Philips 9-Inch Digital Picture Frame (Metal) by Philips Consumer Electronics
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Digital camera reviews of Philips 9-Inch Digital Picture Frame (Metal)
Digital camera Review: Be patient if you have problems
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this frame for 2 days now. I looked at lots of options & read the reviews here before choosing this one. Previously I had a Vista frame; the reason I was looking for something else is that the Vista apparently can only handle up to 500 pictures, even if your memory card holds more & the motion sensor wasn't working right any more.
I love this frame, for all the reasons that others have already mentioned here. However, the documentation is terrible & very confusing. I have an SD card with about 500 pictures that I used in my other frame. In spite of numerous tries, I could not get the frame to recognize these pictures. It listed the SD card, but none of the pictures would show up in the menu. One of the other reviewers here was very helpful & suggested reformatting the card when I asked him for help, but that didn't work. I tried some other SD cards & got the same result... the SD card was listed, but there were no pictures to choose for the slideshow.
What did work for me was to use a Compact Flash card instead of an SD card. I think another review mentioned doing that. I reformatted the CF card before ever putting it in the frame (it had been in my digital camera). I copied the same 500 pictures to the CF card and it worked right away when I put it in the frame. When you put the card in the frame the option for "PC Folder" needs to be darkened - it was always grayed out with the SD cards. All my memory cards are the same brand (Lexar) - whether that's a factor or not I can't say at this point.
Even though my pictures from the Vista frame were all sized with a 4:3 aspect, most of them look fine with the 3:2 aspect of this frame. I will have to tweak some of them, but it's much better than I expected.
I love the quality of the display with this frame, as well as the variety of options for transitions between pictures, etc. The documentation could be a lot clearer, though. Once you have it working it's simple, but getting there can be frustrating.
Digital camera Review: Beautiful hardware ruined by terrible firmware
Summary: 1 Stars
It is stated clearly in the manual that this product is Mac OS X compatible. Don't believe it. I bought two of the 8" metal frames as a gift for my parents and my fiance's parents. The idea was to load them up with photos from our wedding. Unfortunately, things did not go smoothly.
Let me begin by saying that I am a computer programmer and technically capable. When the frames arrived, I did a trial run with some old family photos. I shoot in raw with a Canon 30D and use Aperture on a MacBook Pro. I exported half sized jpegs and copied them to one of the frames via USB. Once loaded, I tried to view them, but the frame crashed. When I say crashed, I mean the screen froze for several seconds, then went blank. The only way to restore it was to hit the reset button on the back.
I decided to try loading some images onto a CF card to see if the frame just didn't like the images loaded directly onto it. I erased everything I had put on, then installed the CF card. I got the same result--instant firmware crash.
I resized the pictures in Photoshop Elements to the native resolution of the frame--maybe they'd been too large? I put these edited photos back on the CF card. This time the frame didn't crash, but it only showed some of the pictures. The rest showed up as boxes with large Xs in them. Not very satisfying.
After finding a couple of reviews here that stated pretty much the same thing, I decided to return the frames. It's a shame, because physically they are beautiful. Unfortunately, the firmware just isn't good enough. The sad part is that the latest firmware update is from Nov of 2006, so although Philips knows there is a problem with the product, they have done nothing to address the issue. I'd always thought of Philips as a provider of premium products, but I now question their quality assurance. It will be a while before I purchase another Philips product.
Digital camera Review: Beautiful picture, but major compatability issues
Summary: 2 Stars
Love the picture quality of this frame, but the process of copying and viewing photos is an absolute nightmare. I'm a software developer, so this ain't user-error. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why some photos just won't display! After 40-50 hours of troubleshooting, I'm ready to throw it out the window. But, alas, I keep trying. I just want to understand the rhyme/reason, and I'll follow the silly rules, I promise! The card-readers... especially if connecting the frame to your computer to transfer photos... are so incredibly buggy. I can see the photos right on the card through my PC! But for some reason, they just "don't show up" on the frame. Frustrating. And customer-service is worthless.
I'd keep researching and find another frame if I hadn't already sunk so much time and money into this one. My recommendation -- don't buy it.
If anyone has figured-out the secret to the above problems, please, please, please post them here!
Digital camera Review: Best Digital Frame on Market
Summary: 5 Stars
Of all the digital picture frames in my office, this one is the one that turns heads. It is very easy to use, automatically sizes and reorients pictures for length or height when you tip the frame side to side.
There are lots of cheaper frames, but none compare in quality or features!
Digital camera Review: Brilliant pictures, but caution..
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me begin by praising the image clarity which the Philips 8-Inch Digital Picture Frame offers. One thing you can say about this item is that it brings your pictures to life! The color and clarity are outstanding.
I received one of these items as a gift, along with some recharchable batteries. Connecting it to my computer was easy (like all peripherals these days - plug it in and you are all set!). I had one minor little quibble getting the software going, but it was my own mistake really.
Once up and running this frame runs a nice slideshow if your images, and can even be programmed by turn on or off at specific times, in case you want to have it de-activate during work hours to save power and wear-and-tear.
There is something else I wish to share about Philips 8-Inch Digital Picture Frame however, which other potential buyers should take to heart.
I was watching television late one night and enjoying myself. I turned off the set, and then noticed there was still more light in the room than what I would normally expect. Puzzled, I turned around and saw that my Philips 8-Inch Digital Picture Frame was on.
Figuring I'd left it active by mistake, I walked over. Removing the A/C didn't turn it off, so I turned it around and went to remove the batteries, only to discover that I already had -- they were in a charger over on the wall.
Strange. Did it have an internal battery too, which had been charged by the power cord being in?
It was then that I noticed the photos being shuffled across the display were not my own snapshots, but something much more unusual. The colors were off - tinted in a slight sepia, with jagged white lines I recognized as damage from folding. The faces of men and women from a hundred years ago danced across the screen.
I lifted fingers to the surface unconsciously, and withdrew them with a numb flash of horror after feeling the rough, lined surface of ancient paper instead of smooth glass. My Philips 8-Inch Digital Picture Frame was haunted! Fortunately, I had a solution at hand. Out in my shop, I stashed the unearthly device in a trap door which I had earlier secured against paranormal invasion.
A friend's recommendation of powerful batteries for my cordless screwdriver saved me this time!
Amazon came through again for me when I filed a customer complaint, and replaced the faulty frame. I love this thing, and don't be too put off - what are the odds that this could happen twice?