RCA announces Small Wonder EZ201 MPEG-4 digital camcorder
Thomson has announced plans to introduce RCA's Small Wonder EZ201, a solid state storage based MPEG-4 digital camcorder that will sell for the relatively affordable price of $129, sometime later this Spring. The camcorder is similar to a lot of solid state camcorders in that it features an SD card slot: we'll take the failure to mention the specific amount of built-in storage as a clumsy hint to potential buyers that they should bring their own storage if they want to get the most out of the camera. Unfortunately, in their efforts to keep costs down, RCA didn't include a rechargeable battery: instead, you'll have to feed the EZ201 2 AA batteries at a time, which will only keep it going for a pitiful 2 hours tops. Externally, the device looks to be not much larger than a pack of cards, and has a 1.5-inch, 180 degree swivel LCD display. The Small Wonder can also be plugged directly into televisions, and can transfer its MPEG-4 files to a PC without software. Later on this year RCA also plans to release what it calls the Memory Maker, a DVD dock and recording system for the EZ201 that lets users burn footage onto a DVD without the use of a PC.
