portable audio recorders...suggestions?

[justinbarleben]

Here's one for the TNFJ...
I'd like to buy a portable audio recorder to record my All-State rehearsals and my national anthem audition for the Sabres, among other things. Here's what I'd like:

-mp3 and/or WAV recording capability (I'd rather not deal with tapes)
-at least 50 hours of recording space
-long-range capability/setting (I've seen some with a "dictation" setting and a "conference" setting...I'd like that "conference" one...)
-decent battery life (8 hrs or more hopefully)
-USB plugin capability

I like to think of myself as a tech-geek, but this is one area that I am absolutely clueless in. Any suggestions? Are my requests even reasonable? Thanks!

[tbn.al]

The Zoom H4 I have meets all your criteria. The 50 hours would require a huge memory card but they make 'em if you can afford 'em. I think you will get about 4 hrs per gig on mp3.

http://zoomh4.net/" target="_blank

[SplatterTone]

Here is some discussion with sound samples of the Zoom H2
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27385&start=0

The 50 hour requirement will be met by having a few 8 or 16 GB SDHC cards. You will need a more than one set of batteries -- either rechargable or alkaline or lithium. It has a very wide range of microphone sensitivity adjustment. If you want the cheapest price, look at Amazon market place. I got mine from one of the standard music mail-order houses that have a 45-day return allowance. I figured the 45-day protection was worth and extra 20 or so bucks over Amazon market.

[Tom]

The Yamaha Pocketrack looks pretty interesting to me.

Anyone have one?

http://www.yamahasynth.com/products/pocketrak/

[Albertibass]

I would also have to say the zoom h2. For the price you pay, you actually get a lot. The h4 has a lot of extra du-dads that you might not really need.