Could be improved - but overall, I'm pleased with this photo frame.
I'm a gadget type of guy and I've had my eye on these digital photo albums for quite some time. The early models had small screens and looked more like an electronic device and not a real picture frame. I got some cash for Christmas, saw this Kodak M1020 frame and decided to go for it.
It is very easy to use and the display is bright and sharp. The device...
75 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
Not As Good As You Think
When I first purchased the Kodak Easy Share M1020 Digital Picture Frame, I loved it. Bright, sharp picture, easy to use interface.
Since then I've come to like it less and less. The reasons?
The frame offers a feature called Shuffle, supposedly selecting pictures and displaying them in random order. I have over 2,000 photos on my SSD card and...
This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
When I first purchased the Kodak Easy Share M1020 Digital Picture Frame, I loved it. Bright, sharp picture, easy to use interface.
Since then I've come to like it less and less. The reasons?
The frame offers a feature called Shuffle, supposedly selecting pictures and displaying them in random order. I have over 2,000 photos on my SSD card and I noticed that I was seeing the same photos over and over and other photos I was never seeing. I did some tests and discovered that the Kodak always selects the same photos in the same random order every time it is run. Turn it on tomorrow and you'll see the the same three photos chosen first, second and third, and so on. Nothing random about it.
Secondly, the frame offers random transitions. One would think that this means that between each photo, the transitions are selected randomly, maybe a fade, followed by a wipe, and so on. Instead, all the transitions are the same; only when you turn it off and turn it back on again does it select a different transition, which it then uses for the entire slide show. (I've oversimplified this;if it chooses wipes as a transition, between pictures the Kodak will show various types of wipes, but it also does this when it is not in random mode).
Okay so what's the big deal. Well, figuring it was Kodak, I thought I'd send a polite email telling them of these problems and asking them to fix them on the new firmware release.
I got back a stock reply telling me to download the latest firmware. I already had the latest firmware but apparently they really don't read the emails you send them.
I sent them another polite email saying that I already had the latest firmware and that all I was asking was for them to forward these problems to their technical folks so they could fix them.
I got another email asking me to send my digital photo frame in for "repair".
What I had not told them is that my brother has the exact same model and these tests yielded the same results on his frame. So it is the software, not the frame itself that needs repairing.
Anyway, at this point I gave up, realizing that although they make all the standard claims about "valuing their customers' input", they are like every other business that simply sends out automated replies without really reading the emails.
If these problems are of no concern to you, buy this frame because it really does display the picture very nicely. But I'd like it a whole lot better if I could put it in shuffle mode and know I'm going to see all my photos except the same few over and over.
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This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
I'm a gadget type of guy and I've had my eye on these digital photo albums for quite some time. The early models had small screens and looked more like an electronic device and not a real picture frame. I got some cash for Christmas, saw this Kodak M1020 frame and decided to go for it.
It is very easy to use and the display is bright and sharp. The device offers several options for loading photos... USB cable to load built-in memory via computer, USB flash drive, and various common format flash memory cards. The menu interface is unusual and does take a little getting used to, but I'm glad it is not a touch screen. I'd rather use a quirky interface touching the outer frame when needed rather than have to remove finger prints from the screen every time I change the settings. A remote would have been a better option - but this model does not have one. I use the feature to turn the frame off and on at specified times (why display photos all night long). I managed to get the music feature to work - but doubt I'll use it.
I paid $130 -- which is pretty hefty in my book. But it is a nice size, looks nice, and offers enough features to make it worth the price. I just hope it lasts.
One issue I did have... I resized about 5000 photos to the native resolution of the device (800 x 480) and put them on a single SD card. The frame software had a real tough time dealing with that many photos. Displaying thumbnails would take forever and occationally, the frame would lock up for a while and reboot. I cut the number of photos in half and the reboot problem stopped. But still, some menu functions are still sluggish. Even a few thousand photos seems to be straining the application. And as other reviewers have said - the shuffle feature is not as random as it should be. The sequence repeats and not all the the photos make it into the slideshow.
FYI: Kodak released a firmware update (12-2009) -- which I loaded tonight. I reinstalled my SD card with 5000+ photos and the frame seems to be performing much better. The "shuffle" seems to be showing photos I have not seen before, so perhaps that feature is fixed. Time will tell. Anyway - I'm glad to see that Kodak is still supporting and trying to improve the product. Hopefully they will continue to do so.
One last thing... My family thought I was crazy for buying this with my Christmas cash. But they have changed their tune. The frame is within view of the TV -- and every family member finds that they are distracted from their TV show and end up watching the slide show on the photo frame. 20+ years of family photos (scans and digital photos) brings back lots of memories. It really is a cool gadget. I imagine they will be everywhere in a few years. They are a great way of getting those digital photos off of your hard drive and made visible so they can be enjoyed.
