If you were to record to WAV files on the highest setting the Zoom H2 has (24 bit, 98 kHz), you can record just a smidgen under two hours on a 4 GB flash card (according to the chart on the box the Zoom H2 comes it). I presume that it wouldn't take up any more space on your hard drive when you download the contents of the flash card than it takes on the flash card itself.   Example:   my laptop's hard drive is 80 GB. With about 30 GB worth of software and miscellaneous documents and other stuff, I still have about 50 GB of free space.

If you were to record to WAV files at what is listed as "CD quality" (16 bit, 44.1 kHz), you could record about six and a half hours worth of stuff and still be within 4 GB.

If you were to record to MP3 files at the lowest quality setting (still not that bad), you could record for five and a half days straight!! And still be within the 4 GB limit! If you were to do that, though, you'd better use the AC adaptor because a pair of AA batteries will run the Zoom H2 for about four hours before they poop out.

If you want to do a lot of editing (which, wisely, would involve making copies of what you've recorded so you can edit the copies and leave the originals as is, just in case you screw up the editing and want to start again), then you do need space to play in.

Click on "My Computer," right-click on 'Local Disk," then click on "Properties" and it will tell you how big your hard drive is and how much free space you've got on it (spells it out in numbers and also shows you a neat little graphic representation).

Don Firth