Hands-on Review: Pandigital Digital Photo Frame

Does it seem as if you see digital photo frames on display in every specialty store, catalog, and online retailer you happen by these days? It's a clear sign that they are becoming a mainstream gift option for the majority of photographers who don't print a majority of digital photos taken. But I've wondered for awhile if they are worth their high price tags.

I've been tinkering with a Pandigital 8-inch frame today, and while it's a fun way to display favorite photos, I'm still not sure it's worth the $200 this model costs. One of the nice features of this Pandigital frame is an internal memory of 64MB, which holds about 100 photos. (Some of the first digital frames had either no or very small internal memories.) You also have a choice of using five types of memory card formats: SD (Secure Digital), memory stick, Compact Flash, MultiMedia Card and XD.

The quickest way to download photos into the frame is to pop in a memory card. But you can also use a USB cable to connect directly to a camera or a computer. It took more than a few seconds for my computer to recognize the USB cable, as the directions warned. When it did, I copied and pasted a file of photos from my computer to the removable drive. I wasn't sure it worked until I removed the USB cable, and the photos appeared on the Photo file on the frame.

(Later, however, I tried to use the USB cable again and repeatedly got the message: USB Device Not Recognized. I'll follow up to find out why that happened.)

The frame comes with a tiny remote that fits in the Compact Flash slot when you're not using it so won't be easily lost. Using the remote, it takes awhile to set up the photos the way you want, and delete the ones you don't want. The remote's touch pad is not terribly sensitive; I often had to hit keys a few times to make it work.

You can also import MPEG video files and MP3 music files to play with videos and slideshows, though iTunes files are not compatible with Pandigital frames. My laptop computer was not recognizing the USB cable when I tried to do this.

To me, the time invested in making a nice slideshow is better spent creating a show to run on my computer and TV. For home use, I can't see plugging in the frame 24/7, so when it's not hooked up, we'd be looking at a simple wood frame with a blank, black center.

An 800-by-600 resolution produces a nice presentation. It's a great business gift to brighten an office. Or a generous present for a gadget-loving photographer on your gift list. (Prices range from $130 to $250 depending on the frame size.)

But for me, a beautiful, personalized photo album-the kind we'll see offered a lot this holiday season by online photo services-or a spectacular still photo in a unique frame tops it on my gift list.

Update: Pandigital President Dean Finnegan tells me the fickle USB connection I experienced is unusual; he's never encountered it before, he said. When I plugged it back into my Dell laptop later, I had no issues. When you use the USB cable, five "removable disc" icons will appear when you click on "My Computer." one for each of the frame's five memory card slots and the last for the frame's internal memory. It's very easy to move photos from the cards or the PC onto the frame.