Customer Rating: 
Summary: love this recorder!
Comment: I am amazed at the quality of the recordings and the relative ease of use. Once you get it straight that the jog dial is on the side and not the front things are pretty clear.
Customer Rating: Summary: Don't know how I survived without it
Comment: I rate this product Very Good. I held off for 3 months, after reading that the user interface was hard to learn, remembering some crash-and-burn failures with other products. After 3-4 hours with the tutorial (essential!), I find that the user interface is really quite intuitive, the sound quality is excellent, and the form factor is perfect, for plugging in my Stratocaster and jamming to my own rhythm section. Add to that the quality of the stereo recording of live performances, and I just don't know how I've lived without it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: ZOOM CHOICE
Comment: After waiting two weeks if finally arrived. Most other reviews were pretty accurate. The screen is way too small and hard to read. Sound quality is very good even at the lowest (MP3) level. The case seems a ltttle chicny but ask me in a year how it old up. It has many features I have not yet tried. For an extra C Note maybe the Edirol is a better product. The down side of buying off of the net is not being able to try item out. For now I am satisfied with the Zoom.
Customer Rating: Summary: From A Professional's Viewpoint
Comment: I'm a sound recordist for the film and television industries. I record the dialog for movies and TV series.
I got a 17 day job in Israel in early 2008 on a 28 episode series about the 60th anniversary of the birth of Israel and they wanted to be able to send back to the states mp3 copies of interviews via ftp each night after shooting for transcription. So instead of taking my much larger hard drive recorder, I bought the Zoom H4.
It worked fine, sounded great, and did what I needed it to do. I won't revisit all of what is in the fine detailed reviews here. No need to. The H4 is an incredible machine in a fairly small package. It's basically a recording studio in a box the size of a shoe with lots and lots of features.
What I'm here to report is really only the drawbacks of the design, just so some who are considering getting the H4 can't complain afterward.
Because there is so much builtin to the H4, the designers had to compromise on functionality. It really is horrible. This recorder's buttons, joy stick, and jog wheel are NOT intuitive at ALL! You have to push buttons, the joy stick and the jog wheel in and then move the jog wheel up or down and then buttons and wheel again over and over again to get anywhere to all the functions. And if you push or move one thing the wrong way, BAM! You have to start over again. This is incredibly frustrating, and you have to hold yourself back from wanting to throw your $300.00 recorder against the wall!
I know they had to make it multi-function, but the way it's layed out it rediculous! I've been using recorders since I was 10 years old and this is the most crazy arranged flow chart of function I've ever seen in my professional career.
Besides the case being all plastic, which means you do NOT want to drop this on concrete or tile floors, the H4 really is an incredible 4 track recording studio. But if can afford to spend more, go with the Sonys, or some of the other higher end recorders of similar design. It will help you save pulling your hair out when you accidently push that flimsy jog wheel the wrong way and the scream that comes after it.
I will probably put my new, used only once Zoom up for sale on eBay soon and get the Edirol R-09HR High-Resolution WAVE/MP3 Recorder, which I just used recently on a shoot and liked alot, to replace the H4. Keep an eye out for it. You may get a get deal!
Customer Rating: Summary: Zoom H4 ? How about Sony, Marantz, Edirol, or Zoom H2?
Comment: * Sony PCM-D1 : My unaffordable dream recorder
* Sony PCM-D50: Affordable version of PCM-D1. What a nice recorder it is! I wanted to have it, But, it was slightly out of my price range.
* Marantz PMD620: Reliable professional recorder. I just trust Marantz.
I wanted to have it. But, it was out of my price range, too.
* Edirol R-09HR: Stylish pocket recorder. Most complaints of Edirol R-09 are nicely fixed. Its sweet appearance was tempting.
* Edirol R-09: Since Edirol R-09HR has been released, I don't want it anymore.
* Zoom H4: Swiss Army knife type recorder. Target users are Gadget-lovers on budget.
I'm not sure about its durabilty(Zoom? manufactured in China?). Menu key and jog dial seems flimsy.
But, I bought it and I'm mostly using it to record my vocal training sessions without the external mic.
I'm happy about its sound quality. Do I use all its fuctions? No! But, I just like them. I especially like its USB audio Interface. I can directly record my voice to my computer! And you can plug guitars for direct recording.
I really hate its navigation design. It takes long time to get accoustomed with its interface. I'm a button lover. One button for one function, please!!! However, I have no problems, since I only conduct simple recordings.
* Zoom H2: Most affordable cute small nice pocket recorder with good sound quality. 360° recordings sounds so cool. Interface is simpler than H4.
H4 is a good recorder. But, from time to time, I can't stop thinking that I should have bought H2 for my current needs or save more money to buy Sony PCM-D50.
