[calicojack]

Does anyone know of a good portable picture frame or other type of viewer? I mean something that does not have to be plugged in while viewing and has a reasonably large viewing area (7", maybe a little larger). I know there are lots out there that have fancy frames (not important or desired), that can hang on a wall (not important), but need to be plugged in (This I need to avoid) to view the pictures. A good simple plastic box with a quality screen, that can be hand held with front mounted (thumb operated) control buttons, uses SD cards for storage and a battery that will last a while is what I want.
Suggestions?
Thanks,
Brian

[JCSullivan]

Unfortunately, in order to operate a 7" screen you need PLENTY of battery power which, they have for DVDs but NOT viewers.

[Confused]

Hi Brian

I'm afraid I haven't the slightest idea what the quality of these particular devices are like, but here are some possible solutions:

Coby DP-151 Blue

Philips 7FF2CMI/27 7" Digital Picture Frame

Philips 7FF2CWO/27 7" Digital Picture Frame

Philips 7FF2M4/27 7" Digital Picture Frame

Philips 9FF2CME/37 9" Digital Picture Frame

Philips 9FF2M4/37 9" Digital Picture Frame

Philips 10FF2CMI-27 10.2" Digital Photo Frame - White

Philips 10FF2CME-27 10.2" Digital Photo Frame - Metal

I've only ever seen one these digital picture frames on display in a retail store somewhere and it appeared to have pretty poor resolution, so I wouldn't expect miracles in the image sharpness department !

Best regards
Richard

[garth1948]

Anything with a screen larger than about 4" cannot run on a battery.
IUBI and similar portable media players will load, store and display jpegs.
I have a IUBI but it is USB 1 Host only - very slow to load pictures.

[Confused]

Hi Garth

Sorry to disagree with your statement:

Anything with a screen larger than about 4" cannot run on a battery.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've actually seen a Philips 7" portable picture frame on display in a store a while ago, which does indeed run on an internal rechargeable battery, as well as mains voltage. Simply click on the 'links' above for visual confirmation of the facts !

Best regards
Richard

[garth1948]

I stand corrected.
Haven't seen these in Australia yet.
My IUBI PMC has a 60gb hard drive inside for storage - probably limits power available for a larger display.
Thanks for the info all.

[Confused]

Hi Garth

Re your observation:

Haven't seen these in Australia yet.

Behind the times as usual.....lol ! In all honesty, I don't think you're missing much, because the screen resolution of such devices generally leave a great deal to be desired in my experience. If a DSLR's LCD screen proves insufficient, these battery-powered versions have the potential to provide a cheap & viable solution for viewing the critical sharpness of images out in the field away from mains voltage. If this worked, you could probably leave your laptop safely at home, but unfortunately the majority of digital picture frames I've seen simply aren't much use for this purpose. YMMV !

Best regards
Richard

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Last edited by Confused; 07-02-2008 at 08:35 AM.

[garth1948]

Is anybody using an Eepc for checking photos. Around $500 (US or Oz) here.

[Confused]

Hi again Garth

If you're interested, the machine I'm seriously considering currently for a round-the-world trip later this year is
THIS one:

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC - The Gadgeteer

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC

YouTube - HP 2133 Mini-Note

YouTube - HP 2133 Mini-Note Startup Test

BEST PC FOR MONEY
Date: 22 June 2008
"This laptop is awsome for what it is a 120 GB hardrive and a 1GB ram thats better than my home pc but in a tiny case. I would recommend this laptop to users always on the move. DONT BUY THE VISTA VERSION, ITS SLOW ! GET LINUX VERSION AND THEN INSTALL XP ON IT"

HP Mini Note 2133
Date: 30 June 2008
"Great machine, small and lightweight. As the previous reviewer I loaded Windows XP on it and put 2gb ram in it. Works really well. Had to make some adjustments to the way some things show up on the small screen but that's probably because I need my eyes testing! Overall a great machine to take out and about."

The 8.9-inch diagonal WXGA display is wonderful. Set by default at the maximum resolution of 1280 x 786, it is soooooo much better than the EEEPC, that I can't even tell you. Sure, you can get yourself an ASUS EEE PC, for less money... But after you get your hands on the Mini-Note, the EEE PC feels and looks like a cheap toy.

Apparently from what I've gleaned by reading the reviews, this HP model is constructed like a proverbial "brick-s**t house" and makes the Asus Eepc look pretty sad by comparison. The odd thing is that for some unexplained reason it's only available on the U.K. market with a weedy little 1.2Mhz Via processor, which virtually grinds to a halt under the excessive burden of that over-bloated memory-hogging pile of junk entitled VISTA. Simply ask yourself, who in their right minds would attempt to load something so inappropriate onto an already under-nourished machine like this ? XP maybe, but VISTA for Ch***t's sake ??? I mean com' on guys......gimme a break here, per...leese.....lol !

Needless to say in the USA it's kitted-out with a slightly more powerful 1.6Mhz Via processor, but what it's really crying out for is a low power consumption processor, like Intel's latest ATOM chip. One word of warning though, in certain markets you only get the standard “flat” 3-cell battery (approx 2hrs duration), whilst in others you get a protruding 6-cell "extended" battery, which should last for about 4-5 hours under normal usage. When I enquired about upping the 1Gb of main memory to 2Gb, unfortunately you have to ditch the original and then replace it with the new memory chip......Misco (UK) cost: a reasonable £29.00 inc VAT. Official HP (UK) list price......are you're sitting down.....wait for it.....the princely sum of only £319.00 + 17½% VAT (for 2Gb of memory, I ask you !) !!!!! Jeez, that's good old Rip-Off Britain at work yet again ! The only major downside is the lack of an internal DVD/CD burner, but fortunately I've already got a neat USB2 portable LaCie one (Lightscribe) that I use with my old leviathan of a laptop !

Best regards
Richard

P.S. There is also this model to investigate, but unfortunately it lacks an Express Card/54 slot:

MSI Wind Review (Windows XP) Review

[JCSullivan]

Anything with a screen larger than about 4" cannot run on a battery.
IUBI and similar portable media players will load, store and display jpegs.
I have a IUBI but it is USB 1 Host only - very slow to load pictures.

Garth, I too was ignorant until Richard (thanks) posted the above list.

[garth1948]

Don't you just love the NET and forums (fora?) like this.
Shared knowledge and experience benefits all.