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This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
I needed a 10 inch frame for Mothers day. (Anything smaller is probably too small for older eyes). Anyway, I got a 4gb SD card and loaded it with family pictures and was able have a really nice present for Grand Ma on Mothers Day. This is the second M1020 digital fram and both have been very reliable and problem free.
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This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
This product was better than I expected. It is a wonderful way to display your photos for all to see. I especially like the touch screen, which enable easy maneuvering of functionality. Highly recommend this product.
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This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
This frame displays high quality resolution of 800x480. However, one dislike is slow to turn power on(5 or 6 sec).
It's easy user interface that you don't need to read menu. Mp3 playback needs more volume.
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This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
Plug it in, insert an SD card, power it up and the Kodak Digital Frame automatically senses the new source and begins the slide show. Nothing else to do.
Plug the Frame via USB into a PC and it shows up as a hard drive without installing any software.
Settings are adjustable, albiet a bit difficult using the touch screen. Hard to scroll through options, still haven't figured it out.
We leave it running 24/7, is a nice addition to our Bar Countertop.
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This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
I ordered this to make a slide show of family pictures for my mother. It said it would display 4000 photos at 800 pixel resolution. I made up a 400 picture slide show using Adobe Photo Elements that had music and the pictures faded in and out. I tried to run it but found that the software was unsupported by the frame. I went to the Kodak site of FAQ only to find that the software they provided with the frame was also incompatable with their own frame!! After purchasing several software programs for about $90.00, I managed to get one that worked or so I thought. At the 800 resolution there was a colored band across the top of the picture this went away when I reduced the resolution to 640. The slide show ran about half way through and then the sound began to stutter and the program jammed. I further reduced the resolution to 320 and the slideshow ran a little farther but still locked up and the picture quality was terrible. Finally I broke the show into 3 segments and each would run completely, but they would not run in succession.
When it was working the picture quality was good. If you just want to load some pictures on a chip and have them run, the unit is OK. For an integrated slide show, don't waste your money. It has only 128 megs of internal memory and requires a memory chip. I find it hard to believe Kadak would put out such an inferior product that is totally misrepresented by the product claims of 4000 pictures at 800 pixels. Save yourself some grief and buy the Sony instead.
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This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
No more Kodak, no way, no how. I read some good reviews here of this product (Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame), and needed it soon for a family reunion. It showed up a day late -- thanks to FedEx, I guess.
Right out of the box, it turned on to colorful vertical stripes, no picture, no menu, just random fine bright stripes. The quickstart guide suggested turning it on and off, or unplugging for 5 seconds and turning it back on. No joy. The user manual? Exactly the same troubleshooting steps. The online troubleshooting guide? You guessed it. The same two lame suggestions. A 30-minute wait to get Kodak chat support? First I had to type in the serial number, which may help them but not me. Then eventually (a 1-2 minute wait between texts) I get a long series of clever questions (is it plugged in?) and, although I'd told them up front that resets and unplug-replug didn't help, they finally walked me through their suggested help process. The same 2 steps!!! Finally, long pause, then this text, "We need you to ship the unit to us."
Instead, being in a hurry, I shipped it back to Beach Camera, who were very helpful (and should be, since I spent $20 on return shipping and was giving up their $30 restocking fee.) This is a $50 lesson in who not to trust.
Beyond all this, the surface and frame looked and felt plastic-y. The power button would disgrace a $2 calculator. The speakers (they played some demo music when I hitched it to my computer, oddly enough) were beyond tinny. The manual is chaotic. For example, it never quite tells you how to simply store some pictures in the frame's memory and control your slideshow; instead, it goes right to the complex process of getting on your wi-fi network. Oh, and although *Kodak EasyShare Software* is available for Mac, the *Kodak EasyShare Digital Display Software* (brilliant naming) isn't. Macs may be less than 10% of the biz market, but they're a big part of the photo, video, and art world. Many editorial reviews criticize Kodak's software, I know, but some of the features of this frame require it.
Luckily I have a few days before we travel to the reunion. I've ordered a Sony from another supplier. Wish me and my family memories luck...
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This review is from: Kodak EasyShare M1020 Digital Picture Frame with Home Decor Kit (Electronics)
I bought two of these--one for my husband who is "techie" and one for my parents who are NOT "techie." The frames were a hit with both of them. Easy to set-up, easier to use. My only complaint is the MP3 loading didn't go smoothly; we'll need to get a converter for our tunes stored in iTunes. Other than that, a great buy!
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