When you are not in the office playing webmaster to record a podcast or interview, you will need a good compact portable recorder. These can also be used to record sound effects, make notes to yourself or record important meetings for the sake of documentation.
The one I use is the WS-300M 256 MB Digital Voice Recorder by Olympus. It is great, I love it, and it is no longer made. I use it because I have it and it records with great quality while being exceedingly small. At this point, I have no need to replace it because of the fantastic job it does. If I were to recommend one now, it would be the new model in the line, the Olympus WS-500 Digital Voice Recorder.
There are lots of small digital voice records available, but I prefer these because they offer a good balance of quality and price. Additionally, they plug directly into your Mac or PC’s USB port like a thumb-drive so there is no cord to carry around and lose. Either of these devices will run for over 15 hours on a single battery, so it is highly unlikely that you will ever run out of power. The built in stereo microphones work well, but they also have a jack for external microphones. When recording a speech or presentation I hook up an Olympus ME-15. You simply clip the microphone onto your collar or lapel and drop the recorder in your pocket.
You actually could record your entire podcast on one of these if you don’t want to record directly to your computer. Or you could use it to record while driving, out on a walk, or on location doing whatever it is you podcast about. You could, but I normally don’t. The next time I talk about equipment I will show you the microphone I normally use at my desk.
