The foot pedal is essential and easy to use, and allows you to stop, start, and back up your tape without taking your hands off your keyboard. The speaker is good, there is a tone adjustment, and in addition a headset (and this one is comfortable to wear) enables quiet transcribing - and improved intelligibility, because the sound of your keys going a mile a minute won't interfere with your hearing your taped material. Importantly, there is a control lever for tape speed - for "variable speech control," so that you can play your tape a bit slower, or faster (which you sometimes need, too).

There is a mic and a remote jack, and fast forward and fast reverse. A tape counter - your odometer - is helpful. Different little lights glow when you're taping, recording, when the machine is on. This is a straightforward, simple, and gimmickless machine that is very nicely put together. It measures a neat and tidy 8 by 10 inches, and packs up simply and with no fanfare. Indispensible - if you need to transcribe tapes.

25 of 26 found the following review helpful:

good price, but not very durable  May 27, 2006
By Lori L. Baur "truelori"
I am a professional transcriber. I do not recommend this for anyone who transcribes on more than an occasional basis. Yes, the price is very good, and when I first bought one I was happy with it. But it broke down very quickly. I had to keep unscrewing and opening the bottom of the (very cheap) foot pedal because the pieces inside that were supposed to connect to cause the tape to move would come loose. Also you have to press play and THEN use the foot pedal in order for it to work.

It's a very basic machine. For the casual transcriber who may only use it on an occasional basis, it's a good deal. But anyone who uses it more than that, invest the money in a better machine.

43 of 50 found the following review helpful:

Limited by single speed  Mar 11, 2001

It is a fine transcriber if you only use single speed tapes, but for those who want to tape at half speed to utilize tape space better (i.e. recording 180 minutes on a 90 minute tape), it's not the machine for you. You'll be stuck with a lot of tapes you can't transcribe.

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:

Great time-saver!  Mar 20, 2006
By MuskokaGirl
As a psychology doctoral student I have to transcribe many therapy and interview tapes for various reasons. This machine has dramtically cut the amount of time needed to do that. I was hesitant to spend the money on a transcritption machine as they are not cheap, but I'm glad I did! It was money well spent and I'm having more time on my hands as a result. I highly recommend investing in one of these if you have to transcribe audiotapes.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Good Bargain  Feb 28, 2006
By B. Eversberg
I am extremely happy to find this product on Amazon.com, since the retail office product stores don't seem to be carrying such items anymore. Of course, there are more "bells and whistles" that one could desire in such a product, but considering the price, this product is an excellent offer. I was amazed at the speed in which this product arrived at my address once I placed the order. All in all, I have always been very satisfied with Amazon.com, and this purchase did not change my opinion one bit.

See all 30 customer reviews on Amazon.com