Digital Photo Frames

[echokilo]

I am sure I am just being really dim, but I am thinking of buying a digitial photo frame, but what type do I need to buy as I have photos stored on the hard drive of my PC and those are the ones I would want in the frames - how do they get from the PC to the frame exactly?

[Buenchico]

Digital photo frames don't have built-in memory. Instead, they use removable media, such as SD cards. (Most frames will accept all of the popular types of card which are used in digital cameras).

So you plug a card reader into a USB port (unless, of course, your PC already has a carder built into it) and insert an SD card (or similar) into it. You can then copy your pictures onto the card in the same way that you'd move them between folders. Then simply remove the card and plug it into the frame.

If you've not already got a card reader, they're really cheap and (as well as allowing you to transfer pictures to a digital photo frame) they make it much quicker and easier to get pictures from your camera onto your PC:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144159

Chris

[echokilo]

Thanks Chris - bet you thought I was a complete Dumbo!! At the risk of sounding even more stupid ...... does the frame come with the SD card or do I need to buy individually? Are they all compatible with all frames?

[vehelpfulguy]

>Digital photo frames don't have built-in memory.

I am VERY VERY sorry, Buenchico but this time you are wrong (rare I know)

Some digital phot frames do have a little bit of built in memory.

Here is one with 128Mb built in memory

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?p q-path=10529&pq-locale=en_GB

[Buenchico]

Thanks for the reply. Why should I think that you're a 'complete Dumbo'? I knew nothing about digital photo frames until I bought my son and his wife one last Christmas ;-)

The frames normally don't come with memory cards. (Many people already have a few spare cards for their camera, so not everybody needs another one for the frame). It probably makes most sense to buy the same type of card that your camera uses (e.g. SD, XD, MMC, etc) but, as I stated before, most frames (and card readers) will accept any of the common types of card.

The number of photos you can store on the card will depend on the file sizes and the capacity of the card. If you want to store a lot of pictures, it might be worth reducing the file sizes by using the software which came with your camera. Alternatively, use the Image>Resize/Resample facility in Irfanview:
http://www.irfanview.com/

The capacity of the card will determine its price but High Street prices are often much dearer than web purchases. For example, the cheapest 1Gb card in the current Argos catalogue is priced at �17.99. eBuyer will sell you one for �3.29:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/83430

Chris

[Buenchico]

VHG is, of course, correct. A few digital frames have limited internal memory. With these type of frames, pictures are usually transferred via a USB lead.

Such frames are fairly rare and, in my opinion, not worth bothering with.

Chris

[vehelpfulguy]

I am also thinking of buying my first digital photo frame, and like you echokilo, I have basic questions so you are not "dim".

The magazine PC Pro did a review of digital photo frames a few months ago and you can read it here:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/164/digital-photo- frames/products.html

Their "winner" was the Kodak Easyshare EX1011 but it is a fair bit over �100.

I have seen this in Boots, and while the picture quality is good, the picture is a strange "shape" at 800x480 pixels.

I have found that Boots and PC World had a few frames on display if you want to have a look and feel before you buy.

[vehelpfulguy]

One thing that confuses me is that, like most people, I have a mixture of pictures in landscape mode and portrait mode.

If the frame is laying in landscape mode and I show a picture in portrait mode I assume it comes out very "small" as there is not the height to show it.

How do people show a mixture of landsacpe and portrait pictures on these digital frames?

Or do you show all landscape pictures for a while, then rotate the frame to show all portrait pictures for a while?

[impact5]

My son bought me one for xmas. I use a 2G memory stick, Take photos from pc put on memory stick and every now an then change photos with some new ones

[anotheoldgit]

What nobody has mentioned is the fact that some photo frames also have the ability to play MP3 files.

You down load your MP3s (music files) the same way as your JPEGs (picture files).

One can then present a slide show with one's choice of musical accompaniment.