Digital Recorder ShowdownOlympus DS-5000 vs. the Philips 9600 Intro:For over a year, the Philips 9600 digital recorder has reigned supreme over all other digital recorders. Besides being more rugged and offering more features than any other digital recorder, the 9600 held the distinction of being the only digital recorder to feature the superior Olympus DS2 algorithms which, interestingly enough, Olympus did not incorporate into any of their own recorders. However, that is all about change with today’s release of the Olympus DS-5000.
Note: Only licensed Olympus dealers are permitted to sell the Olympus professional line of recorders. You will not find the DS-5000 at places like Circuit City, Best Buy, Radio Shack, Staples or Office Depot because resellers are required to supply technical support. You may also want to avoid vendors who offer 50+ choices of digital recorders because a jack of all trades Reseller is usually Master of none. When purchasing any professional Philips or Olympus recorder, your vendor is responsible for technical support so choose wisely. Also keep in mind that these units are MAP priced which means that everybody is charging the same price. Some vendors may include free shipping but we kick it up a notch by including our New KnowBrainer DS-5000 User Guide and offering you a choice between 2 free microphones. Now onto the review...
Short Review:Both the Olympus DS-5000 and Philips 9600 are excellent recorders and you cannot go wrong with either unit but because both recorders are in the same price range and utilize the new Olympus DS2 algorithms, the Olympus DS-5000 is clearly the hands-down winner. When you look at the extras (such as customizing), better close mic accuracy, 3 programmable buttons, extended battery life, better display, more encryption choices, digital security key feature, optional biometric finger print security, the ability to utilize up to 16 GB SD/SDHC cards and 512 Mb built-in memory it becomes an easy choice.
By contrast the Philips 9600 cannot except SDHC memory cards, only comes with a 128 MB SD card, no internal memory, very few end-user customization options, no biometric finger print security option, harder to read display, no programmable buttons and a 9 hour battery life. If you would like to read our in-depth color coded full review click The Rest of the Story
http://www.knowbrainer.com/downloads/DS-5000_VS_Philips_9600.pdfKnowBrainer, Inc. Support Staff – Tom Hamilton
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