Customer Reviews

Aluratek 12-inch Hi-Res Digital Photo Frame

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Although the picture quality of this frame is exceptionally good, the software is very disappointing. It lacks the basic function of auto startup into a slideshow (upon auto startup it is only able to launch the thumbnail view - to start a slideshow, one must select it using the remote control, making the auto startup feature pointless). There is no internal memory, and randomization is not possible. Additionally, auto startup only seems to work if the frame has auto shut down and not been touched in the meantime - if the frame is powered up or down manually during this cycle this appears to cause the auto startup to be cancelled.

This frame also does not play back videos that will play without problems on other frames. Upon discussing this issue with an Aluratek technician, I was told that I would either need to download a video converter or send the video to the technician so that he could convert it into a usable format and send it back!

Another concern is the rather flimsy support stand for the frame- it springs back closed quite easily if the frame is picked up or moved slightly, and comes apart too easily for a frame this expensive. The frame can only be wall-mounted in landscape orientation.

Finally, the remote control appears to be cheaply made and looks as though it will not withstand much use- another disappointment.

It's really a shame that the software included for this frame is so rudimentary and incomplete. The picture quality is definitely stellar, and the frame itself is elegant and refined, but all of that is unfortunately useless without decent software. I am returning this frame.

I normally don't take the time to comment on products but the technical support of Aluratek is the worst I have ever seen. I purchased the model ADMPF110 and it was dead out of the box. I go round and round with their technical support via email and finally they give me an RMA to send it in for repair. I wanted to put this in the wall of a new house we are building so I needed it back pretty quickly. So I sent it to them over-night with all of the necessary paper work. 90 days later I get it back. By this time I had bought another brand unit to put in our new house. We were really busy getting the house completed so I didn't get around to looking at the Aluratek unit I got repaired under warranty unit about 3.5 months later. It was dead out of the box again! This time it made a faint clicking noise when turned off and on which was an improvement over last time, however, still nothing on the screen. Absolutely dead in all modes. Aluratek said that I had it over 90 days and that it was out of warranty and if I wanted to send it back in they would repair it for a fee. I explained that I never got to use it even once. The said it was out of warranty. I explained it was just barely out of warranty and they said it didn't matter, I should have checked it out when I first got it back. I told them that I am not their quality control department. Unless you want to get stuck with junk that doesn't work or unless you want to do the quality control for this company I suggest you don't buy any of their products.

I purchased 2 Aluratek ADMPF312F 12" frames in April 2008 One of the frames has had display flicker/corruption problems since a few weeks after I received it (and just past the VERY SHORT 120 day warranty). 12 months later the other frame display went corrupt, then black and will no longer do anything -it just stays black. These frames are on less than 2 hours a day in the evenings.

Buy another brand and save yourself the frustration. Unless of course you enjoy shopping for a new gadget every few months.

I had a few features that were "must haves" that I was looking for, and this frame supposedly had them. But once I got it, I found that the features weren't everything they said they were. First the positives:
-can use a variety of storage media
-nice visual clarity
-easy basic set up

Now the negatives:
-the remote is needed to do a lot of the set-up. You lose the remote, you lose most of the functionality.
-the timer function does not work with slideshow. The timer will turn off a slideshow, but it will not turn the frame on in slideshow mode. It turns the frame back on in set-up mode. You then need to use the remote to start the slideshow. Tech support says this is the way it is designed.
-setting up the timer is not intuitive (to say the least).

I purchased this digital frame for my husband for his birthday. When I received it, I was very impressed with the look of the frame as well as how easy it was to load the pictures/mp3s. I bought a 2GB card for approx. $15, which was no big deal and now have the ability to hold well over 500 pictures. After opening this gift, my husband and I sat together on our couch and watched the frame cycle through the pictures which were synched to our favorite songs... It was a great birthday present and brought tears to both of our eyes.

Unfortunately, about two weeks later, I was beginning to have issues with the frame... The screen would flicker and look like it had "bad reception". I called Aluratek's Customer Support, spoke with a live human being, and was advised to mail my frame back. The frame I received as a replacement had a few issues so I called their Customer Support again. This time, they emailed me a UPS return label and picked up the cost entirely. I received a brand new frame about two days later and it has been working great ever since.

The picture quality is incredible. The speakers sound much better than I expected. This truly is a great digital photo frame. I spent about a month researching all of the frames on the market and this one received good reviews on cnet.com and this site. I did notice some bad reviews; however, in my opinion, sometimes in this day and age, people go out of their way to tell you about their bad experiences when 99% of other customers have great experiences and don't take the time to write about it.

Overall, I am very impressed and would definitely buy another Aluratek product in the future.

Aluratek 12 inch model# ADMPF312F
I am, for the most part, disappointed with this frame. Aluratek doesn't list any real specs on their website. Let's face it, the specs that really matters are: resolution, aspect and contrast ratios. One would think that this information would be listed on their site, but it's not. It's not here on Amazon either. However, I did find many other online retailers that listed this frame as 1024x768. The resolution is average at best. I honestly don't believe that this is 1024x768.

My major complaints are:
1. It is not 1024x768 as claimed by numerous other online retailers.
2. The manual (and on the box itself) states that all common files are recognized, such as jpeg, avi, mp3, bmp, wma. Well, that is partly true. The only video file that I can get this frame to recognize is a .mov file. So, if you make videos that are not .mov then you must convert them. Oh yeah, you need to get your own file converter, because it's not included and it's not on their website.
3. During slideshow, I constantly see dead pixels across the very top row. However, if I don't use the slideshow and just freeze on one picture then all pixels work.

The only thing that is decent about this frame is...well, the frame. By that, I mean that it looks pretty attractive.

I purchased Aluratek's 7" frame awhile back model ADMPF007F. I was so impressed with its quality and ease of use that I decided to buy a larger frame this 12" for my parents. It doesn't come with memory but SD cards are so cheap these days (1GB for $5) who cares if there's 128mb or 256mb onboard. I'd rather keep different SD Cards for different occassions for my parents. The screen size is very large, pictures comes out very sharp, and you can control the brightness and color contrast with the remote. I did not have to use the manual. Once again Aluratek came thru with a very nice frame.

I bought this frame and I love it, perfect thing to put my memories. Excellent thing to hang on the wall put or on top of your desk. I can set it up to slideshows, sleep and wake time. I shopped around to find the best frame and I saw this Aluratek frame, Perfect 10!!!!.

I had purchased another Aluratek photo frame before, so, I was pretty confident when I needed to purchase another one for a gift.

This time I upgraded to a bigger screen size (12"). I was very impressed. Very clear picture and it played all of my videos.

Just reading some other reviews, I was able to get the frame to play several different video formats, without converting them.

Even though this didn't come with internal memory, the frame read my SD Card and was able to do everything it claims to do.

I also find the frame very easy to use. It has a different interface from the other frame I purchased from Aluratek. But it is still very easy to use and very user friendly.

Love it.