Coby DP-769 7-Inch Widescreen Digital Photo Frame with MP3 Player & 2 Frames
by Coby
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List Price: Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Coby DP-769 7-Inch Widescreen Digital Photo Frame with MP3 Player & 2 Frames
Customer Review: Adequate frame, a little patience needed
Summary: 3 Stars
I had thought about digital photo frames for some time, then received one as a gift, so I had no preconceived notions about performance. Overall I think this was a good basic introduction to the photo frame concept. I do turn mine off when not viewing (as you should with any electronic gizmo) and have not yet seen any image moving sideways.
Pros: I personally found it easy to set up, get it loaded with photos and start displaying, basically just loaded a USB drive, inserted it and turned on the frame. I like the 2-color frame feature though I haven't tried it yet. I like that it takes many kinds of memory cards as I may switch to a CF card so that it doesn't stick out the side of the frame. Seems sturdy enough to use other places than the desktop, this might be a fun thing to actually take to an event somewhere (family reunion, charity event, trade show booth for example), loaded with photos of past events, and set it up to display.
Cons: Photos need cropping to display properly and make maximum use of the pixels on the screen. I found N. Michael's review and instructions extremely helpful and they work great. This could be frustrating for folks not used to using graphics programs of any type, though, and is tedious to do for many photos like I have been. The resolution is adequate, though I was a bit surprised that the resolution was not higher, the display is somewhat pixelated, and a higher rez is definitely something I will look for in my next frame. The display is also quite contrasty and a little dark. I haven't been able to figure out how to move from one slide to next manually using remote in full-screen mode.
Again, overall, great basic introduction to the photo frame concept, and probably quite good for those whose expectations aren't high. I am enjoying it quite a lot as my digital photos aren't trapped on my computer anymore!
Customer Review: Sizing your images perfectly on the DP-769
Summary: 3 Stars
After playing around with new photos on this frame for a good hour, I discovered the perfect settings.
1) Crop photo to 840px wide by 468px high.
2) Resize photo to 720px wide by 468px high. It will look slightly distorted, however the frame's display corrects for this.
3) Make sure to set the frame's display mode to 16:9 and to change the photo display to "original" in the setup menu.
4) Hold down the "right arrow" button of the remote and change the brightness, color and contrast. A -12 seemed to work well for contrast.
If you're using a Mac, you will want to connect your USB drive or media card to a PC, navigate to Start > Control Panel > Folder Options. Click on the View tab and check "Show Hidden Files and Folders". Now open up the drive with the photos on it and delete the files and folders that begin with "."
Following these steps should give you perfect looking photos that fill up the frame's entire screen.
PROS
- Decent quality for the price.
- Nice build quality, extra (black) bezel is nice to have.
- Photos can look nice though it takes a lot of adjustment to get them to display the way they should.
CONS
- Transitions for slideshow are lame. There isn't a simple fade. I would recommend sticking with "none" when it comes to the transition.
- Not very compatible with Mac.
- Frustrating controls and menu options. Very confusing and non-intuitive.
Customer Review: Confusing to use, but works
Summary: 3 Stars
I spent a while trying to figure out how to use this thing. A lot of people say that it is a 16:9 ratio, but I didn't realize what that meant, or that I would need to distort my images to make them look correct on the picture frame. Here is what I did to get the pictures over and working properly. First, push the setup button on the frame or remote, then change under the photo tab to "original" view mode. Now, when you prepare your photos to put them on the frame, crop them to be 960 x 468. Then scale the image to be 720 x 468. It will look like you have distorted the image and made everything "skinny." You did, but when you put it on the picture frame, it will look correct. When you load the images on the frame, click the 16:9 ratio button on the remote. If you click it to be 4:3, it will look as it did on your computer after you distorted it, but the 16:9 button will make it look like the original. Once I figured this all out I was good to go, but until then I felt like throwing it at the wall. I don't know if this will work for everyone, but I hope it helps. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure this out.Customer Review: Could Be Much Better\Read This Before Buying
Summary: 3 Stars
The Pros: Visually the frame is nice when you first look at it. It does support a number of media types and file formats as documented above. The Cons: Not playing Audio and Video at the same time? Are you kidding? Why would you want to listen to an MP3 on these cheesy little speakers unless it was to compliment a slide show? The menu navigation is too difficult. It isn't very user friendly. It is 16:9, unless you want to edit EVERY photo (or shoot in this format), your photos will either be streched or you can view them in 4:3. If you view them in 4:3, you might as well go for a 5.6" frame.
Speaking of the 5.6" - take a look at the Portable USA 5.6-Inch Digital Picture Frame on Amazon. It has all the Pros and NONE of the cons. The only problem I have with it is that I can't find the volume control for the MUSIC DURING SLIDESHOWS. It plays a few less formats, but does it very well. Navigation is simple!
Customer Review: Software
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this product for my mother for mother's day. We had a hard time with the software. I have read other reviews with the same complaints. We finally realized that once you attach the device to the computer you have 2 options, USB charge or USB update. There are 2 arrows at the top, push the forward arrow to change from charge to USB update. Go to the middle button on the keychain press that, turn it on, then double click on the photo viewer icon and it should work from there. If not, unplug the USB port from the keychain... plug it back in and the computer should recognize the new hardware. Again, double click the Photo Viewer Icon and it should come up. Good luck!