Customer Reviews

Vialta VistaFrame Digital Picture Frame (Grey)

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

 

 

I have purchased 3 of these frames in the last 2 weeks, and, while I agree that there are limitations, I think they work pretty much as advertised. I bought them for various relatives who don't even have computers; I have also managed Ceivas for 3 of my other relatives for several years, so I think I know pretty much how the frames compare.

Ceivas certainly have more clarity and detail, but the Vista Frame has better saturation and color. Ceiva pics really need to be about 25% oversaturated for ideal viewing. And, yes, viewing angle and distance are indeed factors, but no more than with my 3 Ceiva frames. Having said that, the Ceiva frame is certainly better overall, but, bear in mind, the Vista doesn't involve a subscription fee, so after 2 years the Ceiva cost exceeds that of the Vista. Comparing the two is sort of apples and oranges.

I'm not trying to "sell" anyone on the VistaFrame, but I do think the two-star review is a bit off base. None of these frames is going to look as good as a high-end lcd monitor on a digital video card, but both Ceiva and Vista are adequate units. Both have a hint of pixel jitter (the Vista has more), and both have limited viewing angles. The Ceiva looks better the closer you are to it, while the Vista is better with a distance of about 4 to 5 feet. Bottom line: if it's higher photo quality you want, Ceiva is better (but a lot more work if you have to do all the uploading...and more expensive); if you're looking for ease of use, especially for folks who are not overly tech savvy, the Vista is much easier to use and quite serviceable.

Mine must have had the fix already in place for disabling the power saving feature. I bought this for my wife for mother's day and so far... it works... I like the fact you can rotate the image if it was in landscape mode. It does sort of "zoom out" and thus the only real way to do it so it looks good is to use some photo editing software.

One thing I have noticed is that the pics of sometimes have a "flicker" depending on if their are lines in the image (like power lines in the backgrond). Also some colors flicker like crazy like the green leaves in images of Yosemite. This is really minor.

Great Product!
There's now a firmware fix for the auto shut-off.
My unit has a line on the setup screen to immobilise this feature.
Good to hear a manufacturer responding to customer feedback - thanks Vialta!
I think earlier units can be upgraded too - need to contact Vialta for that.
I use Vistaframe at home for the family pictures, and also for business presentations. Easy to set up and I can run Powerpoint presentations when the slides are saved as jpeg pictures.
Also use it in office reception window to promote our company services.
Great graphics & really wide viewing area.
Previous reviewer had display problems, but mine are great.
5 Stars from me.Recommended.

This product is extremely user-friendly and great for my parents who are not very tech-oriented. It is easy to slip the digital camera card directly into the frame, but the process of scrolling through and viewing photos is quite slow. The biggest disappointment is the screen resolution. The only photos that look good are close-ups. It would also be nice if there was the option to connect it to a computer to transfer images that way and if it had more internal memory capacity (only stores 8 photos).

I agree the auto turnoff is a real annoyance. Especially since you have to scroll around and reselect your photo directory and hit the play button if the unit has been off for two or more hours. This power saver feature can be easily bypassed by placing a white sheet of paper about 1/8" in front of the motion sensor windows. I slip a sliver of paper about 1/4" x 1" into the motion sensor windows tucking the ends behind the metal. Then I pull it out in the middle about an 1/8" so it arches over the sensor windows and can reflect back from one window to the other. It take a little trial and error but the unit will display indefinitely this way.

My boyfriend gave me this digital picture frame as a gift, and we were both quite disappointed by the resolution. The picture quality is quite poor, and nothing like the great pictures they show on advertisements or the box. You can see each pixel on the screen, and you must be a specific distance away to truly enjoy the photographs. Perhaps we are just spoiled by the great quality we can see on our computer.

This is a great product, a fine gift, espcially for those who love photographs but are not techie or don't have a computer. I was diappointed in the auto shut-off feature that couldn't be disabled, but the fix below from our friend " A customer from West Des Moines, Ia" is brilliant and worked for me the first time, with less than three minutes time invested. The company should send him/her a dozen of these picture frames for figuring this out!

I purchased one of these and returned it the next day. The screen flickers and for any photos that have green colors in them (especially dark green) look black.

I ended up buying a 8x10 digital picture frame with 800x600 resolution from Pacific Digital (no PC required). The pictures are great!

pictures do not come out very good. poor quality! i would not recommend it.

I can't speak to how well the product performs because mine was DOA. Customer Service was unable to do anything over the phone. Since it was purchased as a gift and I had time before Christmas, I opted for a different brand. Doesn't inspire confidence in their quality control when a unit fails to start up fresh out of the box.