After taking a look at the Amazon page, I checked a bit further. I presume the size indicated there, 6.2 x 2.3 x 7.9 inches, is the size of the package it comes in, because the size given on the Sony web site is quite a bit smaller:   1 1/2 × 4 × 19/32 in. Easily slip into a shirt pocket.

That's cuter than a baby kitten, and a whole lot smaller!

When I first discovered the existence of small digital recorders, I checked out the Zooms. I focused on the H4 first because of the XLR mic inputs, but some of the reviews made it sound a bit like a torture device, what with the postage-stamp size screen and the arcane and convoluted menus and instructions. So I moved on to the Zoom H2, which, although it had the same tiny screen and it lacked the XLR inputs, did look "handy" indeed. So I got one, and it has been pretty good. It's about fourteen quantum leaps better than the small Panasonic battery-powered cassette recorder that I started packing around in the mid-1970s.

But some folks I know have recently acquired the much more recent Zoom H4n, which appears to be a great improvement over the H4. Bigger screen, more logical menu structure. I haven't actually seen one, but one friend raves about it, sound quality and all, and another, although she likes the sound quality, wants to hang whoever wrote the user's manual.

I'm trying to build a home recording studio around my computer in the manner of the lash-up that Roger McGuinn demonstrates in his DVD, "Roger McGuinn's Guide to Home Recording on a Computer," and start cranking out CDs and other marvels. But—a couple of months ago, my laptop upped and died a horrible death. So I replaced it with another laptop. A veritable Doomsday Machine. State of the Art. Quad Core, 8 gigabytes of RAM, 64-bit, 1 terabyte of dual, 7200 rpm hard drive.

Obviously I didn't do enough checking. Now I find that a couple of pieces of equipment and software that I have are not compatible with 64-bit systems, and I have to wait for the peripherals and software to catch up with the technology. One needs the appropriate driver and the software is awaiting the beta release of its next version.

SNARL!!

In the meantime, although not necessarily an essential to my recording project, the li'l Sony ICD-UX200 looks like a very handy little gadget to have in one's kit. Lemme check my credit card balance for this month. . . .

Don Firth