The 10 best voice recorders

1. Zoom H1

The tiny H1 recorder has a special double X/Y microphone arrangement, which means both mics are equidistant from the sound source, making for a pitch-clear recording. Comes with a 2Gb memory which you can upgrade to 32Gb.

£99, maplin.co.uk

2. Livescribe

Hit record as you begin scribbling notes and the pen automatically matches the audio to the writing. To listen, tap the pen on a sentence and the lecture (or interview or moment of inspiration) plays back from that exact moment.

£252.51, shop.bt.com

3. Sony PX820

As well as a record time of 534 hours, it also has a very handy dictation-correction function which allows you to edit recordings and add comments during playback. Compatible with most speech-recognition PC software.

£56, sony.co.uk

4. Recording Pen

Although this is meant for budding spies, it's just as handy at capturing important moments in meetings or at the end of lectures when your concentration is flagging. Not the best sound quality, but who can complain at under £25?

£24, play.com

5. Olympus Dm-670

Top-notch recorder with no less than three high-quality mics to cover a wide range of frequencies, providing a rich playback sound. With 8Gb of memory, no need to worry about it running out during the middle of a conversation.

£170, amazon.co.uk

6. iTalk Recorder App£1.49, apple.com

It's all about simplicity with the iTalk iPhone app: press the big red button to start it recording and press again to pause and stop. When you're finished, just tap a button and the recording goes straight to your computer..

7. Olympus S-701 Analogue

For some, only the reassuring whirr and click of an analogue dictaphone will cut the mustard. Olympus's offering is small, lightweight and a perfectly adequate workhorse for interviews or small lectures.

£35, amazon.co.uk

8. Yamaha Pocketrak C24

Just the thing for recording your music lessons, band rehearsals or lectures. The 2Gb recorder has a filter to reduce background noise and a five-band equaliser that optimises the playback sound, so you'll never miss a beat (or an equation).

£113, reddogmusic.co.uk

9. PCM Recorder Android App

The PCM Android recorder app won't turn your phone into a concert-standard recording device, but its multi-frequency sound software and long battery life make it great for taking minutes at meetings.

80p,market.android.com

10. UltraDisk DVR10

The Clark Kent of the Dictaphone world, which changes from a fully functional 8Gb USB memory stick into an all-singing, all-dancing voice recorder with a 4.5-hour battery life and 6m range.

£35, ultradisk.co.uk