RCA EZ101 Small Wonder Camcorder with 1.5-Inch LCD Screen

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.

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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.

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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.

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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!!