• Stereo Microphone: Make sure the recorder has a stereo mic.  This will give you a higher quality recording so you can better understand what you said at that time.

• Two or More Hours Recording Time: Most people looking at the specifications will see high recording times, but watch out.  Make sure you get a recorder that will record at least two hours at its highest quality settings.  Then if you need more time you can switch the recorder to a lower quality setting and get close to double the time.

• PC or Mac Interface: Your digital recorder should have the ability to interface with your computer so you can off-load all of your recorded notes for archival and transcription purposes.  Now for my Mac friends, you may have to use a more expensive recorder in order to get Mac support, but it will be worth it since whatever software that comes with the recorder will be able to convert the compressed format the recorder uses into Mac-friendly audio formats.

• Uncompressed Audio: This isn’t a big deal, but for maximum flexibility, you want to get a voice recorder that can record in uncompressed audio.  This makes it easier to use your notes on systems that don’t support Windows-only audio formats which are popular on most recorders (WMA is a prime example).

• Expandable Storage: Some new recorders now have the ability to accept SD cards.  This is a great capability to have because then you can record on the highest quality settings you can and then simply switch out the SD card for a new one. If you go this route, make sure you get a couple of SD cards also.

You might be wondering how much will this cost you?  The good news is a good digital voice recorder can be purchased in the range of $45-$100.  For example, I use an Olympus DS-2 Digital Voice Recorder, which has most of the features above except for SD-based storage.  I also selected this recorder because it came with Mac-compatible software. Olympus has several models which will work with the Mac.  You can also look at Sony’s recorders but I tend to prefer Olympus since they do not force you into using a proprietary recording and external memory format (ATRAC and Memory Stick respectively).

If you still don’t want to put down that much cash and you have an iPod then you can purchase an accessory like Griffin’s iTalk Pro which turns your iPod into a stereo digital voice recorder for about $20.  The only caveat is that the quality sometimes can be spotty unless you hold it close to your mouth.

Whatever you end up using  just make sure it doesn’t distract you from the road.  If you find yourself wrapped up in a scene, then you may want to pull over and finish it off.  But, if you’re like myself and can talk while driving, then you’ll be able to use this time to gain writing productivity.  You could even use it as a large portion of your scheduled writing time since it is easier to transcribe than create.

Time to take a drive!