Customer Reviews

RCA EZ300HD Small Wonder High Definition Digital Camcorder (Black)

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

 

 

Length:: 7:33 Mins

This video is my unboxing of the RCA EZ300HD from my blog.

Its great for the price.
Upsides:
* Price to features is much better then the Flip Video Camcorder: 60-Minutes (White) (the original) and about par with the Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder, 60 Minutes (Black)
* Simple, simple, simple!
* Mini HDMI port
* Full and Mini SD Card slots
* 3 recording modes


Downsides:
* Mono microphone that sorta sucks.
* Can't turn off onscreen display when using video out on RCA or HMDI (WTF?)
* Packaging from hell!

Some issues though for macs but they are solvable.

The h264 encoder encodes in h264 but the built decoder for quicktime from apple doesn't like something about it and the audio codec used in the audio stream is a microsoft based one (based on WMA).

There are two solutions that work wonderfully.
1. use an updated version of VLC
2. to play the videos system wide install:
a. FLIP4Mac - for the Microsoft Audio Codec)
b. Perian - for an FFMpeg based video codec for quicktime - http://www.perian.org/ -
I did a full review, sample videos, and unboxing of the product at:
http://zbowling.com/blog/2008/10/08/rca-small-wonder-ez300hd-review/

OK the thing works and the video looks good but thank God for a free download called "Any Video Converter" because XP and Vista hate this thing. On my new Vista home premium, the videos cause the player to crash and on XP I have to plug in the RCA via the USB and find the video clips then using the video converter program, convert them to MPEG 2 and then they play fine and look good. I ordered the Flip Ultra and tried to return this RCA but good ole "Blue Proton" wont let you send back ANY electronic device so beware of Blue Proton. The Flip Ultra runs circles around this RCA, no comparison. The Flip has better everything and is smaller and very well built. The only thing I like better on the RCA is the swivel lens but other than that I would strongly advise you to avoid this RCA and get a Flip Ultra, sure it cost a little more but its really worth it. The software programs on the Flip are great, the software on the RCA is buggy.

Wish I could do a Video review - but nooo! It didn't work when I got it. After charging the battery per instructions, and putting it in I turned it on but the only thing that would display is the RCA logo it would not make a video or a still photo - nothing - I even had to remove the battery just to get the thing to turn off.
I wish it had worked - but now I'm out over a hundred bucks.
Blue Proton would not take it back - they sold a bad unit that did not work to begin with and won't take it back. Good company.

Well I just received my EZ300HD last night and I am thoroughly impressed after only having taken 2 videos, at night, in artificial light, indoors. So looking forward to see what it can do in the day and outside.

First of all, maybe this "second" batch of cameras (I had to wait a while for mine after they sold out initially) has been upgraded because some of the complaints I read in other reviews are not present in this camera at all.

I received the camera and installed the software without issue. It also already came with the DivX codec you need to run the raw .AVI files and that installed automatically as well. The software then proceeded to update itself through the internet. I run Windows Vista on a pretty new laptop.

I took 2 videos, one in my living room with only a lamp on and the other in kitchen with overhead recessed lighting. The video in the living room was definitely grainy with vertical stripes lightly visible, but not dark enough to where you couldn't see the objects in the shot. It wasn't great, but acceptable given the lighting conditions. Under the brighter lights in my kitchen, the clarity was superb and all the colors were very true and vibrant. No haziness or pixelation there.

I played the video on my 46" Sony Wega through the supplied composite video cable (RCA jacks) and looked good. My next purchase will be an HDMI cable with the mini jack on one end. I also downloaded the video to my computer without issues and used the simple software that came with the camera to trim the clips and save as a combined video.

The raw footage is in .AVI format and requires the codec to view in Media Player. On my laptop LCD the HD video looked great, definitely crisp with a lot of resolution and I was happily surprised to see no frame shakes or drops at all. The video was smooth with no blurriness. Not too bad considering I was chasing my 9 month old around. The sound is mono, so nothing fancy, but sounded fine.

The saved or edited movies are recorded in Windows .WMV format, which are pretty easy to share with anyone for viewing on any computer. I think my DVD player will even play these files. The difference is that the quality is definitely less and it changes the widescreen video to normal 4:3 aspect ratio. Maybe there is a setting to change that, since it appears to just squeeze the picture in, but not a big deal as I plan on investing in some video editing software to edit the raw footage and burn higher quality video on DVDs.

The camera option is nice because it can get you out of a pinch when you need a still photograph. The picture was okay, but don't rely on it as your primary digital camera, especially for aciton shots with lots of movement. It is possible to grab frames from your movie video too, so that may actually produce a crisper image.

The camera itself is very lightweight, even with the battery installed, so that was nice. It fits comfortably in my pant pocket and is about the size of a standard Blackberry device. The camera was a gift for my wife and she thought it was great, probably for the same reasons a lot of other people buy this type of camera:

- small size
- easy to use
- don't want to tote around a regular camcorder

Because of these reasons I really see us using this a lot, especially with a growing baby.

I am going to a car show this weekend and will have a lot of fun filming with this new camera.

Overall, I am very pleased with this purchased, but I also knew exactly what to expect from this camera. Even then I was very pleasantly surprised.

Well I got this in April. The problems started immediately with the software. I run Vista on a new computer. There shouldn't have been any software problems, but every time I plugged the thing in the software tried to reinstall itself. Most of the time it didn't work and I had to manually copy and paste the videos and images. Now tonight, Christmas Eve, I discover that the video portion no longer functions for some odd reason. 8 months. 8 months this thing worked! NOT RECOMMENDED!

If you are in the market for a easy small "Flip" type cam, forget the rest. This camera takes great video in most settings. It DOES NOT suffer from the frame wobbles like most cameras of this type. Just take a look at my sample videos:

[...]

Microphone is decent, and does well with adjusting to loud sounds. I shot a few scenes at a concert, no distortion.

I too had this product fail unexpectedly after using it only a few times. When the unit is powered on, all it does is display the RCA Small Wonder welcome screen. I am unable to access any functions and also unable to connect to the unit to retrieve my videos.

RCA's website has been completely useless. They do not post a phone number for video camera support.

The video format does not work with Quicktime for Mac OS users. One cannot even find Quicktime plugins that decode the files.

Conversion software so far brings the HD resolution down to 640x352 range.

The preloaded software also does not work on Mac.

Also, the audio capture is a bit weak.

Finally, if the software for Mac was provided or there was readily available conversion packages, then this camera could claim a 4 star review.

I wanted a small video camera that would take more video than my digital camera. I asked for this one because you could turn the lens around and film yourself. I have only used the camera for 4 short test videos because it stopped working. I sent it in for repair and they confirmed the battery was not working. I got it back and tried it out and found that the sound quality wasn't good because the microphone is on the side of the videographer not the lens side so if you are like me and sometimes "talk" during shooting that is what you will hear...not good if you are trying to get sounds of your child. The final straw came for me when I went to use it for the real 1st time this Christmas. I charged the battery and when I turned on the camera, all I got was a blue screen with the RCA logo...that was it...I couldn't even turn it off without taking the battery out. I have lived without it and my husband did not pay much and since returning it to be repaired the first time was kind of a pain I think I am just going to toss it and look into the Flip Video instead or just buy a real camcorder.

There are several devices on the market that are superior to this one. This device is ok on video quality but is much larger and heavier than it needs to be. Look at the Vado or Flip Mino HD for the same quality video and a device that comfortably fits in your pocket. I get the feeling that this one was designed by old guys in Asia who did big Camcorders in their past. It should be designed by someone who understands the new space of 'pocket video'.
I do not recommend this even though the price is reasonable.