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Olympus DS-7000 vs DS-5000 - How Do They Compare?

08 May, 2012

Compare Olympus DS-7000 vs DS-5000 digital dictaphone voice recorder

The dust has settled and we are all getting used to have a new dominant male in the Olympus dictaphone pack, the Olympus DS-7000. Having relegated the previous king of the digital dictaphone the Olympus DS-5000 to the retirement village, now is a good time to have a good close look at the nitty gritty - the real difference between these two power house digital dictaphones.

There really is no major changes between the two that would make you raise your eye brows. If you currently use DS-5000's in your business adding the DS-7000 into the mix will be no problem, the two will work together nicely at any site feeding dictation into the AS-5000 or AS-7000 digital transcription kits.

The key changes are:

New bigger, colour screen
DS-7000 has a different rechargeable battery to the DS-5000 which lasts for longer and charges quicker
Can now use larger memory cards, both SD and microSD
Stronger security with 256 bit encryption
New Dictation module software, ODMS, replaces DSS Pro. However they look very very similar so users going from DS-4000 or DS-5000 will have no issues picking up the new software
DS-7000 ODMS (R6) software is Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Windows 10 compatible
DS-5000 DSS Player Pro (R5) is now discontinued, no longer supported and only Windows 7 compatible
Higher rating from Nuance for voice recognition accuracy when using Dragon NaturallySpeaking on Windows (see notes below the table)

Detailed below is a table showing how the two compare. Key changes on the DS-7000 are in bold text.

Olympus DS-7000

Olympus DS-5000

Memory

Type

SD card/MicroSD

Capacity

2GB/2GB

2GB/1GB

32GB Max./32GB Max.

16GB Max./16GB Max.

LCD

Type

Colour TFT

176(W)x220(H)

Dot matrix

128(W)×108(H)Dots

View Area Size

34(W)×42(H)mm

30.8(W)×31.8(H)mm

2 inch

1.7 inch

Back Light

White LED

LED Indicator

Orange

Red/Green

Switch

Main slide switch

x(4 function)

Push button - front

Push button - right

Push button - back

Total 10 push buttons

Display button

3(F1､F2､F3)

programmable button

3(F1､F2､F3)

programmable button

POWER/HOLD switch

ON/OFF

*No HOLD function

ON/OFF

*No HOLD function

Cradle

USB Connectivity

yes

Foot SW. Connectivity

yes via Cradle (RS-31)

yes via Cradle (RS-28)

USB

Cable

mini-B Type

Storage Class

x(Hi-Speed)

Audio Class

x（Full Duplex）

Wi-fi card(SD)

Option (TBD)

Barcode scanner

Option SC1

Battery

Ni-MH Battery Pack

yes

Ni-MH Battery

AAA×2

yes

Li-ion Battery

LI-42B(740mAh)

Standalone Recharge

yes

yes (2hours)

Cradle Recharge

yes

yes (2hours)

Speaker

D23 300mW

Power Jack

yes via USB

yes

Recording

QP Mode

yes（28kbps 16kHz）

Mode

SP Mode

yes（13.7kbps 12kHz）

LP Mode

LPCM

MONO (special FW)

MP3

File Formats

.dss / .ds2 / .wav

.ds2

Mic Sensitivity Level

2 Level(CONF/DICT)

Microphone size

φ10（mono）

φ6

Dragon score **

File encryption/decryption

128bit/256bit

yes / yes

yes / no

Erase Lock

yes

Hardware

PIN Code

yes

　　　　 Lock

Finger Print

yes via DS-5000iD

Language Select

U1: x(3 lang)

E1,G1: x(10 lang)

U1: x(3 lang)

Others: x(6 lang)

Index

yes

Priority

yes

Verbal Comment

yes

Speed

Fast Play

yes

Control

Slow Play

yes

CUE/REV

yes

CUE/REV sound off

yes

CUE/REV speed

yes

FF/REW

yes

REC Monitor

Variable

WindowsXP,Vista,7

Mac OS X

Windows2000,XP,Vista

Mac OS X

Application Software

ODMS

DSS PLAYER PRO R5

External dimensions

114.5mm x 50mm x 17mm

114.3mm x 48mm x 17 mm

** Dragon Score

The Dragon score is allocated to devices that can be used with Dragon NaturallySpeaking and is independently tested by Nuance. Scores are marked in "Dragons", six being the highest score possible. The Olympus DS-7000 and DS-3500 have both been awarded a five out of six Dragon score by Nuance: