Digital Photo Frames

As much as I love to take pictures it’s a shame not to be able to display them all on a regular photo frame for printed photos. I intend to buy a digital photo frame eventually, but I’ve just been lazy and don’t have one yet. Now that my husband and I have sort of settled into our new house, we can finally think about what to do with our pictures along with the rest of our decorating ideas. Still fresh in my mind, while I was at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a few months ago I saw Kodak’s impressionable new line of digital photo frames.

Kodak brought out four new EasyShare digital picture frames that will play vibrant slideshows of your favorite pictures and videos set to music. There are eight and 10-inch Wi-Fi versions, and seven and eight-inch standard versions. All are extremely user-friendly and come with a multifunction remote control.

The frames are color tuned to Kodak standards and will support CF, SD, MMC, MS and xD memory card formats. MPEG 1 / 4, MOV, AVI video types and JPEGs are recognizable by the frames. You can source digital files from any digital still camera, computer, jump drive, or flash drive via USB 2.0. Stereo speakers are built into the frames for dramatic sound effects for your slide shows.

Starting at the top of the line, and my favorite of the four, Kodak’s EasyShare EX1011 has a 10-inch 800x400 pixels high resolution digital display and gives you wireless access of pictures, videos and music from your computer or online from the Kodak Gallery over your network. There’s 128 MB of built-in memory for storing your media directly onto the frame and a headphone jack if you don’t want to disturb everyone around you. This one will cost you $279.95.

Next in line is the EX811 which has an eight-inch display, and all other features identical to the EX1011 ($229.95). The eight-inch EX811 has the same features, minus the wireless. It’s a little easier on your wallet at $179.95. Lastly, the EasyShare SV710 is almost the same, but measures in with a seven-inch frame and the smallest price at $129.95. You can find all these wonderful Kodak frames at www.kodak.com. They are not available for purchase yet, but will be sometime this month.

Another interesting line of digital photo frames were from Parrot. I like that brand name since I have a parrot, but anyway, they make a plethora of Bluetooth (2.0) enabled photo frames. You can upload your pictures right from your cell phone or other Bluetooth devices you own. These frames are 720x480 pixels and have 128 MB of built-in memory that will hold approximately 500 photos. Prices range from $169.99 (3.5-inch) to $239.95 (7-inch) in a variety of colors – see www.parrot.com for more information.


If you don’t want to spend actual money on a digital photo frame, Central Pacific Bank (CPB) is running a promotion, where you can receive a digital photo frame when you open a new Exceptional Plan account. The frame is an eight-inch Pandigital with 800x600 pixels and 64MB built-in memory. Courtesy of CPB, I was able to have the Pandigital sitting on my kitchen counter for a few days, but now I’m convinced that I need to buy one for myself. Banks have come a long way from giving away blenders or toasters.

A side thought for you tax procrastinators: CPB is offering 15% off Turbo Tax from its website – www.centralpacificbank.com.