Customer Reviews

Toshiba DMF102XKU 10-Inch Wireless Digital Media Frame

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This was my first wireless frame. It is probably my fault, but I was under the impression that you would be able to move/view pictures from a networked computer onto this frame. That is not the case. You can only stream from the web, such as Framechannel or Flickr or other RSS feeds. For this purpose it works really well. The connection to the wireless network was quick and painless and the quality of the pictures is pretty good. If you only want to stream, this frame is fine. If you want it to be part of your network, consider something else to include the Kodak wireless frames ( Kodak EasyShare W1020 10-Inch Wireless Digital Frame ) which can access the media server capability of Vista or Windows 7 machines natively or the Kodak software which enable drag and drop capability although not in the best software.

After reading some of the other reviews, I was a bit hesitant to purchase this item. However, after researching it a bit, I went ahead and ordered it for my Wife for Christmas. Setup took me about 15 minutes, and since I already had a Framechannel account, I was able to start viewing pictures immediately. I have lost internet connection a couple of times and had to unplug the unit and wait a bit before turning it back on. However, this always seemed to remedy the issue. To be fair, I have a new wireless router and I have been getting dropped connections on my laptops as well. I am fairly happy with my purchase and based on the features offered, would recommend the frame to friends and family. It is really neat to be able to email pictures and have them appear on the frame automatically. Assuming proper setup, this would be an excellent gift for Grandparents or anyone else that you want to keep up to date. The only other comment that I would make is that the frame is in a 16:9 format, which in my mind doesn't make alot of sense since most pictures are in the 4:3 format. The 10" size is also a bit misleading as this is of course a diagonal measurement and the actual vertical capability is only about 6" max. You do have the option of zooming the pictures to fill the frame however, and the unit has "smart" sensing as to whether it is standing in a vertical or horizontal position. Overall, it is a good product, and if you are not looking for a product with computer type functionality, you should be well satisfied. It really is an excellent way to enjoy all those old pictures that haven't seen the light of day for years.

I purchased this item specifically for its wireless capabilities. Setup wasn't too difficult. I got it connected to framechannel without too much hassle. However, after about 3 or 4 hours, the unit completely jammed the my wireless home network. Every wireless device in the house stopped working. I unplugged the picture frame from the wall and my home network came back online. I repeated this process about 5 times to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. Happened every time. So I called tech support just to have the guy on the other end say that there was no possible way that it could be the picture frame. I played with it a bit longer and came to the same conclusion. I called tech support one more time just to hear the exact same thing ... that there was no possible way that it could be the wireless picture frame. I returned the unit to Amazon since I obviously wasn't going to get any help from them. I'm a software engineer, so I feel very confident in my tech skills. The issue was definitely with the picture frame.

The other thing that I was disappointed in was that there were some dead pixels in the lower left corner of the screen. Nothing too horrible, but it was really disappointing to see when I fired the thing up for the first time.

I am reviewing this digital picture frame against other frames in its class (under $200 on Amazon). At that price, it's difficult to find a comparable frame with its feature set. The only other other frame with similar feature set is the Kodak Pulse. That one is a 7" non-wide screen which some may prefer. It is slightly cheaper than this 10" frame, but is similar prices to the 8" Toshiba. The Kodak pulse has wireless picture streaming using Kodak's own proprietary system. The Toshiba uses FrameChannel which is superior in every way, in my opinion. For one, it not only stream pictures you upload and has an email address for friends and families to add pictures, but it also offer Flickr and Picassa integration as well as "channels" including but not limited to Time magazine, Wired magazine, weather and news forecast. This by itself makes it far superior in terms of streaming and flexibility. Had the Kodak Pulse offer FrameChannel integration, I would have bought that instead.

The frame channel feature is really the only feature I use on it this device even though it offer quite a few other usual digital picture frame options. For users without wireless (you shouldn't even consider this frame if that's the case), they can use an SD card or the internal memory. The frame offer various transitions along with clock and calendar displays with your pictures. These are actually quite nice, but I find myself not using the built in 1GB memory or the clock and calendar option at all since FrameChannel offers those as channels already. I can't stress enough how much of a difference picture streaming pictures from the Internet and FrameChannel's channels separate this frame from the rest.

I intend to buy one of these for my parents for Christmas. I will just set up the FrameChannel account for them and add pictures without their interaction at all. This is ideal as my parents do not understand how to use anything computer related. I can also have them share the same channels on my account with theirs. Very cool.

