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We clicked with:
Connectivity
Picture quality
Shots in the dark:
Price
Ugly power supply
Did I mention the price?
Price Comparison:
Kodak EX1011 digital frame
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"The KODAK EX1011 will enhance your life while beautifying your home.” Well, not really, I mean come on, it's a digital photo frame not a life change or a visit from Changing Rooms.
The idea is simple - load your pics onto a digital frame and they can change every few minutes or seconds or whatever. Why show off a single image when you can run a slideshow?
Let's start with the good stuff
It does loads of stuff. More than any other picture frame you have owned (probably). There's 128 MB of internal memory, a card reader for most memory cards and a direct USB link to hook it to your computer or directly to a thumbdrive. Oh and WiFi too. Set it up and if your computer has WiFi then you can just “publish” pictures to it and they will display. Getting pictures onto a photo frame has never been so easy.
It also does more than show pictures. Of course you can do slideshows but as a pleasant surprise you can also run proper videos (MPEG 1 or 4, MOV and AVI). It can play music too in MP3 format. There are a couple of stereo speakers and the sound isn't nearly as bad as you'd expect for a picture frame.
There's a very nice remote control too. About the size of a stick of chewing gum, you can control the frame from across the room - just as well because the on frame controls leave a little to be desired.
You can also change the border to suit your décor. Since spare frames aren't included (it comes in a nice black plastic) I'm betting this never happens.
But I saved the best bit until last - the screen quality is amazing. I placed it on the desk next to my MacBook (which has a very nice screen). There was jus no contest - very bright punchy images that look great. The Kodak was the hands down winner. To be critical, the shadow detail lacks a little but this is usually more of an issue in quality landscapes. Skin tones look clean and natural, primary colours pop - if you take pictures like they show on the camera adverts then you are going to love this frame.
I loaded the frame up with some recent snaps and took it out to a wedding fair (yeah, I know I promised Kodak not to take it out f the office…) and everybody who saw it loved the pictures. As a crowd pleaser, it's fantastic.
Now for the bad...
OK enough of the Kodak fanzine, here are some thing that didn't go down as well.
The on screen controls are tricky to use and I always thought there was one button missing. They are tucked behind the frame, which is great for aesthetics but not so great for use. After a while I gave up with them and used the remote which works like a charm.
The power cord. There's nothing really wrong with it except that it exists. The frame needs to be plugged into the mains full time. That's limiting in where you can use it and is going to make it ugly if you hang it on a wall. Unless you chase the cable in then there's no way it will look like the house of the future promo pics. An internal battery would have been a nice touch.
WiFi was a little troublesome to set up. I'm on a Mac and there are few instructions and no support but I got it working from the Kodak Easyshare software in the end. On a PC it's supposed to be easier since it works directly with Windows Media Player - though I didn't try this.
Transitions between slides are a little uninspired - I was longing for a simple cross fade but ended up turning all the transitions off and just have one picture switch to another.
The resolution is 800 X 640 which could have been higher but still provides a wonderful picture.
But here's the big one…it's 200 quid. Scour the internet and you may find it for £170. Other manufacturers have 9 inch frames in the market for much less than half that. I can buy a 22 inch widescreen monitor for less. Also don't forget that 10 inches is the diagonal measurement in a 16:9 format. It's big compared to most frames but small compared to even a laptop. Given the huge number of ways to get pictures into it, I couldn't help wishing they had left WiFi out and charged £50 less.
Verdict
If you want the best display you can get from a digital picture frame with ultimate connectivity then dig deep and buy yourself a Kodak 1011. As soon as you've forgotten the price you'll love it.
If you are on a budget then look elsewhere. A “major electrical retailer” has the 7 inch version for a lot less money (they are claiming a £90 saving) but there's no WiFi and the resolution is a lot lower.
