At long last I am preparing for my next trip and ready to buy a recorder and microphone. Since I was here last, the DS5000 has been replaced by the DS7000 and the DS3500 has also been introduced.

Which to buy?

I believe the recording quality of both the 7000 and 3500 are equal. The main difference seems to be cosmetic. I wonder if the push buttons on the DS3500 would serve me better than the slider on the DS7000? The recorder will be in a shirt pocket, often bouncing around or sliding around as we drive over some moderately rough roads or curves. Am I wrong in thinking that the push buttons would be less likely to activate themselves (by rubbing against the shirt or body) than the slider?

That said, I read that the slider on the new 7000 is more 'robust' than the one on the 5000. Does that mean it takes a bit more effort to slide it or click it into position? I am still somewhat concerned by posts on some reviews stating that people had accidentally erased all their recordings using the sliders.

Lastly, one feature that sold me on the 5000 was the ability 'pause' the recording easilly. This still the same on the 7000?

I saw somewhere (Olympus site?) that the DS3500 comes with a case with a belt loop. Small issue, but I need that, rather than just a case to slip into my pocket.

Thanks for your time. Be buyinig in a week or two, along with your Knowbrainer Hands-Free Microphone.

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DNS Pro 11.5 - Windows 7 64 Bit - Intel Core I-7 - 16 GB Ram
www.mexicomike.com

We are always driving over rough terrain but it's not so much the actual terrain. It is the fact that we drive a Jeep Wrangler stick shift so we can appreciate your concerns. We don't wear seatbelts because it’s the law. We wear seatbelts to keep our heads from hitting the roof. On hindsight, we probably should have elected the rag top option

Olympus has had a long time to work on the slider control. The 1st slider control, which was released on the DS-4000, was amazing in that it was tested over 50,000 times without failure, but it has been improved along the way. We just performed a head-to-head slider comparison of the DS-5000 against the DS-7000. Although the DS-7000 slider control is supposed to be a bit more rugged, we couldn't feel any difference in tension or stability so from our point of view, both sliders are equal, even though it's rumored that the DS-7000 slider is more durable.

Because of the impressive 21 hour battery life and the fact that the Olympus DS-7000 and Olympus DS-3500 digital recorders both include a miserable plastic on-off button, we have elected to permanently leave the power button set to the ON position since it automatically hibernates within a few minutes (depending on how you set up your unit options). Since you don't really have to worry about the battery dying, you only have to worry about accidentally clicking the record button and capturing several hours of the Big Haired Lady's nonstop whining and utterly useless chatter which all too frequently includes intricate instructions on how to break down and reassemble an AK-47 while drunk and blindfolded or the secret handshake to obtain entry into the Tennessee militia. Unfortunately, your choices are accidentally moving the slider up or depressing the record button. We have experienced both recorders going off accidentally in our messenger bag, which the Big Haired Lady lovingly, and far too often, publicly refers to as a man's purse.

Bottom line: We believe that both units are equal as far as being accidentally tripped into recording mode but we have a definite preference for the DS-7000 because it additionally includes a cradle, AC adapter and it's easy to turn on the recorder by feel without removing it from your shirt pocket. Note that we didn't have any problem with either recorder turning on in our shirt pocket. The buttons and slider are simply not that sensitive. Our problem was the other loose items that we carry in our messenger bags such as that our Teflon interior coated 40 caliber Glock with the 2.5 pound trigger pull and built-in laser, we meant our iPad.

 

Making an accidental recording wouldn't be too difficult but accidentally erasing it on the DS-7000 or the Olympus DS-5000id (on closeout sale) would be all but impossible. 1 way to erase a file would be to re-record over it but that would mean manually forcing the slider down into cue review mode (3 notches down) and then somehow managing to accidentally bypass play and stop and going back up into record mode. You cannot lock the slider into cue review because it is spring-loaded to prevent this. As far as erasing files are concerned, you have to begin by rewinding the file (which is theoretically accidentally possible) but then you would have to press the erase button, click the pulldown down arrow 2 times and then click OK. That's a lot of accidents going against you so we wouldn't worry about it. The odds of accidentally erasing a file on the DS-3500 would be just as improbable.

The DS-7000, DS-3500 and DS-5000 all include an actual leather case with a thick Velcro belt loop which, according to the Big Haired Lady, also doubles as an 15 round 40 caliber ammo clip holder.

On a professional recorder, you don't pause in the traditional sense in that there is no {Pause} button. It's the consumer grade recorders that have a true dedicated {Pause} which, when you toggle it off, inserts an unwanted glitch into your recording. With a professional dictation recorder, you simply move the slider down a notch which is a full stop. When you move the slider back up to the Record position, you are literally seamlessly punching back into your recording. In theory, the pushbutton DS-3500 works the same way but it's definitely more clumsy in this regard. This is why a slider control is typically preferable and probably why the DS-7000 is currently outselling the DS-3500 by a margin of about 40 - 1.

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Click KB 2012 REV D to Download a 30 Day Evaluation of KnowBrainer 2012 

 

 

 

Thank you very much. OK I believe the DS7000 is superior. The closeout special on the 5000id is pretty impressive to my wallet. So, does the 5000 come with the old software? And is the added Dragon that the 7000 got from Nuance going to make that much difference? I think I read here that upgrading from the old software to the new costs $100+.

And thanks very much for clarifying the holster issue. That was a big deal to me.

Your knowledge and willingness to help are why I remembered this site from several months ago and came back when I was ready to split with acutal money. Good job.

