Saturdays at CPA Success are usually spent reviewing online tools that can help increase our productivity. Keep in mind that we do not endorse any of these services. We simply offer them up for your consideration. Do your own homework and find the service that best meets your needs.

There I was in New Orleans, wrapping up another podcast interview, tossing my digital voice recorder into my bag and wondering what I was going to write about for this week’s tech entry in our blog.

Then it hit me.

That digital voice recorder is perhaps the most important tool I own. I’m contantly interviewing folks for the MACPA’s weekly podcast, and that device is capable of recording more than 35 hours of conversation, all in high-quality digital format.

When I’m done with the interviews, I head back to the office, pop off one end of the recorder, and — voila! — the recorder magically becomes USB-ready. I can plug it into my PC and transfer the digital files over to my computer, where they can easily be edited, converted to different formats, merged with other files and turned into podcasts.

You don’t have to be a podcaster to use these things, either. Anyone who travels a lot and loves to record notes and thoughts, interview clients or listen to music should pick one up. I use the Olympus WS-320M, but it’s a couple of years old now and there are a bunch of others that can do the job, too. And you can buy all kinds of extras — lapel microphones, adapters that will allow you to record phone conversations, and more.

Did I mention that that darned thing is about half the size of a cell phone?

Check one out when you get a chance, then tell me which is your favorite.