Customer Reviews

Digital Spectrum MemoryVUE Gallery MV-1700 Plus 17-Inch Digital Picture Frame (Black)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I meant to give this 3 stars and can't change it.

I was surprised to not find a single review anywhere for the Digital Spectrum MV-1700. I took a chance on one anyway since it looked like the picture frame with the best combination of features I was looking for. It has a 4x3 format instead of 16x9, 512MB internal memory (it should have 1GB for the price) and a 1280x1024 display.

I purchased mine with the black frame through Amazon (BuyNow Incorporated) on 6/24 and it arrived on 6/25! I wish everything traveled that fast! The packing was not the best, the Digital Spectrum box was sliding around lose in the shipping box it came in and I was a little concerned after reading about how others had arrived broken. When I opened the box it looked like a returned item. The power cord zip lock bag was open and the cord half out. The rest of the packing looked like it had been opened and then boxed up again. This was bothersome but everything was fine and the digital frame worked as advertised.

I connected the MV-1700 to my computer and received a McAfee warning that the Generic!atr Trojan had been found and quarantined. Always make sure your anti-virus software is up to date! I viewed some 1280 x 1024 and larger images from a USB thumb drive and was a tad disappointed compared to my computer display. The colors were not as vivid as I was expecting, seeming a tad washed out. I need to look at other digital frames to see if this is the norm. Maybe I was expecting too much. Next I replaced the factory images that came loaded in internal memory with a 300MB mpg file I created using Studio 9 and the video played fine. I'm not sure why anyone would want to (a lot of digital frames have this feature) but if you have mp3 music files thrown in with your picture files you can select a combo display mode which plays your music in low fidelity along with the image slide show.

The remote control is handy and the menu system is not as bad as some have said. I was able to fumble my way through all of the settings and features without reading the manual. A resume function would be a great addition so that it didn't start from the first image every time you turn it back on. The AC adapter gets pretty warm so I'd keep an eye on it for a while to make sure it's not burning anything. I used the remote to turn off the frame and the next day it would not turn back on. I had to use the master switch on the back to get it to turn on. This happened once and has been fine since. I also discovered that the remote for my Panasonic plasma TV turns this picture frame on and off. It's interesting that the picture frame remote will not operate my TV.

I don't know if it's the folks at Digital Spectrum or their distributors but they have a bit of a QA issue to address regarding packaging and virus control. I'd expect better for this price but so far the frame works fine (once on) and is pleasant to look at. You can see the pictures from across the room which is what I wanted. I didn't want to have to sit 12 inches away from the frame to see the images clearly.

When I removed the frame from the packing, the first thing I noticed was the bad wrinkle in the material that made up the mat around the display area. This indicated to me that it was made out of a very thin material rather than a quality board or metal mat. Then as I began to check out the functions, the high quality photos I had displayed at low quality. I believe the resolution was stated as being 1280 X 840, but that didn't appear to be so. After this experience, I understood why it was priced under $275.00.
Overall, a disappointing product.
But the return and refund service was excellent.

We ordered several of the 12", 15" and 17" frames to use as a photo display wall. In each size we had to get replacements from Amazon, which went well except we had to get replacements for the replacements since they to were also defective. The defects ran from damaged frames to no picture. All in all not a satisfactory product for quality.
Picture quality was very important and these units did a very poor job with high quality photos on memory cards. What were great shots on a laptop or other computer were not displayed at all well. Contacted the manufacturer asking what color density or what we could change to get good results and were told that they did not have any information of that type. The photos were taken with Nikon D90 and Fuji S3 and then reduced to the screen format of the frames. No matter what we did we could not get results that looked anywhere near professional.
All in all ordered 9 frames and after on going issues for 4 weeks ended up returning all.

Ordered this Memoryvue frame in July, to hang in my front office, to advertise products we sell. It worked tolerably well (although was a horrible nuisance to hang) for about five months, and then went completely dead right after Christmas.

Instruction book is laughable, no troubleshooting suggestions at all, and provides no contact info at all for the company, which is sketchy,imho. Extensive googling turned up no additional troubleshooting info, but at least revealed the company's website and phone number. After MULTIPLE attempts, trying different extensions out of sheer frustration, I finally got through to a guy who sounded like he was surprised himself that he'd answered the phone, and he said he'd have someone call back. Of course, no one did.

I have tried repeatedly calling and emailing since the first of the year (it's now March), at random times in case I was catching them at lunch hour or something. No joy. I am assuming they are out of business. No business could operate this many weeks without someone covering the phones or answering emails.

I have several other digital frames scattered around my office, some several years old, which work just fine.

I could not recommend a Memoryvue product at all after this experience. This was far too expensive a product to consign to the trash so quickly.

Looking for a replacement for the SmartParts product which gave up the ghost recently and was interested in something a bit bigger. This product is bigger and unfortunately that is the only thing good I can say about it. The product was well packed in a well-padded double box and arrived without any evidence of physical damage or that it had been dropped in transit. The device is screwed together cockeyed, part of the screws are missing, the power supply connector is intermittent, there are loose bits rattling around inside and the panel is loose in the mount. In summary arrived broken and clearly was shipped in that state. I will now begin the task of returning the product. Best avoid.

Bought 4 frames to display proffesional credentials, but after a few weeks...literally threw them in the garbage. Unfortunately could not get my money back since used them for a while and could not honestly give them away....this product is horrid. Shame on you Digital View !!

We got this frame and did not open it for a year as we moved in a new house. it worked for a month and then shut itself off within 2 minutes after it was Turned ON. It continues to work for 2 minutes when powered! I called the Company and first they offered to replace it. Then when I called to get the return details, they said that it would cost unknown amount plus shipping! It is a poor quality product as it failed within a month and very poor service. The Company does not stand behind the product. DO NOT BUY THIS SHADY PRODUCT!

The frame does its job 50% of the time. The power cord and/or the power jack seem to be the culprit, because half the time it won't turn on. When it does turn on, it has an extremely clear picture, and is easy to use. It's frustrating, though, when it won't turn on and there's nothing I can do but wait until it feels like working. I've tried different cords, holding the power cord in, moving it around, switching outlets...nothing.

I have no idea if this is my product specifically or a problem with all frames.