Price Paid:  $2200.00

Summary:
I work at a university in Melbourne and have nine PMD650 units that our Journalism/media studies students use. While these units are a little pricey for the casual user, for pro/broadcast audio needs it's spot on. You really do get what you pay for.

Strengths:
The PMD 650 is a pretty rugged unit with very easy to use and more or less self-explanatory features. I've found that people with very limited knowledge of audio equipment are able to operate them with very little instruction.

Weaknesses:
The only problem we've had with them is some of the NiCad batteries dying out well before their time. They weren't cheap to replace and we've found that some of the replacements have died somewhat prematurely as well. Also, we've found the straps to be somewhat unstable resulting in the occasional dropped unit. It may seem a trifling matter, when you're on the road interviewing like our students do you need them to be as reliable as possible.