During set up, I wished it had a touch screen. It was annoying trying to enter the WPA password using arrow buttons on the remote. However, once the wireless was set up, it wasn't too bad as I rarely have to touch the controls again. As I mentioned earlier, FrameChannel is just the best way to transfer pictures. Once set up, I never have to touch the digital frame again. My wireless network is WPA2 and this frame supports it. If I had to revert to WEP, I surely would have returned the frame. WEP should not be offered as a security feature at all as it offers no protection whatsoever. Another thing is that I wish it had the ability to turn set on and off for individual weekdays and weekends. As of right now, you can only set it to turn off and on each day at the same time. There are no weekday/weekend settings. Digital picture frame companies need to catch up on this. I'm not sure if any other digital picture frames offer this fine grain on/of setting either. I wish the screen could match laptop screens in quality. Then again, laptops routinely go for $500 so I guess that's a bit much to ask.

With the discount from Amazon, this is an astonishingly good frame with excellent feature set. If it had a touch screen like the Kodak Pulse, this would be a tough frame to beat. I've never used the Kodak Pulse online picture service, but if it is similar to FrameChannel, I guess you can't go wrong with that one either. However, FrameChannel is the far more mature service. I guess this review was more about FrameChannel integration than anything else since I love it. Compared to the Pix-Star (8") or D-Link (almost $100 more) this is the correct buy since they are all essentially the same type of frame. This is the bigger than the Pix-Star and cheaper than either of the other other two.

PROS:
- Large screen
- FrameChannel
- Add new pictures via Internet from anywhere in the world
- Cheapest FrameChannel compatible frame on the market (that I know of)
- Nice calendar and clock display option (if you use SD or internal memory)

CONS
- Lack of touch screen
- Time consuming to set up the first time
- The screen could be better
- No individual day on/off setting

As you can see, the cons are more nitpicks than anything. I'm very happy with this purchase for what I paid on Amazon.

UPDATE: I have changed my review to 1 star. It was great when it worked. But now, the wireless no longer works. When I attempt to connect it to my router, it also kills my Internet connection! I have to turn the frame off in order for my Internet connection to be stable. There is most likely a problem with these frames.

I'm not much of a computer person, and my mother's worse. We've been looking for an easy way to share photos with her, and this seems to be it.
Not that the thing is without problems. The Toshiba website does not (as of this writing) have the promised link for the owner's manual (they've promised to email it in the next 2-3 days (what? 2-3 days for an *email*?)) so the only guidance a buyer has is the "quick start" page ... a 10 year old could probably have done it; I had to call Toshiba to walk me through it.
However, once we got it going, it does exactly what it says: you upload photos to a site (framechannel) and the pictures magically appear on the screen.
Problem (which may be solved upon receipt of the manual): Pictures should scroll at a set speed, 3 sec, 30 min, whatever you choose. This frame seems stuck on 7 sec per photo. Also, we haven't figured out the "add photos by email" process, but anyone who has access (screen name and password) for the site can upload them directly.
Good things: pictures look great. Website photo upload is *very* easy.
Bottom line: once we get the details figured out, this will do exactly what we want, at a very good price.

Be aware that FrameChannel has shut down. This device is no longer a digital media frame - it's just a digital picture frame now. The price should drop like a rock.

My other digital frame (a Kodak EX811 frame - which I was very happy with) pales in comparison to this one:
- 10" display vs 8"
- both are wireless frames, but the Toshiba displays more than pictures through its channels capability: Facebook pictures are my favorite, weather, Snapple fun facts, and news are fun too.

The one thing the Toshiba frame doesn't do (as pointed out in other reviews) is display pictures stored on a PC on your home network, but the work around is easy - uploading the pictures is easy, and by doing this, you can view your pictures from other devices like any PC, iPad, (some) TVs, etc.

Even though the incremental capability of this device may appear to be marginal at first, it really is a BIG step forward: other picture frames have static content - they show same pictures every day (until you change them). With this frame, my wife and I find ourselves looking at the frame every morning (the frame is set up in the breakfast area), curious to see what is new. When friends or relatives (some living in Europe) post pictures from their travel, a newborn baby, or other exciting event, it shows up on our frame - it makes us feel like we are a little closer to them. That makes this frame worth 5 stars!

