Customer Reviews

Philips 10.2-inch LCD Digital Photo Frame with 9.4-Inch Display (White)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I picked the Philips 9.4-Inch Digital Photo Frame (white) because it was the only medium/large frame with a 3:2 horizontal: vertical pixel ratio that I could find. I had scanned several hundred old Kodachrome slides and wanted a frame with the same ratio that they have - as well as many/most SLR cameras (point and shoot cameras more often match the aspect ration of computer monitors, which are wider). It has 720 x 480 pixels - not as many as can be found on other frames, but the photos still look excellent (although a little too dark). Curiously, it was sold as a 10.2" LCD with panel resolution of 800 x 720, although they state it has a viewing area of 720 x 480. I have no idea where those extra pixels are!! The frame can be positioned upright (widest dimension of the screen is up and down) or on its side - photos automatically adjust for portrait or landscape. Most of the time, the frame should be left in landscape orientation. The screen has a wide viewing angle when oriented this way, but in portrait orientation the viewing angle is much smaller. On the other hand, tall photos are clipped for viewing when the frame is oriented on its side (landscape). This isn't a problem most of the time, but a few of my photos showed people with no feet or cut-off heads. (if you rotate the frame 90 degrees, the image re-orients and shows everything). Perhaps this isn't a problem when showing collages, but I only show one photo at a time. The frame has a battery that allows a person to disconnect the frame from the wall outlet, sit in a chair, browse photos, etc. The product can accept all types of photo media and has some internal memory. Photos larger than 720 x 480 that are transferred from inserted cards are automatically reduced in size to match the LCD - handy for those of you who don't have software to reduce resolution. Unfortunately, all of the transferred files are renamed with numbers, which could make browsing for a single image among many a lot harder. I found it was far easier to connect the frame to my computer via the included USB cable and drag and drop photos, but I had already reduced the images to 720x480. No software is required, since Windows XP recognized the frame as if it was a hard drive. I purchased three frames from amazon.com for a little over $200 each - including one for my mother. The price is somewhat excessive, but the quality good and my mom loves it.

This is our first digital picture frame and we're happy with it. The images are somewhat washed out in bright light, but they have great clarity and look very good in neutral to darker environments. The organization of folders within the frame is a bit hard to get the hang of. The software that comes with the frame isn't fully Mac OS compatible, so that was a waste for us and I can't really say if it's good or not.

All-in-all, it's a good product with nice features and resolution. Would be nice to have it a bit brighter in sunlit room.

Operation and instruction guide too simplistic. In order to use the photo frame even after reading the instruction set up has to be done with trial and error.

Could be difficult for those who are not electronic literate.

Overall I was pleased with this product in quality of operation and screen resolution even though pricey.

I am also guessing that this type of product has not yet fully evolved in development so if you are not sure about buying one, wait for others to come on the market.

I have been fighting with this all morning trying to get rid of the default album and trying to add photos to a new album. While it's not difficult to add photos, I still can't figure out how to add a photo and have it automatically resize to fit the screen. According to the very poor instructions the frame will do this for you but it doesn't on some of my photos and you can't tell until you see the picture on the frame itself. By then it's too late and you end up deleting the picture from the frame. All in all the pictures that do work out are very nice on the frame but as far as getting them just the way you want it's almost impossible. If I could do it over again I would get something different.

This product comes with the poorest set of "instructions" I have seen in recent memory. The user interface of the PC software is completely non-intuitive. While I didn't lose photos as a previous reviewer claimed, they ended up being "hidden" where I didn't expect them. You can't use a PC keyboard to type an album name, you have to use their keyboard interface.

Battery life is also about 1 hour, after a full charge. I hope its defective, rather than the way it is supposed to work.

I bought this frame for my wife over a year ago. It has worked fine without problems, the picture quality is good and we like that we can rotate the frame to either portrait or landscape view and the frame automatically adjusts. We also enjoy the selections and groupings the frame chooses when displaying photo montages. None of the other frames I have bought for other members of my family have compared, but I didn't want to spend over a $100 on their frames.

