long, slim and light, it is comfortable to hold and use, and comes with a cute and hardy case which allows you to clip it to your belt, reducing the likelihood of accidentally hitting a button when listening to music on the move.

The software is easy to install. Each task you complete with the gadget is plain sailing, thanks to the intimidating-looking but really quite helpful manual.

The MP3 side of things is handled by MusicMatch Jukebox software, which is more than up to the job. Transferring songs from PC to device is no problem at all, and the supplied 64Mb SmartMedia card allows you to listen to around one hour of near CD-quality music.

Sound from the DM-1 is meaty, to say the least, particularly when the rich bass setting is switched on. Its grungy tones are good but there's distortion at full volume from both the built-in speaker and earphones, which is something that isn't apparent with most dedicated MP3 players on the market.

At the flick of a switch, the DM-1 becomes a digital voice recorder. The built-in microphone captures up to 22 hours of your voice bright and clear in dictation, and in conference mode very capably picks up a variety of voices in a room.

The DM-1 is also a great way to get digital voice files onto a PC. The software that handles this is a little clunky; it doesn't allow you to click and drag or rename files, but it does the job of getting the sound files on your system.

The DM-1 is a formidable device but its shortcoming is the £300 price tag, which means that unless you're a highly-paid executive, it's unlikely to appeal.

Contact
Olympus: 0800 072 0070 www.olympus.co.uk

ALSO CONSIDER

SONY MUSIC CLIP MC-500
A delightful dedicated MP3 player with great sound and unrivalled portability.
£200 ****
Reviewed in Computeractive, Issue 89.

See also:

MPmaster IM-320F

A sleek and stylish MP3 player for music on the move.  14 Feb 2002

Philips Expanium MP3 CD Player

At last - a portable CD player that can decode MP3 as well as standard CDs.  30 Oct 2001

Asus/Hi-Grade Notino T9400

The Notino T9400 backs up its solid features with nice touches like MP3.  24 Oct 2001

Rio 800

Extra memory makes this a much more attractive MP3 player.  11 Oct 2001

Diamond Rio Volt SP100

A nifty CD and MP3 player rolled into one.  11 Oct 2001

Sony NW-MS9

The Memory Stick Walkman's stunning looks will get it noticed.  17 Sep 2001

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!