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**ameridan** · May 31, 2012, 06:23 PM

First, the WiFi isn't built in - you need an optional USB adapter. Not DLNA either.

Found this review on Amazon, in case it helps you decide. I think I'll wait for a good deal on a KODAK DLNA frame.

I'm surprised all the reviews so far for this photo frame are mostly negative. It's not without its problems, but it's still relatively easy to use and actually a lot of fun. There's both a "Quick Start Guide" plus a 29 page "User Guide". The frame is easier to use if you read the "User Guide", and consult it if you have problems. But you also can just push buttons on the remote, and usually get what you want. The remote is not as sensitive as it could be. Sometimes you have to repeatedly press buttons to get to the screen you want. I'm not sure, however, if it's the remote itself, where you have it pointed, or the distance from the frame. Still, there has never been a time yet when the right screen did not come up. One very important thing to know--there are two menu screens. When you hit the menu button, the "home" menu screen for photos, music and video management pops up. This is the menu screen you will use the most. But if you need the "setup menu" screen, just push the "menu" button again while the screen is on the "home" screen. There is a "menu" button on the frame itself, along with a few other buttons, but not all the buttons that are on the remote.

Set up was easy. You just take the frame out of the box, plug in the AC cord, and turn on the frame, with the on/off switch that is on the frame itself. Before putting the frame down on a surface, however, make sure you EXTEND the adjustable stand. It does extend, even though it first appear not to. Just pull out the plastic piece on the bottom. This keeps the frame from falling over. You can also rotate the stand so the frame is vertical instead of horizontal. But you also can use the remote to rotate pictures, too.

How to get pictures on the frame? E-mail is the easiest way and the most fun. (The frame only receives e-mails "within the continental USA".) There is an e-mail address on the back of the frame that you use. (When you register your frame, you can change your e-mail address to one that you want.) There are 60 picture downloads included with the frame, and you have 60 days to use them from the first time you get a photo e-mail, before they expire. After that, you can buy picture packages. There is a "Buy Photo Package" button on the "Photo Mail Inbox" screen, but I could not get the remote to click in that button. I couldn't even get to the button. If you can get to it, you can buy a package right there, using a virtual keyboard to type in your address and credit card info. I went online to Pandigital to check on package prices. It asks for your frame address before it lists prices. My price list was: 100 Photos--$ 9.99, 400 Photos--$29.99, 700 Photos--$49.99. According to Pandigital support, there are no expiration dates on any photo package you buy.

We sent e-mails to the frame with both a PC and a Mac. They all arrived in less than five minutes. It's not hard to check your mail at all; there is a "Photo Mail" button right on the remote. I guess, however, elderly people who are not use to using small remotes with arrows may have a problem. The only solution to this would be if Pandigital had a frame that automatically sent all e-mailed photos right into the slideshow. That would require an exclusive e-mail list, though, to keep spam from being downloaded, if there is spam for these devices. You can block and unblock senders with this frame. There is no "photo preview feature" with e-mailed photos, and you must download ALL photos in any e-mail you choose to open. Hence, an e-mail with five photos counts as five e-mailed pictures, not one. You can just delete an e-mail, too, without opening it. Also, only successful downloads count as deductions from your photo package. Pictures must be in the JPEG format taken with a digital camera.

Secure digital cards and flash drives are another way to acquire photos on the frame, as well as downloading photos directly from your computer. A download USB cord is included. At first, when I clicked in a picture at "My Pictures", and clicked "send to", there was no Pandigital choice. When I went to my Kodak software, there was a Pandigital choice. Then, when I went back to "My Pictures", the choice was there, too. Pictures instantly went to the frame when using both the Kodak software and the Vista software. You can pick and choose pictures, when you send them that way to the frame. So, you can send a whole album or folder, and just pick what you want. The same with memory cards. I used an SD and that worked instantly in downloading pictures, and I could pick which ones I wanted. I had problems with a flash drive, however. It never would show there was a flash drive in the frame. It turned out I had the drive in the wrong way! I didn't even know it would go in the wrong way. After I turned it around, I easily downloaded the pictures on it. You can easily delete pictures on the frame at any time. And there are five folders on the frame you can use to sort your photos, and view different slide shows. Unfortunately, you can't change the name of the folders, though.

Music can also be sent to the frame, but they must be in the MP3 format. Your iTunes library is not in that format. Songs you buy from Amazon are in the MP3 format, and that's what I sucessfully sent to the frame using the USB cord. (If you have Vista, go to "My Music", open the Amazon MP3 folder, click the song you want, and right click "send to" Pandigital.) The funny thing is that not only the songs were downloaded, but so were the album covers. Thus, when I did a slideshow after downloading the songs, there among the pictures of my nephew and his dog was Kenny Loggins! You can even click in the album cover to play the song, instead of going to the menu and choosing the manage music button. Deleting the album cover pictures won't delete the songs. I guess someone could use this frame to display album covers. They could put them all in one of the folders, so there were nothing but album covers in that folder. You can adjust the volume of the music with the + and - buttons on the remote, but a kid might not find the volume high enough.

Trying to download a video didn't work for me. The frame only accepts JPEG videos taken with a digital camera, and that's what I thought my Kodak DX6490 took. The video did download, but the frame said it was not a supported format, so the video would not play. It turns out my Kodak uses .mov file format. Other features on this frame are a Wi-Fi connection with an adapter that is not included, and a clock with a stand-by and schedule modes, so you can program your slideshows.

The remote has a "slideshow" button, and I had no problems with that. I doubt an elderly person would have any problem using that button. The slideshows are really pretty and cool looking. The photos look great on this frame--they are very clear and the colors are very vivid. I think this frame would be a great gift for any age group. Even if an elderly person could not check their photo e-mail and download it, a younger person visiting them certainly could. I think the 15" Panadigital frame might be better for elderly persons, though. That would be the best size to get for someone who wants to display nature and wildlife pictures, too. As I stated in the beginning, this frame is not without some problems, but it actually is a lot of fun. As I write this, I have Kenny Loggins singing "I'm Alright" to a slideshow of my nephew doing goofy things at the beach. But, alas, I deleted the photos of Mr. Loggins, even though he was also looking goofy on the album covers. Maybe I should download the album covers again, and tell my nephew that's what he's going to look like when he gets older.

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