RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210 – with rugged exterior
Thumbs Up:
Budget-friendly; comes with 2GB card; 2.5 inches LCD display; rugged exterior.
Thumbs Down:
Not water proof; software not compatible with Mac; odd design choices; bulkier than its competitors.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210 is standard-definition mini-camcorder that features 2x digital zoom, VGA CMOS sensor, and fixed focus. It has micro-SD card slot that supports up to 8GB and comes with a 2GB card.
The still image resolution is 1-megapixel. The Z210 camcorder supports JPEG image format and NTSC video format. It captures images in 1280×960 pixels resolution. The camcorder has AVI, ADPCM & MPEG4 video compression formats. The maximum recording time is 8 hours in Web quality mode and 2 hours in HQ mode.
2.5 inches display has 960×240 pixels resolution and 250 nits luminance. The lens has focal length of 3.9mm. The camcorder has inbuilt speaker and wide-range microphone.
The connector set includes 1×composite audio/video output, and 1×USB. Accessories supplied inside the package are USB cable, A/V cable, 2GB card, driver & software disc and two AA batteries.
Razzle Dazzle:
The RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210 is 2.95 inches wide, 4.93 inches tall, and 1.24 inches deep and weighs 6.5 ounces. The strangest element is the addition of detachable plastic at the top of the camcorder. It is a carrying handle as per the user manual. The company also provides neckstratp, handstrap, and lens cap for protecting the lens. You will not get this option with other mini-camcorders. The lens cap is dangled with a cable attached on the bottom.
Inside Dope:
The RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210 is the oddest duck of a series of budget-friendly mini-camcorders. It features rugged exterior, sharp 2.5 inches LCD display, and SD card slot that accepts up to 8GB. $119.95 priced the EZ210 camcorder is made up by Audiovox and branded as RCA. It may be bulky with odd designs. However, it has ruggedized exterior and ships with 2GB removable card.
Like other Small Wonder series members, the RCA EZ210 camcorder runs on two alkalkine AA batteries instead of rechargeable standard lithium ion batteries of Flip Video Mino and Creative Vado.
2.5 inches LCD display of the RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210 has 960×240 pixels resolution. Unlike other Small Wonder camcorders, the display does not flip-out. However, the EZ210 has large operational buttons and the new addition is low-resolution still capture button. The onboard USB connector is hidden beneath the display. We do not like that you must have to take off the carrying handle for extending the connector’s arm.
The micro-SD card slot sits behind the battery compartment. Again, it is annoying that you have to remove the front cover to access the both micro-SD card slot and batteries. We like that the RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210 comes with a 2GB SD card. You can also buy additional SD card up to 8GB. You can store 60 minutes HQ video on 2GB card. The video recoding options are 640×480 pixels resolution @ 30fps in HQ mode, and 448×336 pixels @ 30fps in Web quality mode.
The camcorder’s software – RCA Memory Manager is not compatible with the Mac machine. You can view, edit and share the videos with this software. There is a separate Share Tab for sharing them on YouTube and Box.net.
The RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210 performed better than the EZ200 and the EZ205. Its outdoor performance was good and it adjusted the lighting for correct exposure. The low-light video quality was also good and low-resolution videos appeared sharp.
Two alkalkine AA batteries of the RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210 have a life of 1.2 hours in HQ mode.
Nitty Gritty:
If you need a rugged mini-camcorder with good low-light and outdoor performance then purchase – The RCA Small Wonder Traveler EZ210. However, this will be a better choice for senior citizens.
