The purpose of this review is to let readers know about how the "fast
forward" and "rewind" functions work on this unit (I found that
sufficient detail was lacking in the product descriptions and even the
instructions that came with the product).

The large ring you see on the front of the product allows you to
initiate fast forward / skip forward and rewind / skip back. Pressing
the right side of the ring starts fast forward (FF). As you press and
hold FF, nothing happens for 1 second, then the unit beeps twice
quickly and silently begins advancing through the currently playing
recording. Holding down one second beyond the two beeps advances about
15 seconds, two seconds beyond the two beeps 45 seconds, three seconds
beyond the two beeps, 90 seconds. Each additional second beyond the
third second advances about 50 seconds through the recording. So if you
pressed for 9 seconds past the two beeps (for a total of 10 seconds),
you would advance 6.5 minutes.

Instead of skipping forward, this unit also has the ability to playback
at 150% speed, but that doesn't get you very far if you really want to
advance ahead.

Another fact not described in the literature is whether the unit picks
up in the middle of a "track". The news is good here: if you stop in
the middle of a track, and "power off" (actually called "hold" from
some strange reason), then "power on", you will start at the point you
left off (not at the beginning of the track).

This unit and associated PC software allow for only the movement of
files from the recorder into the PC (not from the PC into the
recorder). So although the FF function would allow it, the unit is NOT
good for someone who wants to listen to podcasts (and skip
commercials). To get that function, choose another model that allows
MP3 play.