Thinkpad for Lecture voice recording?

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namezero · #1 Post by **namezero** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:25 pm

I've tried using the built-in microphone for lecture recording, and it cannot pickup voices like 6 feet away.

May I wonder if there is any gadget out there that enables a laptop to record lecture with OK/good quality?

Also what software you will use for recording a lecture with Thinkpad/laptops in general?

Thank you.

E.g. USB microphone

http://soniclear.com/SupportMicrophones.html
Solutions I found in this page are somewhat expensive, or requires pointing the microphone to the speaker/guest.

P.S. Yeah I know one can pickup MP3 players like iRiver or iAudio G3, or PDAs like Dell x30 for voice recording. However that means I've to shell out extra $200.

Leon · #2 Post by **Leon** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 7:12 pm

any inexpensive external microphone (does not have to be USB) will increase your ability to pick up sound exponentially!

sugo · #3 Post by **sugo** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 7:23 pm

Have you tried the microphone/line in jack? The drawback is that you might need a self powered mic to get decent sensitivity without getting high noise level.

While it might not be an option for you, the mics on pocket pcs are fantastic for voice recording. There are programs that can record it directly as mp3. It's also much more practical in terms of battery life (4+ hours), size and weight.

Kenn · #4 Post by **Kenn** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 8:13 pm

Have you tried turning the Mic all the way up (in the RECORDING) menu, and making sure that MIC Boost is on in the Advanced menu? I use Skype regularly, and people can hear me even if I'm 20-25 feet away.

Also, as someone else already mentioned, since the MIC is in front of the LCD screen, getting an external, directional mic pointed at the front of the lecture hall should help out a lot.

Last thing - if you're serious about recording lectures, give Microsoft One Note a try - it can timestamp your written notes and sync it with the recording for easy review/playback.

namezero · #5 Post by **namezero** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:22 pm

sugo wrote:Have you tried the microphone/line in jack? The drawback is that you might need a self powered mic to get decent sensitivity without getting high noise level.

While it might not be an option for you, the mics on pocket pcs are fantastic for voice recording. There are programs that can record it directly as mp3. It's also much more practical in terms of battery life (4+ hours), size and weight.

Yeah I looked at those external self-powered microphones. However many of them costs like $100 or more. At that price I would rather rely on hand-written notes or get gadgets like MP3 player or PDA for voice recording.

Yeah I've heard about Pocket PC recording, and I'm still self-debating whether spending $270 will help me surviving 3 hours long lectures, boosting my GPA. I'm looking at Dell Axim x30 312MHz model.

namezero · #6 Post by **namezero** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:51 pm

Kenn wrote:Have you tried turning the Mic all the way up (in the RECORDING) menu, and making sure that MIC Boost is on in the Advanced menu? I use Skype regularly, and people can hear me even if I'm 20-25 feet away.

Wow. That's far!

Humm I've a T23, and I've just turned on the microphone boost. I guess I'll try it tomorrown in class and see how it goes.

Kenn · #7 Post by **Kenn** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:56 pm

namezero wrote:
Kenn wrote:Have you tried turning the Mic all the way up (in the RECORDING) menu, and making sure that MIC Boost is on in the Advanced menu? I use Skype regularly, and people can hear me even if I'm 20-25 feet away.
Wow. That's far!

Humm I've a T23, and I've just turned on the microphone boost. I guess I'll try it tomorrown in class and see how it goes.

Granted, a quiet apartment at night is different than a full 200-seat lecture hall, but if you sit close enough to the front, the built-in mic should be able to do the trick (though an external directional mic will be much better).

namezero · #8 Post by **namezero** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 11:46 pm

I've just tried it in a room with three people. I was able to record chats with OK quality.

Downsides:

1. only 60 seconds of recording by using the Windows Sound Recorder.
(any voice recording software suggestion??)

2. the internal microphone picks up many surprising sounds, like... hard drive read/write actions.

I'll try this setup in a lecture room tomorrow. Thanks for all suggestion.

Kenn · #9 Post by **Kenn** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 4:09 am

namezero wrote:I've just tried it in a room with three people. I was able to record chats with OK quality.

Downsides:

1. only 60 seconds of recording by using the Windows Sound Recorder.
(any voice recording software suggestion??)

2. the internal microphone picks up many surprising sounds, like... hard drive read/write actions.

I'll try this setup in a lecture room tomorrow. Thanks for all suggestion.

A lot of people are starting to use Microsoft Onenote in class - it lets you type/draw/drag like a blank sheet anywhere on screen, and can record an entire conversation and timestamp it with your text as you write. I think there's a free demo on the MS site.

#10 Post by **BillMorrow** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 4:23 am

the best internal mic was on the 701C followed closely by the 760 series..
the mic on the z50 was good too..
thereafter they did not improve and declined in quality..

check out my friend marty's web site for advice and maybe purchase..

http://www.emicrophones.com

marty runs his website with his T40..

namezero · #11 Post by **namezero** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:25 am

Wow the admin has spoken.

Thanks for all the input so far.

Tried with some free sound recording software with built-in microphone on T23, no luck with 20 feet away from lecturer.

Guess I'll try the Onenote demo and get a closer sit to the lecturer tomorrow.

Thinkpad for Lecture voice recording?

Thinkpad for Lecture voice recording?

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