Digital Photo Frame questions

[dmdigital]

I'm looking at buying digital photo frame for someone for Christmas. They aren't too computer savvy so it has to be something I can easily plug in, turn on and insert a card full of pictures in to and just leave alone to display the images. Maybe send them an updated card every 6 months too.

So can anyone suggest anything?

I'm out to the big smoke in 4 weeks time so will have a look at some then, but the best place to buy is (I suspect) on-line. There also seems to be a lot of brands that I've never heard of and others like Sony and Kodak that are all to well known.

Oh I'd like it to be probably at least a 10" display.

[Blknight.aus]

the ones from dicksmiths, Jaycar, JB hifi, stratfords kmart, office works, and occasionally aldi are the go.

for about $130 or so you wind up with a 7inch diagonal lcd type jobbie that takes an SD card. Format the card and dump the pictures on that from the camera/PC.

turn the unit on and insert the card, wait about a minute and it should start slideshowing automatically.

I've been giving them as xmas pressies for about 2 years. (I per household on both sides of the family) and we've started to get into the habit of exchanging the cards. (my family are a bit more tech savvy) every birthday/xmas/easter we send on a new card with photos from our life and the recipient ejects their old card, copies what they want to keep, loads up pics from their life and mails it back.

[dmdigital]

Thanks Dave, that's just what I needed to know. DSE, JBHiFi, OfficeWorks are all available when I fly out so I'll put it on the shopping list.

Do most run off a plug-pack power supply or straight into 240V?

[vnx205]

I'm not sure if this site will answer any of your questions.

I haven't bought any of his products, but he got a good writeup in a computer magazine about a year ago.

Digital Photo Frames sale. Buy Digital Photo Frames from Kogan Technologies Australia for the best Value.. (http://www.kogan.com.au/shop/category/digital-photo-frames/)

[Blknight.aus]

all of the ones I have or given away have got a 240v power pack but they also have the supply requirements printed or molded near the power in jack on the unit. I;ve used one as a product placement display from a 12v adaptor before.

[werdan]

If the person has broadband, you might want to look at some of the ones that have wifi connectivity, that can then be linked to a Flickr account or be emailed to. That way you don't have the same 10 photos on it because they couldn't be bothered updating it.

[Narangga]

The Agfaphoto one we bought last Christmas for Judy (who fits your description surprisingly well :wasntme:) fits the bill.

Don't know if they come that large though. Pop around and look at it if you like.

[Ferret]

I'm looking at buying digital photo frame for someone for Christmas. They aren't too computer savvy so it has to be something I can easily plug in, turn on and insert a card full of pictures in to and just leave alone to display the images. Maybe send them an updated card every 6 months too.

Oh I'd like it to be probably at least a 10" display.

Bought one for my mother this time last year for an Xmas present, 10" from JB HiFi ~$180 generic Chinese brand but still going.

One thing you might look out for is what file format and size they accept. After opening and setting up for my mother I noticed in the instructions it said jpeg files in excess of 2 Meg "may not show". Not really a problem for me but it was something I never anticipated and resizing everything is an extra bit of mucking about when loading pictures onto the SD card.

No sure if this is a common restriction in these gadgets but maybe something to consider when you look around.

[Ferret]

duplicate post deleted

[slug_burner]

Be carefull if you decide to get something via internet. I got one from the same site that people have been getting their cheap GPS. It works ok but the default menues and the remote control sender are in Chinese (I think) and the documentation was terrible. Had to play and explore until I found how to change it over to English.

[dmdigital]

If the person has broadband, you might want to look at some of the ones that have wifi connectivity, that can then be linked to a Flickr account or be emailed to. That way you don't have the same 10 photos on it because they couldn't be bothered updating it.
Thanks Andrew, for myself I'd consider this but for this case (my parents) it would complicate things way to much:eek:
Far easier to send them an SD or CF card (USB stick) of pictures every 6 months.


The Agfaphoto one we bought last Christmas for Judy (who fits your description surprisingly well :wasntme:) fits the bill.

Don't know if they come that large though. Pop around and look at it if you like.
Might take you up on that Dale. Need to give you a call anyway.


Bought one for my mother this time last year for an Xmas present, 10" from JB HiFi ~$180 generic Chinese brand but still going.

One thing you might look out for is what file format and size they accept. After opening and setting up for my mother I noticed in the instructions it said jpeg files in excess of 2 Meg "may not show". Not really a problem for me but it was something I never anticipated and resizing everything is an extra bit of mucking about when loading pictures onto the SD card.

No sure if this is a common restriction in these gadgets but maybe something to consider when you look around.
The 2MB issue shouldn't be a problem. I suspected they would have a size limit and I was going to set up an automation in either CaptureNX or Photoshop to resize everything down to JPEG, 72dpi and what ever screen size resolution I end up with. Also if the slide show function on the device does paning or zooming transitions I can then include some larger images (Some of the Panoramas I have are over 30,000 x 3,800 @ 300dpi:eek:) but again I'll still reduce these. Also means I can fit a lot of images on a reasonably sized card.

[Taz]

Look out for the aspect ratio on some of the 7inch models - if you want to retain your images aspect ratio and display them on the widescreen 7inch displays, the image will be very small and will only use a fraction of available pixels.
Also I find the the light sensor based 'intelligent' on/off great - just leave it on all the time, and it turns itself off when it detects no ambient light (ie when you turn your room lights off at night).
Also so units have an interior battery so you can remove them from the power supply temporarily - which is great if you use the display to hand around and show people.
If you have contacts in the US or Japan, you could one of the Kodak OLED picture frames - sadly they dont sell em in Aus.

[dmdigital]

Holy hamster droppings Batman, the Kodak OLED frames are a 7.6" picture and US$999:eek::eek::eek:

[Narangga]

Holy hamster droppings Batman, the Kodak OLED frames are a 7.6" picture and US$999:eek::eek::eek:

When were you going to start taking orders for a group buy? :angel:

[dmdigital]

When were you going to start taking orders for a group buy? :angel:
There's a thought and I could load them all with pictures of my Defenders before sending them out:cool:

[Taz]

Holy hamster droppings Batman, the Kodak OLED frames are a 7.6" picture and US$999:eek::eek::eek:

I guess you wont be buying the Sony 11" OLED TV then either (the only commercial OLED TV on the market atm). Retails in USA for $2500US, but it will cost you close to $7000au from Sony Australia !

[dmdigital]

Ended up buying a 9" Sony DPF. Easy to use, simple controls and nice and clear to view.

There were a number that we looked at that had very dodgy or fiddly controls which wouldn't have suited elderly fingers.