The ezcap 271 AV recorder is the ideal all in one and I was really surprised by what it offers. Apart from recording from VHS or video cameras, it records MP3s, can play back pictures all via the in built 3″ screen.
I was skeptical that this device would be another crappy record box, but it does offer extra multimedia functions that I think can come in handy.
Banggood have the Ezcap 271 listed on their website for the best price so far.
The ezcap 271 is approximately 12cm in length and 6cm in width. It has a built in speaker and comes with a 950mAh rechargeable battery.
I recorded a half an hour segment of video and installed music to play while writing. So far the battery life is only down by half.
We seem to have become accustomed to a phone battery life running out daily on heavy use that we forget when a multimedia player doesn’t need the internet how long the power can actually last.
The screen is 3 inches and will play back a variety of formats up to 720p.
That being said, I did test the ezcap 271 with some home videos rendered in different formats and found .MOV files would not read.
Could be what I had made back in the day is just not compatible , just not sure?
MP4 files sized up to 720p were fine.
The device doesn’t record in MP4 unlike the ClearClick Video2Digital 2.0 posted here.
Ezcap 271 – A Closer Inspection
The device is not heavy weighing at 120g but it does feel like its made out of a flimsy plastic. I don’t think this would survive a waist high drop. The plastic casing is too basic.
The right side has a slot for a Micro SD card up to 32GB.
A micro USB connection is used to connect to a PC and also for charging the ezcap 271.
Along the rear of the device we have:
AV IN – for playing/recording from an external composite source.
HDMI OUT – for connecting to a HD TV.
I will point out that the quality does look terrible if you are trying to use the ezcap 271 as a through put source.
AV OUT – the same connection can be used to connect to a composite device’s input.
HEADPHONES – a 3.5mm jack for headphones. Sound played through the headphones are tinny but not unbearable.
This device is not giving equalizer effects to play around with.
The front of the ezcap 271 are the button controls. There is a back arrow, the main power ON/OFF.
UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT direction arrows will move you around the menu system followed by the OK button.
There is also a random playback setting when playing audio.
Finally there is the record button for transferring videos.
Underneath there is the mono speaker and a factory reset option.
The speaker is adequately loud. The up/down arrows will control the volume.
Ezcap 271 – What’s in the Box?
The ezcap 271 does come with the main connections to allow you to record from a VCR.
Instructions come in English and Chinese giving a basic overview of the device.
Remote control takes two AAA batteries (not supplied) and besides having the same buttons as the ezcap 271 also have a fast forward and rewind and volume control.
This is where the multimedia functionality comes into play as I could take this to friends place to watch simple videos connected to their TV.
Supplied AV cable is 3.5mm to composite RCA.
A micro USB cable connection. The length extends to approximately 30cm.
Also supplied is a female double adapter.
Ezcap 271 – Simple To Setup
The ezcap 271 is quoted as coming with a 8GB storage. My assumption was to look for a micro SD card which there are none.
So I decided to just use one of the test cards I have laying around.
Needless to say the device has 8GB of free storage built in. Adding a micro SD card is just a bonus in my opinion, especially as a DVR device.
Connecting the micro USB to a PC will power the device at the same time as well as having access to the drives.
Both drives will be assigned a separate drive letter allowing you to copy to your PC or between the internal 8GB and micro SD card (if you have inserted one).
When you first connect the USB, the ezcap 271 will ask if you three options of connections for data access and charging, charging only, or charging and playback.
One last thing; you cannot have both the USB and AV cables connected at the same time.
When the AV cable is connected, simply clicking into video will set up the record process to be ready.
In the above example I have a video playing from the VCR and straight into the ezcap271.
Clicking on the red record button will commence recording.
The ezcap271 will record at 30FPS, which means it will record from Video 8, Hi 8 and VHS-C cameras as well as VCR recordings.
This won’t record from Mini DV cameras. You will hear the sound but will not see any picture.
Ezcap 271 – Menu Walkthrough
Menu layout is as basic as it gets. The top three icons displaying the media that can be played back through videos (copied across or recorded), music and pictures.
The lower three icons are the functionality as in TV IN for recording from an external device, voice recorder and finally changing the settings.
A closer look will show where in the folder the videos will reside.
The more recordings you have the longer the list will be.
Storage of photos is limited to resolution size though.
Don’t expect amazing high megapixel images being shown on the 3 inch screen.
The ezcap271 has a Recorder function built in.
Simply selecting the recorder icon will bring you into a new window.
Clicking on the record button will then proceed to record audio.
When finished click on the record button again and the ezcap 271 will save the file into the music folder.
Ezcap 271 – Settings
Examining the settings by itself there are smaller options that can be changed.
You can either click using the OK button or push the arrow in the direction to move further into the menu settings.
Under the Display option, you can change if the device will turn off after a set number of minutes.
Selecting the Advanced button will let you change a few of the more important options.
Information will tell you the current software the ezcap 271 is running.
Save Path will let you decide if it will record to micro SD card or the in built memory.
Format Internal Memory and Format Card will let you format and wipe the contents clean.
I noticed I had to format the memory when first recording as the files would not appear. I can’t say if this is fault or not, but that is the action I did and then I could record without a problem.
Reset Default Settings will change all the options back to factory default. I would assume that would be the same as the hard reset underneath the device.
There is finally the TV setting.
Not really much of a setting only with the options of PAL or NTSC that can be changed using the up or down arrows and pressing OK.
Conclusion
The Ezcap271 Av Recorder is a great buy.
Is it perfect? No.
If it could have just recorded at 60FPS it would be outstanding.
That being said, this device goes beyond what it has to. It’s an MP4 player, an MP3 player, can record from an external source and can playback photos.
When added with a micro SD card it can hold up to a maximum of 40GB.
All this and it fits in your pocket with a great battery life.
You might think My phone does all that anyway!
I know your phone does, but it doesn’t record memories from an old video camera straight out of the box, which is what the ezcap271 does first and foremost.
