Recommend a Digital frame

[bluevortex]

Guys need some help. My Nan has asked me to find out asbout getting my mum a digital photo frame for christmas. Budget is up to £80. I've been looking on Amazon and all the frames have mixed reviews, buggy software, difficult to use and so on.

Does anybody have one that's good for around this money? My mum owns a ceramic art studio and she wants it for display on her desk in the shop.

Much appreciated

Blue

[KUNGFOOKID]

One of the main things to consider is the screen resolution.For a frame between 7 and 10 inches you want 800x480 or 800x600 - any lower and the picture quality is rather poor.Also check viewing angles as some are much better than others.If posible check brightness levels - many on display in the shops are ramped up to full brightness just to produce a reasonable picture which gives you no room for further adjustment if some of your pics are a bit dark.
I have recently bought a Kodak 8" frame with remote control for £79.99 plus a 2GB memory card for only £8.50 which can store a huge amount of photos.The frame itself has a good bright screen with pretty good viewing angles.It is very easy to set up and to transfer photos to it from a pc or directly from a camera - both connecting by usb.Because it is 800x480 (widescreen format ) the photo's do not fill the whole screen but leave bars down the sides but they still look very good.You can let the frame expand to full screen but you lose the edges of the pictures - not always a problem depending on the subject and framing of the photo.

[bluevortex]

Thanks some good advice - i will look into the Kodak frame. Its seems every one i look at or read a review of is let down or flawed in some way. Maybe im being to critical but i am buying blind so worth doing the homework.

[richard plumb]

the only thing i'd say is don't buy blind. Many of the ones I've seen have terrible viewing angles which completely ruins them as photo frames, at least for me. I wanted something that you can just put on the mantlepiece and occasionally glance at from anywhere in the room.

I ended up buying a philips one. Best viewing angles and overall quality of the ones I looked at, and the frame looked like a photo frame, rather than a piece of computer equipment.

That was a couple of years ago though, so its possible that things have improved - although the quest for cheap prices means maybe not...

[Agincourt]

Having bought a 9" Philips frame for myself a couple of months ago, I have just bought another 2 as Christmas presents for my parents and my in-laws. It had everything I required (good image quality and size and interfaces) without unnecessary gimmicks. I am very happy with it as a picture frame (it's on top of a piano with a load of ordinary photo frames and some visitors have been startled when the picture changes, not realizing what it was) and the controls on the frame work well but I have a slight reservation over the software. Although you can view photographs straight off the memory card or 'drag and drop' off your computer hard drive using the USB connection, the frame doesn't recognise your existing folder structure. It's better to create folders and copy photos using the supplied software although this is slow and relatively clunky.
If you accept that you are never going to find the perfect solution, this probably comes reasonably close

[KUNGFOOKID]

With regard to the last post about photo transfer to frame i have found no problem.With a memory card in my Kodak frame all i need do is connect the frame to my pc with a usb lead and power it up and it is detected as a removable drive.You can just drag and drop jpeg's on to the memory card quick as you like.When the frame is switched on it will auto run a slideshow from the memory card.

[bluevortex]

Originally Posted by Agincourt

Having bought a 9" Philips frame for myself a couple of months ago, I have just bought another 2 as Christmas presents for my parents and my in-laws. It had everything I required (good image quality and size and interfaces) without unnecessary gimmicks. I am very happy with it as a picture frame (it's on top of a piano with a load of ordinary photo frames and some visitors have been startled when the picture changes, not realizing what it was) and the controls on the frame work well but I have a slight reservation over the software. Although you can view photographs straight off the memory card or 'drag and drop' off your computer hard drive using the USB connection, the frame doesn't recognise your existing folder structure. It's better to create folders and copy photos using the supplied software although this is slow and relatively clunky.
If you accept that you are never going to find the perfect solution, this probably comes reasonably close

Which Phillips frame did you buy?

[Agincourt]

The frame I got is the 9" model - 9FF2M4/00. It's over your budget - £143 from Amazon but I think there is a 7" model available. Could you get your brother/sister/aunt/uncle to chip in?

Answering KUNGFOOKID's point - I don't have any problems dragging and dropping photos onto the frame (either its internal memory or the additional memory card) via the USB cable but the parent file structure is lost and all the photographs are dumped into one single folder. If you want to retain your file structure (my photographs are all organized by month) you have to create folders on the frame and import the photographs into them using the supplied Philips software. Not a major issue, but it does slow down the transfer process.

[Triggaaar]

I've not been interested in digital frames up until reading this thread, but they really seem to have come of age. Decent screens, being able to set the on & off time, length of time each picture displayed, etc etc - then, a shocking bit of modern technology - the Kodak Easyshare lets you set it up at your relative's home, then change the photos it displays via the internet, without them having to touch it.
Wow, how amazing is that For your non technical grandparents or in-laws, they can have regularly updated pictures of their great/grandchildren without having to do a thing. Although that's probably not a feature I personally need, I'm all excited at mankind's progress. Well done humans.

[KiwiBud]

..thanks guys, great thread....

[johnh89]

just got this one for my old man is it anygood http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...o%2Bframes.htm cheers

[daverave]

Hi All,

Im also looking for a digital photo frame as a present for my folks for xmas (budget 80 to 100 quid) BUT they do not want any wires! Do any of these frames operate via battery? Can you recommend one within my budget?

Many thanks in advance

[hot-fuzz]

Originally Posted by johnh89

just got this one for my old man is it anygood http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...o%2Bframes.htm cheers

If you have already bought it, then yo ucan tell us if its any good.

Originally Posted by daverave

Hi All,

Im also looking for a digital photo frame as a present for my folks for xmas (budget 80 to 100 quid) BUT they do not want any wires! Do any of these frames operate via battery? Can you recommend one within my budget?

Many thanks in advance

Thats the problem i have, but im not sure many do as the batteries wouldnt last long. Every one i have seen is battery powered. THere must be a battery powred one and would love to know how long it lasts.

[dave_bass5]

WOW, lots of old folk are going to get digiframes this year by the look of it.
mine included if i can get my act together.
Im looking at getting this one for mine. £53 from ebuyer.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129157

It would be nice to hear from anyone that has one.

Can anyone tell me what crop ratio these things use as i would like to re size my shots to match the screen res.

Cheers

[Simmo81]

This one any good?
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...s/Product.html

£70 tops of my budget for a xmas pressie for my Dad

Like the way it looks more like a "normal" picture frame.

No idea if this is any good or not?

Cant seem to decide on any one particular frame to be honest.