In my previous blog I mentioned that digital photo frames are the hot ticket item this Mother’s Day. In that post I also discussed sizes, price points, and provided a list of the top sellers. However, there are a few more points your should be aware of prior to presenting one of these picture perfect gifts to the favorite women in your life.
TOUCH CONTROLS
Designers at Kodak say in an effort to do away with remote controls with barely-there buttons they created the “Quick Touch Border” and added it to two frames (so far). Kodak sells its 8-inch, EasyShare M820 for about $180 and the 10-inch EasyShare M1020 retails for about $230.
The buttons are found along the bottom and right side of the frames’ borders (which means you won’t have to deal with greasy fingerprints on the screen) and you don’t see the icons unless you activate them.
Pandigital also has touch buttons in its PanTouch frames. The frames come in three sizes: a 7-inch ($120), 8-inch ($170) and 10.4-inch ($250). The Pandigital’s controls are located on the screen itself, but according to designers, “the touch-operation matting resists fingerprints in the viewable area, so the frame always looks great.” Pandigital’s PanTouch frames also come with a remote control, for people who don’t want to go the touch route.
MODERN TOUCHES
If your mom enjoys viewing pictures of her favorite family members while listening to her favorite tunes consider getting her Mustek’s 7-inch frame with speakers and an integrated docking station for an iPod. The PF-i700 retails for about $100.
Smartparts is also offering a new addition to its collection just in time for Mother’s Day–an 8-inch, dark wood frame that comes with a built-in printer. It sells for around $260. For that amount of dough you get a printer that uses dye-sublimation technology, and includes photo paper that produces three-dozen 4-by-6 prints with each cartridge. Replacement cartridges cost between $20 and $25.
Finally, Kodak offers WiFi on some of its frames, though mass integration of that feature on other frames is still a couple of years away, according to company designers.
What about a wireless frame for mom? I’ll discuss that option in my next blog.
Related Articles:
What You Need to Know Before You Buy a Digital Photo Frame for Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day Photo Accessory Gift Ideas
SNAP! Making Mother’s Day Memories
Review of Digital Picture Frames (2)