Customer Reviews

RCA EZ101 Small Wonder Camcorder with 1.5-Inch LCD Screen

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I spent the afternoon testing this video camera in various "torture test" lighting conditions. It auto corrects well for environmental brightness. For the most part it handled them well with good video quality and color saturation. The camera does not work at all in low or very low light conditions. This is not the camera to use in a dimly lit club environment for example. The camera records the best quality video in brightly lit rooms and daytime outdoor environments.

The camera captures at 448 by 336 pixels at 30 frames per second using the MPEG-4 XVID codec. It records audio using Microsoft ADPCM at a bit rate of 64kb/s. The audio quality is good considering the mic is inside the camera's case. The problem with this mic setup is that anytime you press zoom, click record or stop you hear that button click sound very loudly during video playback. I would consider this the single worst aspect of the camera. Another problem I encountered is that the video software supplied with the camera would not install on my up to date Windows XP PC. However you can still easily access and retrieve your recorded videos by opening the camera as a hard drive via the computer. The camera sets itself up automatically as a hard drive when connected via the supplied USB cable to the computer. In my tests, 3.5 minutes of video yields an AVI file about 26.5 MB in size.

Video playback directly from the camera via the supplied composite cable to a TV looks pretty pixilated. The quality worsens when video is recorded in lower light levels. Video file playback on a computer display looks much better.

The interface on the camera is extremely minimal. There are 4 buttons: Power, Play, Record, Delete and a 4-way directional pad for digital zooming and cycling through record videos. There is no ability to adjust any other settings.

All in all, the RCA Small Wonder an inexpensive and relatively quality solution for recording up to 30 minutes of video in normal lighting conditions. Good for recording quick movies and sending them to friends via the Internet. And not so good for recording important life events and watching them on a TV.

I bought this camera for my 9-year-old son to "make movies" with and he loves it. The best feature is the ultimate simplicity of the camera -- it has only 4 buttons (power, record, play, delete) and a 4-way directional pad and uses plain old AA batteries. Press the power button, press Record, and you're making movies. Press Record again to stop. You can give it to a child and he'll literally be shooting video 10 seconds later -- it's that simple and easy.

Each "movie" is saved to its own file on the camera, so you can use the directional pad to scroll through them and play them back instantly, right on the camera. The screen and speaker are surprisingly good. And the built-in USB connector and software make it ridiculously simple to transfer the video to your computer. I was worried that 30 minutes wouldn't be enough storage between transfers, but it's actually a very long time as video goes.

Most of all, this camera is just plain FUN. Because you know the quality of the video is just average (though better than you might think), you don't have to worry about it. Use your "real" camcorder for capturing important memories, but give this little camera to a kid and watch him have a blast with it. You'll enjoy seeing the world from a kid's perspective, too, when you watch the resulting clips.

I just purchased the Small Wonder a couple of days ago and I can't believe how simple it is. Our kids (age 9 and 11) love it's simplicity and the ability to take instant videos. It is incredibly easy to use and as small as a compact digital camera so we will be able to take much more candid videos while traveling on an upcoming trip to Ecuador without that intrusive feeling of a larger video camera. It is unbelievably easy to flip open the USB plug, insert it into the computer and instantly load the videos. No disk to load...its all included within the "Small Wonder". I never thought I'd see the day when you could fit a video camera into your shirt pocket. I highly recommend it to anyone, especially a traveler!!

The playback color is very crisp and clear.
The buttons are very simple and easy to use.
Downloading to the computer is no problem; you can use either the long USB cord, or just pop out the USB plug on the side. It goes back into the side when you're done.
No disc needed to download the viewing program; once you plug in the computer to download video, the program downloads.
It comes with two AA batteries and a free video DVD offer.
You get 30 minutes without a card, so film wisely before having to upload and start all over again.
Overall, it's small and lightweight, and I highly recommend it for anyone. Heck, senior citizens and anyone not up on technology can use this easily.

I bought this camera on a whim and I love it. Put it in your pocket. Simple to use, a 7-year old can 'film'. It is point-&-shoot easy: push a button, it films, push again, it stops. Press play and show your friend what you just filmed. That's a lot of fun(!) and appeal of the camera.(Simply fun.)
Downside: NO MEMORY CARD SLOT, only 30 mins video/no volume control/slight digital zoom/TV viewing shows large green timer/Cannot film while plugged into TV/So-So color

Upside: Cheap camcorder/Take it anywhere-dinner/party/park, etc./Plug into late-model TV and see video/You will take more video because it is no big deal/Very good in light & dark/special feature: compress video into small email file and send to parents. Camera has a popout usb port.

