Digital photo frame

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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
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I am thinking about getting a digital photo frame but don't really know much about them and thought one of you guys might have some good tips.

My research so far has told me to stay away from the widescreen frames.
Should at least be 640x480 better 800x600+.
Having a USB port for a USB stick seems like a good idea (I have so many of those).
Most frames have a myriad of card readers (I use SD so am not really concerned).

Other thoughts:
Power consumption ... should be low?
A motion sensor seems like a good idea so the frame does not run constantly.

What else should I look for?
Any suggestions based on the above?
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
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thanks for the links - the third one down was pretty useful.

I would like to hear more from users here what features they look for/recommend/...

E.g. having not owned a digital frame I would think that I want a motion sensor (so the damn thing is not running 24/7.

I had not thought about wifi but that sounds pretty cool.

Being able to email photos to the frame is also a cool idea.

One of the reviews talks about subscriptions to some service - what the @#$ is that about?

 
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Bluefront

Golden Member
Apr 20, 2002
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I don't know about that motion sensor thing.....you're sitting in a chair without moving much, and the picture frame turns off? I think a simple timer would be better..... say turn it off from 11pm to 6am or so. But you'd need to find a frame that starts running when the power is restored......some act that way.

And I'd like a frame that can set either in a vertical or horizontal position. That way you could run a set of vertical pictures or horizontal pictures....without losing screen area.

But mostly.....I'd like a frame that could also display motion video from an external source, like a DVD player or a computer.

All this without costing an arm and a leg. I've seen some high-end models that cost as much as a laptop.....:confused:
 
0roo0roo

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
naw motion sensor is better i think. it turns on when theres someone to see it.
no point wasting power if you are sitting doing something else.
 
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Soundmanred

Lifer
Oct 26, 2006
10,780
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81
I'm making my own. I traded for a 15" LCD, removed the casing and mounted it in a picture frame. It will be hooked up to a Mini-ITX computer that will serve the sole purpose of running a slideshow program. The PC is small enough to hide and the whole project only cost around $100. I'll post pics when I'm done.
 
0roo0roo

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
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yea but the power consumption of that self built one will be quite heinous.
power consumption of many store frames is just a few watts. you can't home build that. sure the screen is smaller, but just considering the electronics driving the thing...theres a massive difference. i just couldn't justify leaving a power hog on to display a few photos.
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
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Looking around I can not find frames with motion sensors at any of the stores I usually buy my electronics from ... newegg, frys, amazon, ...

Maybe digital frames are not ready for prime time yet :(
 
S

Soundmanred

Lifer
Oct 26, 2006
10,780
6
81
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
yea but the power consumption of that self built one will be quite heinous.
power consumption of many store frames is just a few watts. you can't home build that. sure the screen is smaller, but just considering the electronics driving the thing...theres a massive difference. i just couldn't justify leaving a power hog on to display a few photos.
Click to expand...

More than a few. I have about 2,500 pics of my 17 month old daughter. :)
Not too worried about power, it's a SFF with low power consumption, and I'm not Al Gore. ;)
 
0roo0roo

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
you might not be al gore. i'm pretty far from him myself.
but i just don't like waste for no good reason. its a sff, but sff aren't built to run off batteries so i doubt they even beat laptops in power consumption
and a decent laptop will suck down atleast 30 watts...on 24/7 thats going to add up and the sff will probably use a bit more since its probably not using laptop cpu and such.
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
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I am definitely not a green person (love my V8 engine) but even using a laptop as a digital frame seems like a big waste of electricity and probably costs you $30-$50 of electricity per year.



Based on my research to date I think my ideal frame would be like this:
- 8" 800x600 (4:3 ratio) screen
- Wi-Fi
- ability to push photos to frame via any photo RSS feed
- frame is not bound to some stupid website for RSS feeds and frame management
- timer or motion sensor to shut off frame when not in use
- frame can pull photos from a LAN shared folder it is pointed to (have not seen a single frame that can do this)


 
corkyg

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
240
106
Just a caveat - some digital photo frames made in Chine have been found to contain viruses/malware that can enter your system should you connect to your computer. That was in today's news. It sort of leads one to avoid any such product made in China.
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
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I found the following frames but all of them seem to have deficencies:


i-mate Momento 70 7-Inch :thumbsdown:
http://www.amazon.com/i-mate-M...&qid=1205709950&sr=8-2
Pros:
- Vista sideshow enabled
- Wifi
- can pull photos from networked folders
- price

Cons:
- Needs subscription to momento website for any wirless / internet functionality
- no firmware updates without subscription
- No RSS feed/flickr support without subscription to website
- resizes photos from some photo websites so they do not fill the whole screen (flickr)?


Kodak Easyshare EX-811 8-inch :thumbsdown:
http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Ea...&qid=1205712065&sr=8-1
Pros:
- wifi
- price

Cons:
- Only works with Kodak's free website (but not flickr, photobucket, ... and what happens if Kodak discontinues its website or the product?!?!?!)
- No RSS feed/flickr support NOT EVEN THROUGH THE Kodak WEBSITE?!?!?!


eStarling 8-Inch
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...f=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Pros:
- wifi
- RSS/flickr/email support BUT only through the eStarling website

Cons:
- RSS/flickr/email support only through the eStarling website (Again: what if they discontinue the website?????)
- price $270!!!


DigitalSpectrum MF-8104-Premium
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16882693008
Pros:
- wifi
- flickr without using some website???

Cons:
- Price: $300??!?!?! That is definitely out of my price range
- No real RSS-feed support only limited websites supported
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
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76
Best Buy has the DigitalSpectrum MF-8104-Premium for $324 after taxes.
Might give it a whirl since it is easy to return at BestBuy.
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
Bought the DigitalSpectrum MF-8104-Premium for $322 after taxes at Best Buy.
Am so far quite happy with it.

Getting the Wifi to work seemed easy but took a while ... all of a sudden it just worked after 1 hour of trying and trying (without doing anything).

I could not get the frame to work with Live Spaces.

Webshots though works flawlessly and you can also use webshots to view private photos on the frame.

Flickr, framechannel, memoryframe and RSS Feeds also integrated although I have not tried them. Flickr requires photos to be set as public.

I did notice that the online photos showed some bad compression artifacts. This could be since I uploaded BIG jpegs without resizing them.
I will try tomorrow uploading some resized photos.

Without the image resizer powertoy in Vista resizing photos is a BIG PAIN though.
MS! Wake up and get us the XP powertoys for Vista!!!
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
Resized photos (at least on webshots) also show some fragments ... and sometimes it looks as if it is dropping some horizontal lines.

Might try memoryframe and framechannel if they support private photos.

Would be disappointed though if it shows online photos with sub-par quality.
 
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MrX8503

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2005
4,529
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Resolution wise I would stick with 800x600. Anything 7" and below are low res frames, so dont get those. Anything 8" or higher have high res screens. I would say the best way to pick out your frame is to look at it running yourself. Some frames may have high res, but are very dim.

I think western digital and pandigital make the best digital frames. I currently own a pandigital and the contrast and color on it is amazing for a digital picture frame.
 
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coolVariable

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
3,724
0
76
Originally posted by: MrX8503
Resolution wise I would stick with 800x600. Anything 7" and below are low res frames, so dont get those. Anything 8" or higher have high res screens. I would say the best way to pick out your frame is to look at it running yourself. Some frames may have high res, but are very dim.

I think western digital and pandigital make the best digital frames. I currently own a pandigital and the contrast and color on it is amazing for a digital picture frame.
Click to expand...

Great. Can you post links to their wifi frames that do what we have been discussing above?
 
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