Solid Hardware, Awful firmware
Written: Jan 30 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Solidly built, nice display, good remote
Cons: Won't show all photos, faulty programs
The Bottom Line: Don't buy this frame until the programs are fixed. It is solid, attractive and has decent resolution, but it has no internal memory and the firmware programming has serious flaws.
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| cattledog's Full Review: EDGE Tech Corp (PE197513) Digital Picture Frame |
Unlike others, I found the white on clear frame to be both attractive and solid. After experiencing extremely poor build quality with PanDigital and Kodak frames, this was a relief. In addition, the remote is the nicest of all I have seen for digital frames. Finally, the price was very good.
Unfortunately, I found that there are a number of major program flaws in the firmware. The most serious and disappointing problem is that for some unknown reason the frame just will not display some photos. Out of 112 photos on a card, it would not display 32 of them. After much trial and error, I have determined that there is no discernable reason for this. It doesn't have anything to do with file size, file name, file order or camera used.
In addition, you can not select a specific image to view, though all images will display as thumbnails, along with the file info in the file list. You also can not scroll back and forth between images. The only functional display mode is slideshow.
The screen resolution is fine, but the vertical viewing angle is very narrow. Unless you are pretty much looking straight on, the image looks washed out. It does have a well made adjustable height stand so adjusting for optimum viewing angle is easy.
Because there is no internal memory, it will not retain any settings and it does not contain an internal clock. As a result, you cant program it to turn on and off at specific times. This is a very nice feature on some other frames. It will revert back to default settings after being powered down.
If you are in the market for a digital frame, I think getting one with some internal memory should be a priority requirement. If you think about how one of these devices will be used, being able to remember settings is really pretty much a necessity.
I have not tried the frame with movie or audio files so I can't comment on those functions.
After contacting Edge by email about the program flaws, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal call from Edge on a Sunday afternoon. They sent an RMA and were very quick in shipping a replacement unit. Unfortunately, the replacement was just like the first.
The bottom line is that the Edge 7" Digital Picture Frame is not yet ready for prime time and I dont recommend it. Edge does seem to be a good and reliable company, so I would recommend the company, just not this product.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID: cattledog
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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