I love this camcorder. Very light weight, easy to use, on a whim I take a video of the kids with NO big-deal camcorder, "I'm video-making now" documentation. It is fun like a disposable camea. Capture moments meaningless now, but will be fun to see when the kids are older.

I love this little video cam. The only problem I have is that it will not save directly to my hard drive. It shuts down the system. The only way I can save it is by e-mailing it to myself as an attached file and saving it there. My computer is new and has adequate memory, so I am not sure why I have the problem. Tech support at RCA was not very helpful. This is a great little recorder and it would be perfect if this problem could be resolved. If anyone else has experienced this, please e-mail me at piggypo@aol.com.

I don't have a bunch of kids, but I do seem to have difficulties in figuring out the fancy video cams. But this is SO SIMPLE...I tried using it before getting to the instructions - I was so happy - I never got to the instructions as it worked, intuitively, the 1st time. Even when I wanted to delete the previously filmed items...easy as pie...done in a moment.
Now if only other items were 1/2 this easy...

it does not utilize a memory card or stick, just connects via USB to your computer (how easy is that!?)
it does have an internal hard drive (or similar), so I don't have to have tape - yay (someone told me it's solid state? whatever!, it's great!)
even better, it comes w/EVERYTHING it needs to work on your computer - yay!!
at a $100.00, it's fantastic!!

The Small Wonder is great for carrying around in your pocket and capturing impromptu moments on video.

It's the easiest video camera to use ever made - bar none. It's the video equivalent of a point and shoot camera.

Loading the videos on to your computer couldn't be much simpler either. Excellent ease of use and that's important.

Nice video and audio quality for computer use. It's also easy to email video clips with this unit.

This little pocket video cam is indeed a small wonder.

For quite a while I have been looking for a truly inexpensive camcorder to use to record ESL lessons. I need to have 2 or 3 cameras, and couldn't afford $500+ for each camera. I tried buying a used camera on eBay, but what I got didn't live up to the description - it was old and worn out.

So when I found this camera I was surprised and delighted. I realized quickly that it is not the "perfect" camera. How perfect could it be for only $70? Actually, it is pretty good, considering. It produces decent video. Video format is a simple AVI file, apparently in XviD format, whatever that means. All I know is that the files are easy to play in Windows Media Player. I assume they will play in RealPlayer also and probably just about any other AVI player. In Media Player it displays as a full screen video and is pretty good resolution.

The camera also has an onboard microphone. Maybe it has two, I don't know. What I do know is that the microphone is problematic. For one thing, it doesn't always capture sound at the best volume. Sometimes voices can seem muted. Secondly, it does pick up camera noices, such as pressing the zoom button. This records as an audible "click" on your video and is definitely a major distraction. Reminds me of 8-track tapes from a while back. Whenever they changed tracks there was a huge click. But, while it bothered me, most of my friends said it was no big deal and just ignored it. Maybe some others will feel that way about the click produced by this camera.

Anyway, for my application these are easily dealt with. I use a static setup with cameras set at certain angles and zoomed to precise requirements. Once it is all set up, it doesn't change - so I don't get clicking noises from changing the zoom. I wish the audio was more consistent, but what can you do? The camera does not have a plug for an external microphone.

To me, the absolute best feature of this camera is the USB plug. The camera I got from eBay had tapes and it was fairly difficult to get the video into the computer. That is why I love this camera. Just plug it into the computer's USB port and it is recognized as a portable disk drive. It has onboard software to download the video and even create videos you can email to friends and family. I've never used the software. I just copy the videos straight to my computer and play with them.

Another good thing is that the video files created are generic in terms of editing. Just about any digital video editor can handle this format. So if you are making something other than, for example, a video of the family dog being silly, then you can record several 30 minute segments and easily edit them together to create a polished video.

By purchasing these cameras during a sale I was able to get them for only $70 each. That is less than even one good JVC or Sony digital camcorder. True, this camera is not in the same league, but it is still a nice, friendly camera, that produces acceptable video and is totally fun to use.

I carry one with me all the time. You never know when you'll see something that is cool enough to share on YouTube.

I bought this camera because I like to film and produce movies (just as a hobby). Overall, the camera is good; it is small, has good resolution, and easily connects to most computers. One big problem is the zoom button. I've found that once I load the videos onto my computer, I can hear the click of the zoom button when I pressed it while filming. I feel that it takes away from my movies and distracts/annoys the audience.