visorcentral.com >> Stories >> Commentary >> My-Vox vs. Total Recall

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My-Vox vs. Total Recall - Who should you speak to?


Thu Feb 8, 2001 - 9:19 AM EST - By Tom Balkos

Recording and Sound Quality

This is what it all boils down to. Which module does the best job at what it's intended to do?

The My-Vox begins recording by using either the 'Hot Recording Button' or tapping on the recording icon in the application. When recording begins, the user hears a beep. When it stops, the user hears.... nothing. This was aggravating while using the module in the car or at night as there was no way to tell if I had successfully ended recording. This isn't a desired outcome considering the My-Vox only has 8 minutes of recording time. Any other time, the 'Hot Recording Button' was very useful. It didn't matter if the Visor was off or in another application, one tap of the button and it would open the My-Vox application and begin recording.

Sound quality on the My-Vox was a little disappointing. There was a strange mechanical sound in the background of the recording, which confused me because this was supposed to be a digital voice recorder, not a mini-cassette recorder.

If Shinei Technologies can improve the sound quality and increase the recording time, this module would be well worth using.

To begin recording on the Total Recall, the application must be started. Unfortunately, the module did not have a 'Hot Recording Button' that is useable when inserted in the Visor. As mentioned earlier, the 'New' button in the application was small and poorly placed, causing quick records to be more difficult than needed.

Targus did, however, exceed expectations by providing the user with 1.5 hours of recording time and the ability to change recording quality.

screen03.gif (2431 bytes) In my review of the Total Recall, I recorded a twelve second message in the three quality levels. Low quality resulted in a 6KB file, Medium quality was 7KB, and the Best quality was 31KB. The actual recordings are accessible so you can judge for yourself. Low quality also exhibited that strange mechanical background sound, however, Medium and Best quality were more than acceptable.

Recommendations for Targus include, increasing the size and location of the 'New' button in the application. Or, for the ultimate fix, moving the current module Record button to the top of the module to serve as a 'Hot Record Button' when the module is in the Visor's springboard slot. Otherwise, recording quality is great.

With only 8 minutes of recording time at a quality that reminds me of the old mini-cassette recorders, the My-Vox loses my vote in this category. The point goes to the Total Recall and they'll make me happy once some minor changes, mentioned above, are implemented.

Bonus!! >>