I am having so much fun with this frame, which I gave to myself for my birthday! The picture quality is excellent - I have not noticed that they look dark at all, but rather quite spectacular - maybe because I have mine on the wall instead of tilted on a desk? The options are fun and easy to use (once you spend some time figuring out how the frame "thinks"). The documentation should be much better. Those who are not computer-savvy might feel quite frustrated. Things that should have been addressed in the manual:

1. DO NOT try to use the photo frame itself for cropping, zooming or organizing photos. The PC software is much easier and more intuitive (you can use the keyboard for typing names). As far as I can tell, you will need to use the frame for adding borders or making color adjustments.

2. In the Photo Manager software, crop and zoom BEFORE you move photos from your PC (left side) onto the frame (right side) or you will notice a significant loss of quality. This is because when you move photos from your PC to the frame, they are automatically reduced, which allows you to load tons of photos, but which also means that if you crop on the frame side, you are cutting the size yet again. (Doing this does not affect your original photo, as the Photo Manager creates a copy of your original with "New" appended onto the name. It does mean that you may want to clean out your photo files once you've moved the edited photos onto the frame - or enjoy the new look of your old photos by keeping them.)

3. The crop feature allows you some control over how the frame adjusts your picture to fit, so you are less likely to have cut off feet, heads, etc.

4. Make sure the USB cable is completely connected. More than once I thought I had plugged it in, the photo frame said it was connected, but there was no response from the PC. An additional push on the plug made the connection. I wonder if this is why folks have had connectivity issues.

This was such an awesome present to myself. I will be enjoying it for years to come - until they come out with a bigger model at more modest prices!

This digital photo frame is available on sale from time to time at $100 to $120, and at this price it represents an outstanding value. Using its internal 128 megabyte memory, the photo frame can hold hundreds of photos when they are uploaded to it in JPEG format either at 720 by 480 resolution for display in landscape format, or at 480 by 720 resolution for display in portrait format. The images are bright and clear. The frame can be programmed to turn on and off automatically at preset times. And, conveniently, the photo frame displays photos in a 3:2 aspect ratio that many digital cameras provide. I own two of these frames: one for landscape format and another for portrait format.

Some reviewers have reported difficulties with loading photos onto the photo frame. Their complaints are certainly legitimate because the "Quick Start Guide" that is included with the photo frame does not offer enough detail to really get started. However, a "User Manual" that may be downloaded in PDF format from the Philips web site (similar to the "Digital User Manual" that is provided on the enclosed CD) does provide clear instructions for operating the frame.

Now for the downside of this photo frame and the reason for which I rated it 4 stars instead of 5. The photo frame has a support leg that in theory can be rotated so that the photo frame can be free standing in either landscape or portrait position. To place the support leg in landscape position, the leg is rotated fully clockwise (as viewed from the back of the frame) until it stops. With the leg in this position, the weight of the frame pushes the leg against a stop, which results in a stable position for the leg. To place the support leg in portrait position, the leg is rotated counterclockwise, but not until it stops. Instead, the leg is rotated until an audible click is heard, at which point portrait position is achieved. With the leg in this position, the weight of the frame does not push the leg against a stop, but rather tends to rotate the leg clockwise towards landscape position, which could cause the frame to fall.

It is possible to lessen the chance of the frame falling by GENTLY prying the 2 inch diameter white plastic cap off of the back of the frame using a flat bladed screwdriver, then GENTLY tightening the underlying bolt using a 4 mm Allen wrench so that the support leg rotates less freely. But I hope that Philips fixes this design flaw in future photo frames.

Nice picture, but does seem a little dark, even on the brightest setting. Once I opened it, I had it loaded with over 300 pics in less than 20 minutes. I have read about people complaining that they could not delete the baby picture that comes on it from the factory. I had no problem getting it off there. For the record, I deleted it from the options on the frame itself, not using the software.

Another note, the frame and overall construction is really nice on this. Enjoy.

I am pleased with the quality of Philips 10.2" photo frame. It is exactly what I expected: good display and it is easy to operate.