Customer Reviews

SanDisk SDV-1A Digital Photo Viewer

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Got this "free" from Amazon recently, when I bought a Sandisk CompactFlash card. As some of the other reviews said, it was easy to hook up and worked great right out of the box. However, after using it a bit more, I have come up with a couple small issues. (NOTE: I have a Canon Digital Rebel 6.3MP camera and usually shoot large JPEGs.)

- The memory card reader is relatively slow at reading the large files generated by the camera. The JPEG files from the Digital Rebel are typically between 4 and 6 MB and they can take 10-15 seconds to display. This isn't much a problem during a slide show, but when you want to jump ahead it makes it difficult because the device seems like it isn't responding. You'd think with Sandisk being the current king of fast flash, that the reader would be quicker.

- The card reader cannot (or will not) read files larger than 5.3MB. You get an error on the screen saying as much, if you try. My pictures aren't typically this big, but depending the picture they can be, which is even more irritating because some pictures from a given card will show up while others won't.

- Another warning for those that use high quality digital SLRs etc, is that this camera reads ONLY JPEG files. It does not display RAW files, nor can it extract the embedded JPEGs. Of course, I didn't expect it to do so, but this may not be clear to other potential buyers.

Obviously, I could shoot lower quality (but if I spend that much on a camera, why would I?) or I could convert the images to smaller files on the PC (but this eliminates the ease of use factor). I think if I had paid for this product rather than receiving it free, the above issues might give enough reason for me to return it.

I just love this nifty little gizmo! The set-up is extremely easy-just plug it in and all necessary cables are provided. Then you just plug in your flash card (or flash stick or other-it takes several kinds) and you are now viewing your digital images on your own television! Instead of everyone standing around your small computer screen, you can see your images on your large TV screen.

You can either let the images run via the slide show, or take control and move through your images at your own pace. The remote lets you rotate pictures, and even niftier--it lets you zoom in. The zoom in feature keep the image clear.

The best feature is that you can pack this gizmo up and take it with you. We just returned from an Alaskan cruise (with a ton of digital pictures). So I took this viewer over to my parents, plugged it into their TV and they were able to see all our pictures while sitting back in their easy chairs. No photo's to pass around and around--just sit back in comfort and enjoy!

I would highly recommend this product--it's great!

What a neat little gizmo; it's smaller than I had anticipated. It's very easy to hook up. From getting it out of the package to viewing your pictures on TV takes all of 10 minutes, and that's mainly because getting the viewer out is not an easy task. We transferred images from the 128MB CompactFlash from our Canon G3 to the TV screen, and it looked great. Having the remote to zoom, rotate, and delete was pretty handy too. A simple, easy to use product that delivers as promised.

Portability and ease of use is key to this excellent product. Came with both an s-video and standard video plug, so you have a choice depending on your availabe TV inputs. Smaller than I expected at about 4"by3", all you need is an electric socket and TV and you are in business. Remote runs on 2 AAA batteries(included) Besides zoom,rotate,slideshow, it also has a delete function that erases those unwanted shots without using the camera or a computer. Excellent carry-anywhere product. I bought 3 extras for gifts.

I used this to show my digital photos to family while on vacation. It's compact and fits easily into your suitcase. Plugs into most TVs and presto, you have a slide show. It has 4 slots to fit MS, SD, SM and CF memory, but being technologically challenged, I just stuck my compact flash into the slot that fit it.
You can let it run like a slide show, or use the buttons to move it along at your own pace to fit your narration. Saves printing out everything to show people and my family was impressed to see themselves on their TV screen.
It lets you rotate a picture or delete one that is a dud. Great gadget!

Recently bought the SanDisk SDV-1A Digital Photo Viewer because it seemed like a logical way to screen digital pictures without using the computer. Also could provide a nice slide show on the television for a group. Unfortunately I had also bought two SanDisk 256Meg Memory Stick Pro storage devices which I use with my Sony digital camera. The Memory Sticks (Pro) work well with the camera, but they do NOT work with the SanDisk SDV-1A Digital Photo Viewer. Wish I had known that before I purchased the viewer. Other than that, it peforms OK for the cost.

Regards, Pag

I purchased this item on Amazon with free shipping. I received it via UPS the next day. Amazing!!!! The thing I found the hardest was just getting it out of the package. The setup was as easy as plugging it in to the TV - put the card in the machine and turning it on. Much easier to use than a VCR. I have a 60" TV and the pictures fill the whole screen.

I can not understand why this item is not flying off store shelves. There are a lot of people that would love to get into digital photography, but either do not have a computer, or the skills necessary to get the photos from the camera to a DVD. Guess which one I am.

Every person that has seen the photo viewer that I purchased, has ordered one for themselves, even the cable guy that fixed my cable box. It is harder to get it out of it's package, than it is to set up. The instructions are not too clear, but I was up and running in less time than it took to type this sentence.

When I travel, I take tons of digital photos. When I get back, using a SanDisk reader/writer, I pick the best 50 photos, and write them to one SmartMedia card. Then using photo viewer, I show my pics to our family.

It works just as advertised, and has not been added to that big box of stuff that sounded good, but either was junk, or that I could not figure it out.

This viewer is very convenient for digital pictures, if that's all you use it for. Most digital cameras can also take video clips with audio. This viewer can not play those. So, if you plan to only look at pictures, this is the viewer for you. If you also take digital vidio clips, highly suggest looking for a player than can handle it.

I have heard these are being discontinued, but since they are still for sale I'll pass along some information. I have used one of these continously for a couple years, it has been very reliable.
However it only works with FAT16 formatted SD memory. Important because of a limit of about 360 picture files that can be stored in a single folder/directory. A SDV-1A can't see subdirectories, so a 256mb or 512mb SD will only serve 360 files, my 360 pictures added up to 273MB, a 1gb SD still produced the same result. Second issue, larger (3200 X 2400+) jpegs won't display. It skips over them, along with some other smaller pics that I haven't guessed why yet. Still the SDV-1A is worth considering because as I understand it their new model doesn't have an s-video output port.