RCA-EZ Small Wonder

I started with a yellow legal pad when I first started driving five years ago look at houses in Southeastern Michigan.

Soon found out that I would forget miss something on some house once I have seen couple of them in a morning. So I started using a checklist. But using checklists can get a little boring and repetitive so I bought a digital voice recorder for $40 and that has stayed with me till this day.

The idea is pretty simple – walk in; look around; talk; walk out. Done with the house. Make sure to say the address of the house in the beginning and in the end. No tapes; no wires needed.

I even tried a handheld camera once in Belleville three years ago but it was painful trying to hold a camera with a flashlight (it was an REO on Lake Belleville and the bank in their infinite stupidity has disconnected the electricity). Not to mention switching tapes and making sure that you don’t use the same tape twice and accidentally wipe out something important.

Overall a royal pain in the rear end. I just did it one and gave up on the idea.

Now I wish that RCA came out with this five years ago. I just bought the above camera from RCA – it is $133 with a $30 rebate so around $100 and I am absolutely in love with it.

This is a digital movie camera that does not require a tape. Runs on AA batteries. Just hit record and you are good to go. Records 30 minutes at a time. Hook it to your computer and you can view all the houses you visited this morning on your screen for your partner’s pleasure or email them to your list of private investors.

The files run in Windows Media Player, which is present in all Windows computers. You can also plug this to a TV (the wires come with it) and watch the houses on your TV if your significant other wants to give you their opinion.

There is a no manual (thank God) but a tear sheet explaining how it works. I did not even bother. Just hit ON and made a movie of Rocco chilling in his crib. No fear of overwriting previous movies. It automatically starts a new file when you hit stop.

For $100 (after rebate) you cannot beat it. If you drive and look at houses all the time – you are going to absolutely love it. 30 minutes are enough to tape a house. Max 5-10 minutes each. If you have a laptop you can just plug this in your car and transfer the movies in 10 minutes. There is no software to install. Just plug it in and you are good to go. I bought my RCA-EZ Small Wonderfrom Amazon.com