Feature:
Overall ok however most of the guitar distortions leave a lot to be desired. I've used one or two but not often. My only criticism would be the small monitoring screen. More tracks would also be nice, but "bounce" works well so you can get around that given the price.

Quality:
I imported this unit from Neveda USA to Sydney Australia, so I guess it may have taken some knocks along the way via FedX? If so, it hasn't made any difference. Very happy.

Value:
I paid a little over half the price via the States than what a DP-02 costs in Australia. :-)

Desirability:
Looks way better than the earlier models.

Sound:
This is my first home studio digital recorder so I don't have much to compare to. However, I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and have "some" idea of what is a reasonable sound! To my ears it sounds great. My muso friends agree.

Ease of Use:
Very easy once you've flipped through the manual just to be sure.

Support:
Haven't need it.

Overall:
I've produced my first home recorded CD on the DP-02 and I'm extremly happy with the result.

Feature:
the dp02 has everything I need as a keyboardist,when I lay down acoustic gtr tracks using my roland it passes as the real deal,I'm still learning all the tricks of it but it is very easy to use

Quality:
Teac/Tascam have been around a long time,I think my brother still has his Teac X10-R,or something like that,it is a reel to reel player/recorder and he bought in the early 80's

Value:
yes it is worth it,great starter and/or for small studio work

Desirability:
I liked the way it looked online and in catalog,took it out of the box and ran into the only problem.....couldn't get it plugged in fast enough,I was excited to say the least....have some patience...even if your not a doctor....read the manual and enjoy,I bought a special table for it

Sound:
I get out of it excactly what I put into it,what I hear when I'm recording is what I get on playback,crisp and clear

Ease of Use:
it helps to keep the manual near-by till you get the hang of it,but just recording to the hard drive and laying down more tracks is easy

Support:
haven't needed it

Overall:
I don't see me needing anything to replace this for a while

Feature:
I love the thin profile and metal construction. The ability to burn CDs as data files, wave files, and regular CDs at this price is impressive. I wish it had more tracks, but acknowledge that this would drive the price up as well. It makes you think out your arrangement and record efficiently, which can be a good thing. I may get one because of this built-in limitation/paradigm. If the effects were better, it would get a higher number than 7 for features.

Quality:
The quality is a step up from the plastic units. Although many of the features are the same as the older ones, this model has a cool vibe and handsome, sleek appearance. With an "under $500" price you may imagine that it feels like a toy. It does not.

Value:
This is a great value. To think that many of us paid the same price, or more, for cassette recorders a few years back. This model has its limits, the effects are average, some even just poor, but for the money it is remarkable. Songwriters would be smart to look at this unit. Personally, I like dedicated recorders better than computers.

Desirability:
This is a great looking piece of hardware. The design is much better than the older models that Tascam makes. It would be very interesting to see the same design in a 16 (or even 24 track) unit.

Sound:
I give it an overall score of 8 in the sound department. The actual fidelity is quite good, perhaps even great. It's the effects that drag the number back down. Skipping the effects gave me the best overall final product, very clean and robust. I recommend using an outside effect unit if you are recording something more ambitious than a demo. Guitarists, don't throw away your pre-amps and effects just yet. These will do for daily practice and for demos, but that's about it.

Ease of Use:
This was the easiest recorder I have ever used. I recorded two songs on it right away with little fuss. The recorder midi-synched a Triton sequencer keyboard, track by track, after a quick look-through both manuals. It is intuitive, but you may have to check a few settings in the manual from time to time. Beginners should not be intimidated by this machine.

Support:
I have not used support.

Overall:
I'm still keeping my Roland 1680. It has better effects, virtual tracks, and it can mix sixteen tracks. Having said that, It was also much higher in price. I will purchase the DP02 for it's ease of use, portability, and 40 gig hard drive. Sometimes I just want a professional recording on a few tracks. The songs can get lost when there are too many choices and options, switching from right brain to left brain and back again. Convenience and ease of use are big factor.

Feature:
Yes some of the effects are not the best but some of them are quite usable. The guitar distortions are pretty crappy but I have multi-effects pedals and other pedals for that.

Quality:
This thing is a rock! Of course I wouldn't want to drop it but.......Beautifully made, I think. I have an old Tascam MKIII cassette recorder that still works so I am hoping this unit lasts a long time also.

Value:
$500? To me it's worth all that.

Sound:
My ears tell me this unit sounds just fine. To the people that complain about it not being a professional unit....HELLO! It's not SUPPOSED to be a professional unit! It's $500 for Pete's sake! What do you expect? Sure the preamps are weak...I have a seperate preamp so no big deal to me. Only two track recording at a time. No problem for me either. It's sleak and clean and does what it's made to do......record CD quality at a reasonable price at home in your "studio". Not portable to take to the beach or camping or to the park.

Ease of Use:
To the people who think it's tough to use....READ THE MANUAL A LIITLE BIT! My goodness....it's not rocket science. A little patience goes along way.

Support:
Never needed support.

Overall:
I won't be looking for another unit until this dies. I record at home mostly and this does all I need for now. A nice unit. To be able to record one or two tracks at a time...bounce it down...add more tracks...mix it to the master track and then burn it on a CD all with one unit is exactly what I was looking for and I found it with the DP-02CD.

Feature:
super cool - simple.

Quality:
Seemed great - noise on hard drive access in recordings.

Desirability:
I want the cf now - hopefully no noise.

Sound:
I Bought it and returned it because of noise on recordings while the access light was on. I really wanted to like it, but this noise was too crappy. I'm thinking of getting the CF version, because the unit was so fun to use - maybe the cf won't have the access noise.

