I’m looking to pick up one of those new fangled picture frames and I know absolutely nothing about them, so I’m looking for advice. How do they work? Do I need to buy a memory card too? What’s the best one out there? Which one is good for under 100 bucks? Is there a huge difference between the two? I know I could check Consumer Reports but I trust you guys more. Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciated!
They’ve piqued my interest as well. I know you’d like “real world” advice but CNet gives specs. And for many, there are user reviews.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4244-13499_7-0-1.html?query=digital+frame&tag=cat_2
Some need cards, and some have (a small amount of) internal memory. Some can be loaded directly from the camera, some need the pc, and some just use the cards. Most of them seem to have more bells and whistles than I care about in a digital frame (time and date, music, weather station? All I want is my pictures displayed!)
I got one for Christmas, and I loved it, but it died after 3 months. Grrr. I want another. I’d tell you which kind I had so you could avoid it, but it’s at home and I’m at work.
There are 3 steps to choosing a digital picture frame: First, decide what size you want. Next look at them with the preloaded pictures so you can see the image quality. Finally, pick the best looking one that fits your budget.
Some things to consider:
How you will you get the pictures into the frame? Most frames have multiple slots for digital camera memory and also frequently have a USB port where you can put a thumbdrive. Some you can hook directly to your computer, while some have WiFi or other wireless connections. WiFi usually adds to the cost. I personally use the memory or USB thumbdrive because I’m cheap and, for me, it’s less hassle. I just copy the pictures to the memory or thumbdrive then shove it into the frame. Because thumbdrives and digital picture RAM are cheap (you don’t need the biggest RAM for this), I keep different “albums” on different cards/thumbdrives. No menus, no hassle.
Where will you put the frame? You’ll want to see if the power cord will reach where you want to put it. If you’re putting on a desk or table, not as big a deal because if you need an extension cord, no one’s going to see it. If you’re mounting it on a wall, you may not want to see the extension cord dangling or have the weight of the extension cord and power brick pull the nail out of the wall because they’re too heavy.
Do you need a remote control? Some frames have them. I’m not sure how useful this is. I set mine to display all the pictures and just watch them as they go by. I don’t give narrated slide shows and rarely do I ever want to show someone a particular picture. In those rare cases I just touch the buttons on the back of the frame. Obviously, if your viewing habits are different than mine, you may want the remote.
Do you need sound? More and more allow MP3 playing. Personally I like my frames like I like my food-silent. I don’t want to spend time creating multimedia presentations; that’s way too much work for me. Just show the pictures, dammit!
As you’ve seen, there are a lot out there. Names you know, names you’ve never heard of. When you find one, look for reviews on the 'Net. Don’t make the same mistake others have. If you have other specific questions about them, feel free to message me directly.