Hi. I'm not sure if here is the right place to ask this (mods, feel free to move it if it's not), but I'm looking for a portable audio recorder. I've seen the Zoom H4 / H2 mentioned on here on a few occasions, and the H2 is one I may be considering.

But... do you guys know of a good one that has more options on the encoding bitrate & sample rates (for example 16-320kbps, 11.025-48kHz (the Zoom does have a 96kHz option btw), and longer battery life (Zoom claims 4 hours, I'd rather have at least 10-12)?
Also I'd like a less expensive unit - $100-150 including the stereo mic(s), and I may be willing to give up some other features (depends on what I'd be giving up. For example, I wouldn't need the instrument tuner - my SAT III serves that purpose well enough.)

Also, for those of you that use the H4 or H2, could you comment on the audio quality with the built-in mics? (Feel free to direct me to other threads, too.)

I'd like to get one fairly soon. I'm limping along right now with an aging and failing iRiver ifp-899 (which has an excellent line-in mp3 encoder, but the voice recorder (built-in mic) leaves a lot to be desired), and have lost my muy barato external mike that sounded like caca when it was new.

The zooms IMO are the better units out there for the price.
I have heard some problems about the newer Zoom so stick with the older one plus it comes with XLR inputs which is great to have if you ever get some Shure SM57 mics or whatever.

There are other recorders like the Frostex MTRs but you cant record with just the recorder as they dont have any good on board mic.

For around $300 have a look at this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...Recorder-with-40GB-Hard-Drive?sku=240341

That unit is another great one for the price and will take 4 inputs at one time which is a little better than the zoom.
They are geared towards layering and making songs one part at a time.
You can link to a PC and burn a CD when done as well.

If this recorder is a little high for your price range have a look on ebay as you can normally get a good deal around there.