That 8 am applied physics lecture? No problem. Slip this recorder into a buddy's pocket and sleep in. The WS-321M comes with a stereo mic and 1 gig of RAM — enough for 277 hours of sound. A wealth of tech wizardry ensures the cleanest recording possible, including six quality modes, the ability to capture only when it senses sound, and Voice Filter and Noise Cancel features for enhancing speech and cutting background noise while recording. You can also speed up or slow down playback by as much as 50 percent — useful for hunt-and-peck transcriptionists. And since it plays both WMAs and MP3s, you can bag the iPod.
$150, olympusamerica.com
