Fills a niche in the camcorder market very well

I became familiar with this style of camcorder last year when I purchased/rented one for each of my two kids - who were 6 and 8 at the time - to use during our beach vacation. The "disposable" camcorders were sold by the CVS pharmacy chain and cost around 25 dollars each. Since they were so easy to use and relatively inexpensive (compared with typical camcorders) I decided to simply hand one to each of my little ones, explain how to use it and let them tape whatever they wanted. At the end of the week I returned the camcorders to CVS (as required) and paid another 10 dollars each for CVS to transfer the contents of the camera's memory to a DVD.

When I got the DVD's back from CVS I was thrilled, they are probably my favorite recorded family memories; it was truly priceless to see the world through the eyes of a 6 and 8 year old and it was really funny at times, like when my 6 year old was talking to himself about what he was trying to record. BUT, the total cost was way to high to even consider doing it again unless it was a special occasion like a vacation.

When I finally saw consumer versions of the camcorder, - the Flip Video made by Pure Digital and the nearly identical EZ201 made by RCA - I decided that since I would now be able to make and edit DVDs myself, I would buy one as soon as the price dropped from the initial list price, which was in the 150 dollar range. (I actually wound up getting the RCA model for 47 dollars during the Grand-Opening sale of a local electronics store)

The reason I chose the RCA over the similar Flip Video (and the other small, inexpensive camcorders I considered) was based on the following:

-MEMORY. In addition to its one hour internal memory, the EZ201 has a slot for an SD card which allows for up to five additional hours of recording time. The Flip Video has no capacity for an additional memory card and is limited to 30 or 60 minutes of recording time based on its internal memory.

-CONVENIENCE. The EZ201 is small enough, and the cost low enough, that I am comfortable sticking it my pocket and taking it places I would not want to take my high-end camcorder. I even let my third and fifth graders take it on school field trips.

-SIZE. Except for the Flip Video model, all of the other small, inexpensive, competing camcorders are bigger; it may not seem to be that big a deal when you're shopping, but if you buy one that is just a little bigger and it won't fit in your pocket you'll be more likely to leave it at home.

-LIMITED MOVING PARTS. Even though the screen flips around and it has a retractable USB connector, that's pretty much it. If I've learned one thing during a lifetime of buying portable electronic equipment it's that, the more moving or complex parts something has, especially equipment used outdoors or in harsh conditions, the more often it is going to break or fail. There is nothing more annoying than when a fold-out screen fails because it's contacts are dirty or when two or three keys on the keyboard of a portable device stop working, rendering it useless.

-SIMPLICITY. You could give an RCA EZ201 to your grandmother or grandfather and even if they were never able to master the remote control for their TV, they will be able to figure out how to record, playback, erase, etc with the RCA in minutes.

-ERASE FEATURE. For me this is huge. After you record something you can simply push a button to playback that scene, and if you don't like it, you push another button and only that scene is erased, this way you don't end up with endless hours of recordings you have to edit later. By the way, there are only about 5 buttons on the camcorder...it really is that easy to use.

-DECENT RECORDING QUALITY. I love when I read reviews where someone complains about how much a 100 dollar product sucks when compared to a similar product that costs 1000 dollars. And since I didn't expect that TV networks and movie studios would scrap their ultra-high-end, digital camcorders and replace them with RCA's EZ201, I didn't really expect the quality of my RCA's videos to be of the same as those of a high end camcorder. But they are easily as good or better than any video recorded with an early generation VHS camcorder. And to be honest, I kind of like the video quality of the EZ201 the same way I always liked the images of the old 8mm movie cameras.

MISC. The RCA EZ201 comes with every accessory you need including the cable needed to hook the camera directly to a TV for immediate viewing, a little bag/case to store it and a 6" USB cable to ensure you will be able to attach the camcorder to your computer in the event the USB slots are in an awkward location. It also uses 2 AA batteries which I prefer over internal rechargeable batteries because it stinks when internal batteries die and you aren't near your charger.

FINAL NOTES: If you use a Mac, don't be scared by the fact the RCA says it is not Mac compatible. I won't explain it here but if you use Windows Media Player or have Flip4Mac, both of which are available for free, it's very easy and works fine on the OSX platform.