Marantz Professional PMD620

Portable Digital Recorder

Palm sized, but chock full of Marantz goodness. Like all good field recorders should have, PMD620 has a pair of (electret condenser) microphones built in for easy stereo recording, the ability to plug in your own mic or line, plus on-board editing and playback features and USB connection for ripping straight off the SD card into your computer. You're probably seeing these appear on news reports during interviews, but they're also great for grabbing sound effects and for room recording.

$662 (RRP)