RCA RP3504 Cassette "Shoebox" Voice Recorder,Gray

I purchased this in order to record family members talking about the family history and plan on putting it all to paper. I needed something that was 1) user friendly (as opposed to those digital recorders); 2) reasonably priced (as opposed to those digital recorders); and 3) easy to operate (again, as opposed to those digital recorders). This recorder met all 3 requirements. I wasn't intimidated by the size (which isn't all that big) -- this recorder fits into a Ziploc zipper plastic food bag beautifully, along with the mike and cord. The only downside is that the microphone connector cord is so short. When I'm recording family members, it takes a some thought to set up the recorder + mike conveniently so that I get optimum clarity from the subject who is speaking. Admittedly I have not used it without the mic so I cannot write comment about using it with no mic. Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. If you're looking for a recorder that is a no-brainer to operate, this is it.

I should reread the reviews. I don't like this overall. When the tape reach the end I can't open the door, I have to rewind it a little because it locks. Sometimes I can't open the door. Also there is no counter although there are marks showing the tapes position. I would not buy this one over the other one that I thought about.

I bought this player almost a year ago, but just opened it last week. I use a cassette player to listen to books on tape from the library, and my old player was wearing out.The very first tape I put in the new machine ended up ruined. The roller sucked the tape into the innards of the machine and it was impossible to remove it without breaking the tape. I have had a few tangles before with other tape players, but previously it has been easy to gently pull on the tape to remove it from the rollers. Other players seem to stop when the problem begins, but this one just keeps eating tape until it can eat no more. As a result, the tape was so jammed up and tangled inside the player that I couldn't remove it.Foolishly, I let myself think that it might have been a problem with the tape, so I tried the first cassette from a different audiobook. The same thing happened. This time I decided to do whatever was necessary to get the tape out of the player (I couldn't face telling the library I'd ruined TWO of their rapidly diminishing supply of audiobooks on cassette). I ended up having to take the machine completely apart to free the tape -- no big loss because there was no way I would ever use that player again. The tape was crammed in under the keys, with the space packed full of many, many feet of tape. The tape was crumpled and tangled so badly that there was no way to remove it without having access to both sides of the roller. Pulling causes the tape to knot up and wrap itself around any available obstruction. You have to have access from the back to untangle it.In the end, I had rescued the tape but the player is a bag of screws and plastic pieces. I doubt that I could put it back together even if I wanted to, and I don't want to. I hope to get some satisfaction from AMZ, but that hope is not high. A form letter is more likely.If you buy this, don't use it with any tape that you value.

I bought a new jensen about $30.00 you get what you pay for it wouldn't even record, this one is used and still much better and much smaller and when I record I can hear it very well and this unit seems much higher quality as well.Sound is great, very happy with this purchase.Update-still in use I use this everyday for hypnotic programming and it is still working great. I've had 3-4 of these verious brands, and most quit by this time with this much use. I think this is a quilty casette recorder and this one I bought used.

I bought this as I want to record my old tapes into digital; I'm not from USA and our power supply is 220 volt. I thought that because this had an external AC adapter (Transformer,) it would rate between 110-240 like many do, hence the reason why I bought this one as appose to the Panasonic one (Hard wire plug into unit.) Unfortunately it doesn't, it is only a 110 ac adapter which burnt out after about 5 minutes. Anyway, I have since got another 6volt - 200 m-amp @ 220 adapter and it is rocking along nicely (so far, about 18 hours of recording - no issues. AWESOME!!)I do suspect that this generates more noise while recording than I had hoped. That means more noise removal from the final edit. (I have a little tape player too - which is stereo and generates less noise it seems.) If it were to operate from batteries (Which it does as well,) then it would generate less noise. Great unit but only a four star because of the AC adaptor and the noise.

I recently ordered it and received it in a few days and it worked the day I received it and then the next day,it was defective. When I pressed play it played at fast speed and rewind and fast forward was extremely fast so this one is defective. I contacted Amazon to return it ,they said they will send UPS to pick it up and once they receive it back they will then credit my account or give me a refund once they have it. Update 1-16-14: UPS picked it up the other day with a pre printed return label and returned it to Amazon in the box it came in, at no extra charge. Amazon gave me a refund. I decided to buy a different tape recorder listed on Amazon, it arrived yesterday and is working good, so far no complaint.

I bought this unit as a backup for my Sony portable cassette recorder, but am using it more because of the AC adapter it came with. I use the Sony when I am on the road, otherwise I use my RCA shoebox recorder when I have access to an electrical outlet. I like this unit because it feels durable and it reminds me of when I was in elementary school, which was many moons ago. You can record with the microphone that it comes with or you can record with an in-line cord you can purchase anywhere. It is still portable to carry around because it is only a few ounces heavier than my Sony portable cassette recorder. This is a great price for a great product.