RCA EZ201 Small Wonder 60 Minute Point-and-Shoot Camcorder (White) by Thomson
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Digital camera reviews of RCA EZ201 Small Wonder 60 Minute Point-and-Shoot Camcorder (White)
Digital camera Review: A solid little digital camcorder
Summary: 4 Stars
I wanted a small, inexpensive video camera that I could use to record concert footage, little video blogs, and other nonsense to send home to my family. This little camcorder has worked fine for my needs.
Pros:
- Inexpensive. I bought mine for a little under $100.
- Decent video quality, particularly if the video is left in .avi format.
- Very user friendly. You can take it right out of the box, use it, and easily upload the videos to your computer. The buttons are self explanatory, and for those of you who are not computer savvy, it will be simple to use.
- The screen in the back flips foreward if you want to record yourself, something the flip camcorder did not have. The screen is also a fine size for the price.
- It can also take screenshots of video and save them as pictures (.bmp I believe).
- It can be expanded with the purchase of an extra SD card. Even without the SD card, it records 30 minutes in high quality and 60 minutes n low quality which should be enough for my purposes. I would suggest an SD card for anyone going on an extended vacation though.
- It has simple attachments to the TV to view the video directly on a TV. I can't comment too much on this since I have yet to use the feature.
Cons:
- The sound receiver isn't wonderful, to be honest. It is fine for taking videos of family vacations where you are narrating the trip or something, but if you are taping a concert or something, the sound quality is less than ideal. Background noise isn't a problem really, but it's just not as loud as one would hope.
- It is also hard to hear the sound when you playback the video on the camcorder. This is not such a big deal though, since I am sure most people won't be watching their videos entirely on the camera.
- The zoom only goes to 2x digital, so you are better off getting closer to the object in question than trying to zoom in on it.
- As expected, it eats batteries like there is no tomorrow. I am going to have to invest in some rechargable batteries if I am going to continue to use this little gadget...
- The video editing program that comes with the camera is sort of a joke. From what I can tell, all it can do is crop videos. You wll want to probably use another program to edit your videos, but most computers come with some sort of movie editing program (Windows movie maker will probably do)
- It does not work on Macs. I'm not a Mac owner, so I don't care about this though.
- The videos lose alot of clarity if taped in the low resolution mode. They look even worse once they are transferred into .wmv files. If at all possible, I would tape everything in high res and leave it in .avi format.
I am still glad I bought this digital camera. Since I am just uploading onto youtube and sending crappy home videos home to my parents, I don't need any wonderful quality videos. Youtube quality vids are fine enough for me. I also really like the little flip screen. If the flip camcorder ever added a flip screen and an optional SD card upgrade to their camcorder, I might reccommend that camcorder over this one, but for the time being this one suits me better.
Digital camera Review: Awesome Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this thing! I am currently in Iraq and I use this to send videos of all kinds of stuff to my family. I love the integrated software and it is super easy to upgrade. Just download the file, plug in your cam, and double click the file.Digital camera Review: Best case
Summary: 5 Stars
Get a good case. Forget the Flip Video crapola case. Check out the Lowepro Rezo30... fits like a glove and comes in snazzy colors. Room for extra batteries plus you won't look like such a dork.Digital camera Review: But it doesn't work with Vista OS!
Summary: 4 Stars
I read a review on here that says the EZ201 works with Windows Vista, but it does not. I bought it and I like the way it works, but I cannot install Memory Manager on my computer from the device, nor from the files, nor from Audiovox/RCA web site - they don't offer a download for 201 because it's supposed to come from the camcorder, and they don't have a patch for it either. I called the service center and they said it is not compatible with Vista. Now they didn't sound like the sharpest tools in the box, but if it was compatible or if there was a patch, it would be on the RCA Small Wonder web site and it is not. Now I have to contact Discount Jungle to find out how to return it. What a pain in the neck. I guess the moral of the story is beware older models of technology as they might not be compatible with newer Windows OS. I guess it's worth paying the extra $ to get something that is not already outdated. I know that Amazon doesn't take any responsibility for what its vendors sell through their web site, but you'd think someone would let the consumer know that this EZ201 does not work with Vista. Boo.Digital camera Review: Cannot edit videos! Corrupt files!
Summary: 1 Stars
I spent the summer taking videos with this camera, and then saving them on my WindowsXP machine. I've spent a week trying to get the stored .avi files from my Small Wonder to work with Windows Movie Maker and Auto Movie Creator. I'm unable to do this because of Critcal Failure, Runtime Errors. After days of correspondence with RCA, and researching the web, the conclusion is that you can ONLY edit your .avi RCA files with the RCA Memory Maker.........which is extremely limited to the point of being worthless. Don't buy this camera!