What really distinguishes the Olympus DS-330 digital voice recorder ($150) from other recorders I've tried is how natural it feels in your palm. It's like a match made in heaven.

The DS-330 has more depth than the flat recorders offered by some competitors - nearly a full inch compared to a third- to a half-inch on some other models - yet, it fits into a purse or shirt pocket as well as any flat recorder.

Users can save up to 199 recordings in each of five folders with a total flash memory capacity of 16 MB. While the DS-330 will record up to 5 1/2 hours in long-play mode, I preferred the better quality of the short-play mode - about 2 1/2 hours worth. It runs on two AAA batteries or an optional AC adapter.

I liked the noise-cancellation feature that allowed me to record understandable dictation despite the presence of background noise. In its omnidirectional "conference" mode, though, the DS-330 didn't adequately pick up all of the voices in a moderate-sized living room during my tests.

The DS-330 also performs a few neat tricks. You can connect it via a Universal Serial Bus docking station and turn it into a microphone for voice recognition programs or a USB speaker.

Getting recordings from the DS-330 into my PC turned out to be much easier than attempting to do so with some other voice recorders. Using the DS-330 with my computer was reminiscent of hooking up a personal digital assistant to my PC. In fact, it was a second match made in heaven.

Information: 800-622-6372 or www.olympusamerica.com.