I bought the 8" model a few months ago and have been very pleased with it. The Framechannel makes this frame wonderful. I tried to play movies off of a SD ram card and some would play OK, but others would freeze. The picture quality is great.
Now for the problem that everyone is complaining about. The 10" frame did drop my Wifi and would not come back with a simple power off. Moving it close to the wireless router made no difference, the same with reseting to factory specifications. At one point, the search for my wifi did find it, but yet it still would not connect. Leaving the unit off for a while did restore the wifi. This leads me to believe that the frame may need cooling. When I leave my home for work, the AC system kicks up to 80. I had left the frame on all day and it was pretty warm. Once it cooled off, and the AC system was lowered, the frame started working and stayed on until I turned it off. This morning I turned it on and it stayed on until I left for work. i imagine that the frame will work when I get home tonight. The 8" frame was set to go on at 5pm, and off at 11pm. On the weekends, I would turn it on earlier with the remote, but it would go off at 11pm. The weekends are cooler in my home. I am pretty sure that the frame must stay cool. I hope this helps someone. Other than that, I really like the 10" frame

Pros:
- Wifi with weather, stocks, etc updates!
- Connects to Framechannel, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr etc.
- Remote
- Super fast setup. It took me less than 15 mins to get it out of the box and set up the wifi and get it started.
- Looks very sleek.
- Havent tried this but people can email you pictures that will automatically load up on this. Excellent to gift it to someone who is not very tech savvy. You can give it to your mom/grandmom and set up an account and keep updating it. So they will keep seeing your new pictures. Very good idea.

Cons:
- Does not resize images to fit the screen correctly. Heads get chopped off if the orientation of the picture does not match the frame size/resolution.
- You can't really hang it in Portrait style. But I guess that would be a problem with all frames in this size.
- Would have loved it if you could use it with Batteries instead of having to plug it in always.
- You have to sign up for Framechannel to benefit the online access.

I bought this product because I became intrigued with the capabilities of digital photo frames and the various ways they might be used beyond showing kid photos to Granny.

This is my first wireless (Wi-Fi) digital frame capable of receiving content from the internet.

My first conclusion: the difference between standalone and internet connected is night and day. You can assemble large albums of digital photos and display them on the digital photo frame using internal mememory or external memory cards on both standalone and wi-fi frames with dramatic and pleasing results. But with wi-fi, you can connect to an internet "frameserver" and direct a continuous stream of content (photos or text pages similar to PowerPoint slides) and achieve an amazing and virtually free continually updated, 24 x 7 information appliance. It is one of the most amazing, underappreciated "sleeper" technologies I have come across in a long time.

The Toshiba frame is more or less pre-progammed to access only two internet frame services: FrameChannel or Picasa. But FrameChannel is a "portal" which allows you to combine many other "frame feeds" into your own custom frame channel and direct it to your own digital photo frame. So you can get a combined frame with includes things like personal photos that you have uploaded to your FrameChannel account, photos from internet photo servers like Bing, local weather, news headlines from various news services including Time Magazine, New York Times, Reuters, etc. etc. Picasa is an internet photo album which allows you to upload and organize you own photos and make them available on the internet. The Toshiba photo frame allows you to receive and display a stream of photos from up to three different Picasa accounts.

The Toshiba photo frame I received was a first class product in every way. It was carefully and elegantly packaged in only a way that world class consumer electronics company could package it. It was almost overpackaged.

Set-up was easy and mostly smooth. The process of setting up a framechannel account and linking it to the photo frame over your local wi-fi network was a little mysterious, but everything worked for me, and the first thing I know, I'm looking at photos that I uploaded to FrameChannel being downloaded to my photo frame.

Bottom line: I like it. I bought identical Toshiba photo frames for a son and daughter away at college with the thought that we could share a common FrameChannel account and post photos and messages that we all can share. Note: FrameChannel can be set up so that anyone or just selected users can e-mail photos to a FrameChannel account email address and the photos are then available to be included in the networked photo stream. The photos have to be "released" by the account owner before they are included, but the capability to email a photo from anywhere using an iPhone and have it show up in a digital photo frame stream is very cool.

My only disappointment so far is the difficulty in understanding just how Framechannel decides what content gets sent to your photo frame. FrameChannel provides a mechanism for controlling the "priority" of a channel, and "how long a picture is displayed", but the way things end up being displayed seems almost random. So, just sit back and enjoy what shows up on your photo frame screen, but don't count on being able to control the exact order and duration of your photo stream on a frame by frame basis.