newbie question: what difference between the recorders

[TheDingo]

Dingo,

If you had taken all the money you spent on cheapo recorders, you could have....awe well you finish the sentence.

Yes, I totally agree. I've never regretted buying the more expensive gear, only the cheap stuff. But it's a lot easier to scrape together $500 for a low end recorder, than finding an "extra" $2,000+ for a Sound Devices unit. And now they make video recorders, which are a better fit for my overall production budget than just a high end audio recorder.