Ease of Use:
Easy - just that darn noise!

Support:
didn't try to fix it, just returned it.

Overall:
I'll give it to my kids after I buy the next, better one for the same price in 3 years!

Feature:
Everything a guitarist/drummer could possibly need in a multi-track recorder... The EQ is not very good for guitar because you cant tweak as much as you think you could with just a high and a low, so you have to rely on your pedals for eq or a seperate eq rack mount... I do wish there were more effects with cab/amp modeling because just running my guitar through a distortion pedal into the input sounds horrendous :P (its a really hot distortion box) I use a Digitech rp50 for my cab modeling and it sounds much better (i will be getting a better modeler soon hahaha)

Quality:
Its guts are in a nice tough metal case and lots of shinny LED lights to boot hahaha but seriously I would trust this over similar plastic fostex recorders (even though they are GREAT too)

Value:
For me, it was pricy (still to young for a job T-T) but it was well worth the labor/money... It took my recordings another step up from my computer system and made everything happen quicker/faster... Not to mention this thing is a must to lay down fast tracks!! (so is its smaller hand held counterpart)

Desirability:
I would DIE for this thing... Its sad because I was worried if gas prices went up anymore i couldn't get it and once i got it id always tell my mom when a hurricane comes I'm gonna save my dog, a guitar, and my tascam hahahahha

Sound:
The sound is unsurpassed for a home studio I do believe (within its price range)... I wouldn't trust anything else... and all this talk about hard drive noise is BullS***... not one peep from this puppy! Clear and crisp sound for clean, and deep chunky distortions (just running though my pedals)... Also, if you feel as if your DP02 is lacking in sound, make sure you have a good pair of monitors !!!!

Ease of Use:
Pulled this thing out of its box, powered er' up and was off and running... I had to refer to the manual only a couple of times to understand how to arm the tracks ( ie hold the input letter ((a or b)) and what track number you would like to record onto, which is pretty simple)

Support:
Have not delt with them yet, but I hope its good for the amount I paid :D

Overall:
Im very satisfied with this product, and it has also opened my eyes to let me see how much i need to improve on my lagging equipment T_T (ie crappy computer monitors and an outdated cab modeler pedal)Id reccomend it to ANY first time multitrackers or any experienced home studio recorders....

Feature:
has everything you need built in and more

Quality:
built strong and very sturdy

Value:
compared to buying a computer, software and all the other little things its a great value

Sound:
digital quality, great sound

Ease of Use:
if you have done some recording it will be very easy but if you are new to all this it might take a little work

Support:
havent needed it

Overall:
everything you need!

Feature:
Still figuring out how to make them work properly (see below)

Quality:
Physcially, it appears to be well made; intuitively, it is as poor as I've ever seen; and the instruction manual is an insult to anyone who can read; it lacks logic, operationally and sequentially, plus mixes the DP-02 (CD Version) with the DP-02CF (mem card version). See above

Sound:
Hard to get it to work to tell what the sound is like! (see below).

Ease of Use:
I purchased TASCAM's Portastudio DP-02CF two weeks ago and have struggled with the "printed in China" manual to figure out how to record and play a few simple audio samples. Using this unit requires several non-intuitive steps with buttons pushed and held; no common sense human interface design would ever require such mental gymnastics, but TASCAM has apparently figured out how to make a relatively simple procedure sufficiently complex to make their product nearly inoperable. One hint on how complex and non-intuitive the Portastudio has become as it evolved over the years is that the manual is now over 76 pages long (some of those pages actually have instructions, but most didn't work as stated). If you read someone's review that claims this is very simple to operate, I suggest you visit a music store to try even a 10 to 20 second recording...then see if you can play back the results...this dispels any notion of simplicity or intuivity (yes, a new word). I strongly recommend you first look at other manufacturers if you need a multi-track recorder. TASCAM's affinity to make a simple process complex and non-intuitive, coupled with its use of a Chinese-produced instruction manual suggests the company has their own ideas of how musicians should interface with recording equipment; they have NOT made the DP-02 intuitively simple. I plan to return my Portastudio this weekend and purchase a competing product. I will keep my old TASCAM PocketStudio as a backup (simple to operate, but six years old). Hope this helps you avoid the mistake I made. By the way, if TASCAM rewrote the user manual and reprogrammed some of the onerous button-pushing steps on their DP-02CF, I would consider repurchasing the unit because the audio portion is not all that bad....but it is a very cumbersome interface.

Support:
Called Tascam five times...not toll free, but all were long distance toll calls. Put on hold everytime and hung up after 6, 8, and 10 minutes of listening to their recorded announcement plus Cindy Lauper. There's no support at TASCAM...customer support is a dilusion.

Quality:
It could be the best lookiong pieceof gear in the world, with the nicest faders and a full sVGA screen, but the noise and weakness of the preamps totally negates all that.

Value:
If the measure of value in a purchased product is that it performs its intended function at least as well as expected, then this one is a dud.

Desirability:
FAIL

Sound:
It recoerd a digital noise every time it acesses the hard drive. This noise shows up in your recordings, very bad!

Overall:
FAIL

Feature:
The DP02 is a dud.

Quality:
The product looks really cool but the sound quality and plastic is a waste of your money.

Sound:
The sound of this device is terrible.

Support:
No Technical Support.....I tried calling and it just rang and rang and rang and then your hold for hours....and then you don't even reach anybody. I would not waste your money on this product

Overall:
I returned it........Go with Boss or Zoom if you want a nice multitrack recorder.