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DNS Pro 11.5 - Windows 7 64 Bit - Intel Core I-7 - 16 GB Ram
www.mexicomike.com

When it comes to transcribing a single file by dragging and dropping it into DragonPad or clicking the Dragon icon, we actually prefer the Dictation Module Ver. 5 software because it has a convenient Dragon icon in the application which was removed in Ver. 6. The Ver. 6 software also includes a batch file option that works in DNS Premium but since you are using DNS Pro, the batch file option in the AutoTranscribe Folder Agent is significantly easier to utilize so you might just be better off with the Olympus DS-5000id which is on closeout special (priced below the non-biometric security model) and includes an extra rechargeable battery pack.

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Click KB 2012 REV D to Download a 30 Day Evaluation of KnowBrainer 2012 

 

 

 

I was sick with pneumonia for the last few weeks but finally got to test the DS5000i this past week.  I tested it (in my vehicle) with and without a mic and just as you said there were worlds of difference, so I will be driving around with a mic.

The accuracy is pretty good with Dragon (especially after i recorded a new profile using the KnowBrainer mic). However it is still far from perfect, enough so that i will have to listen to my recordings and make corrections, which is a little disappointing. I have followed the instructions on good recording techniuqes and tried various positions of the mic. I believe that i speak clearly enough. Dragon even recognizes some Spanish surnames and inserts the accents, so that is impressive. Overall, i would say that 70% of my English words are recognized. And in the tests, i have mostly used English only to get a fair compairison.

My question is - is the accuracy so much better in the DS7000?

Thank you for your time.

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DNS Pro 11.5 - Windows 7 64 Bit - Intel Core I-7 - 16 GB Ram
www.mexicomike.com

We concur with Chuck. As far as the hardware, from a recording point of view is concerned, there is absently no difference between the DS-3400, DS-3500, DS-5000 or the DS-7000. The DS-3500 and DS-7000 include a larger microphone element which is designed to be jostled but would be of no advantage when using an external microphone. In fact, the DS-5000 is set up better to utilize an external microphone. When we tested the DS-5000 against the DS-7000, in a controlled environment, we were not able to appreciate any difference in accuracy, which was almost 100% when reading our previous random forum postings. We spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon testing the DS-5000 against the DS-7000.

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Click KB 2012 REV D to Download a 30 Day Evaluation of KnowBrainer 2012 

 

 

 

Just to echo what's already been said...

 

For what it's worth, I've been using the DS5000id for years now and the only time the slide-switch accidentally changed positions was when I pulled the recorder out of a tight pants pocket. And that doesn't happen very often. I don't think there's any chance of the switch activating just from the recorder moving around in a shirt pocket. It takes more pressure than that to change switch positions.

 

Also, it's impossible to delete a recording using the slide switch on the DS5000 because the erase button is completely seperate. If you're using the excellent leather carrying case that comes with the recorder, the erase button isn't exposed so it would be difficult to press it accidentally. But even if you did press it without intending to, you'd still have to use the slide switch to confirm the delete, so the chances of accidentally deleting a file are basically zero.

 

One thing that COULD happen, though it would be very unlikely, is that you might accidentally move the slide switch to record and overwrite an existing recording, but this would only happen if you have the recorder set to overwrite rather than append or insert. Personally, I use insert because it's so useful. You can play a recording back and insert updates, comments, corrections, whatever, at any point in the file. If you have the recorder set to insert and accidentally move the switch to the record position, all that would happen is that you would insert a lot of silence or background noise into the existing recording. Other than that, the original recording would still be intact.

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Compaq 6730b laptop Intel Core 2 Duo p8400 2.26 Ghz 1.93 G RAM (available) Intel Wireless Wifi Link 5100 adapter / Windows XP SP3 / Knowbrainer purchases: Philips 9600 DPM, Knowbrainer headset microphone, Samson Airline 77, Olympus DS5000id, DNS 10.1, Knowbrainer 2008, Parrott Half Duplex VXI USB Sound Pod

That is very clear. Thank you. I will stop worrying about that.

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DNS Pro 11.5 - Windows 7 64 Bit - Intel Core I-7 - 16 GB Ram
www.mexicomike.com

Thanks for all the patience, Lunis. Took the plunge and ordered the DS5000id - ORDER CODE: SAF8780447901 Now all I need to do is ask the local police for my fingerprints back.

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DNS Pro 11.5 - Windows 7 64 Bit - Intel Core I-7 - 16 GB Ram
www.mexicomike.com

Mexicomike,

The basic answer to your question is NO. Accuracy is more dependent upon your dictation style and enunciation coupled with the version of Dragon that you're using than it is on the actual differences between the two DVR's. Just keep in mind that hardware doesn't, generally, improve accuracy. That goes for Digital Voice Recorders, unless you're using one of the older or cheaper DVR's. In DNS 11.5 I haven't found any significant difference in accuracy at least between the DS 3400 all the way up to the DS 7000. What I have found is that I have to teach my clients how to dictate when using a DVR, and that, more than anything else, improves accuracy. The same applies to microphones/soundcards. There is no such thing as a piece of hardware that increases accuracy. 70% of accuracy is user dependent, 10% of accuracy is software dependent, and 20% of accuracy is hardware dependent. Regardless, most failures in achieving high accuracy are problems created by dictation style and enunciation, and therefore are user issues (70%).

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, We make it better!

"Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count." Albert Einstein

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