This holiday season, buyers are looking for cool electronic gifts but are cautiously watching their spending. We think digital photo frames make a great addition to anyone's desk or mantle without putting a huge dent in your wallet. Retrevo looked at digital photo frame user reviews, expert reviews, features and prices and offers these recommendations.
Features to Look For
Higher resolution screens like the 800 x 600 pixel screens in some of the 8 inch frames we recommend offer great looking images. WiFi adds a little complexity to the setup process especially if you have a protected network but it makes it easy to load photo from any computer in your house. The challenge is how to get those photos into Grandma's photo frame. Many frames can play MP3 files on built-in speakers so you can play a soundtrack with your picture show. We wonder how often it gets used but why not have it. Some players can also support QuickTime, AVI, and MPEG-1 and MPEG-4 video files so you can play movies on your picture frame.
Retrevo Recommends
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| Westinghouse DPF 0802 | Kodak EX811 | Pandigital PAN80-2 | MemoryFrame MF-8104 | Matsunichi PF7E |
The Westinghouse DPF 0802, 8 inch photo frame has a wood frame,128 MB of storage, and a high resolution 800 x 600 screen. You load up the frame from your camera’s flash memory card or a USB connection from your computer. This unit has a "MosaicView," which puts up to four images on the display. This feature gets mixed reviews from users. You can buy the Westinghouse DPF 0802 for around $150.
The Kodak EX811 is an 8 inch, 800 x 480 pixel photo frame, with 128 MB of memory that will cost you around $200. You can use the built-in WiFi to stream pictures from your computer. You can also load pictures through the memory card slot or USB connector. Reviewers give the user interface high marks.
The Pandigital PAN80-2 is an 8 inch 800 x 600 pixel frame that can store 128MB worth of images. You upload images using the card reader or USB connector. You can buy the Pandigital PAN80-2 at most major retailers or online for under $200. Pandigital frames get high marks from reviewers and come in many sizes all the way up to 15 inches.
The MemoryFrame MF-8104 Premium from Digital Spectrum is a 10.4 inch photo frame. that will set you back over $300. They say 8 X 10 pictures look good on this 800 x 600 frame that has built-in wifi.
If you're short on cash, the Matsunichi PF7E Digital Photo Frame can be purchased for under $70. It's a 7 inch frame that only does 480 x 234. We think you might be better off spending a few dollars more for an 8 inch 800 x 600 frame.
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| Tao 1.4 inch Digital Picture Keychain | Innovage Keychain | Coby DP-151 |
The Tao 1.4 inch Digital Picture Keychain holds 56 photos and costs $29. It has a rechargeable battery. You load it with a USB connector. They offer a square version and a round one.
Innovage offers a digital photo keychain for $24 on Amazon. It uses a rechargeable battery that provides 3 hours of viewing and stores 60 photos. It gets mixed reviews from users but for $24 what do you expect? Could be a good stocking stuffer.
The Coby DP 151 1.5 inch Digital Photo Key Chain is a tenth of inch bigger than the others. It stores 62 pictures and is on sale at Amazon for $16. Some users are happy with it, some aren't.
Camera and Photo Printer Product Advisor
Retrevo crawls the web, analyzes many thousands of products, expert reviews, user reviews, features, and prices to report the best values in electronics. The new Value Map for cameras and printers displays products based on bang for the buck.