The Philips 7FF1M4/00 Digital Photo Frame

Oct 17, 2006 11:31 GMT  ·  By

I must start this review by stating one simple truth. Film photography is dead. Well, not completely dead, but, at consumer level, it's slowly becoming a mere memory.

Digital cameras are everywhere nowadays, as they're a lot simpler (and cheaper) to use, and also offer a far greater level of versatility compared to the old film cameras. However, I must admit that the old photos do have a special charm, especially when they're framed and placed in a location where everyone can see them, unlike digital photos, which are nothing but bytes and bits, unframable? or are they?

Although they're just going mainstream right now, digital photo frames are already considered a very interesting and innovative alternative to normal frames. The reason? First of all, you get more for your buck, as a digital photo frame can be used time and time again, with various photos, and it can also be set to display not one, but a lot of digitized pictures. Then, in a world where digital photography reigns supreme, what's the use of having a normal frame? None, if you ask me, especially since you can always get one of the things you're going to read about as follows, a device that would look simply amazing in any house, the 7" 7FF1M4/00 Digital Photo Frame from Philips. And why do I say that? Simply because this device is so....

Stylish and exquisite: the Digital Photo Frame design features and look

When I first opened the box, the first thing that struck me was the quality of the finishing and of the materials. They're very stylish and great to look at. As you can very well see from the photos, the Digital Photo Frame features a transparent plastic frame, which encases yet another polished aluminum frame, the home of the digital display itself. The fact that the designers from Philips went for the transparent plastic frame design is quite interesting, since it is, in my opinion, of the main contributors to the overall stylish look this device offers. On the other hand, the plastic gets dirty with fingerprints quite rapidly, but I'll talk about this thing in another section of the review.

Another interesting fact I've noticed while looking at the frame was that the combination of colors (silver white for the metallic inner frame, black for the backside) was quite well chosen, from an aesthetic point of view. And speaking of aesthetics, another seemingly minor, yet very important, detail is the fact that the display's stand (chromed) has a very elegant look, which is underlined by the chrome control buttons on the backside.

The device has quite a smart design from the point of view of usability as well, since the control buttons are placed out of sight, on the backside, and they can be quite easily operated. The device also features a built-in card reader, located on the backside too, which is also used for connecting to a computer or directly to a digital camera via an USB cable. The problem here is that inserting a card or the mini-USB cable in the reader could prove to be relatively difficult, depending on the device's location in your house. Tired of all this talk about looks and design? Ok, ok, get ready then, because we're moving on to....

Oh those great looking specs

The list of specs is quite interesting, as it offers some pretty insightful information on the quality of the display, as well as the overall dimensions and performance. So, here it is:

- dimensions: 212 mm x 164 mm x 105 mm (stand included); - weight: 0.73 kilograms; - effective display area: 137 x 91 mm; - internal storage space: 12 MB; - can store up to 50 digital photos; - compatibility: JPEG files; - battery: internal, powered via external AC adapter; - battery life: 0.8 hours; - screen diagonal: 6.5 inches; - vertical dot pitch: 0.1905 mm; - horizontal dot pitch: 0.1905 mm; - resolution: 720 x 480 pixels; - brightness: 200 nits; - viewing angle (CR>5): Horizontal (-85?~85?), Vertical (-85?~85?); - backlight half-life time: 20,000 hours; - built-in card reader, compatible with: built-in Secure digital (SD), Multimedia card (MMC), Memory stick (MS, MS Pro), Compact flash (CF) type I; - features 6 control buttons.

These are the most important specifications. I didn't mention any of the great features, as they belong to a whole different chapter, namely the one in which I'll tell you how....

Softpedia proudly framed some digital photos for our own viewing pleasure

So, after staring at the device for a while and reading the user's manual (well, more or less reading it), I've decided to really put it to the test, namely upload some photos into it and then see what features the Digital Photo Display from Philips had to offer. And here is where the problems started.

Step 1: Uploading the digital photos

I thought that there's nothing to it. Not quite so. First of all, I've tried the direct link to the PC, via the USB cable. I had no problem in copying the photos to the device's internal memory, although I didn't really appreciate the fact that I wasn't able to view any of the photos that were being copied WHILE they were being copied. And that's how I discovered - to my disappointment - that the device can't be used directly for viewing the pictures stored on a PC.

The second test was the one involving a memory card. So, I've inserted an SD memory card, which was instantly recognized by the Digital Photo Display, and then I was able to see almost instantly the pictures from it. However, something quite baffling happened here. After removing the memory card from the card reader, I've discovered, much to my surprise, that the pictures from the card had been automatically transferred to the device's internal memory. Don't really know why.

There's also another way of uploading photos, but I haven't tried it. The device can be connected directly to a digital camera via some USB cables, so that the user can view directly the photos from the camera's memory. Seems like a very good and useful feature, but I didn't have a camera at hand, so...

Step 2: Operating the device

This is the biggest problem with this Digital Photo Display from Philips. The control and navigation systems are strange and not at all user-friendly. In order to navigate through the menus, I had to use the 6 control buttons on the backside, and that was no easy task. Not because they were too small or badly placed, or anything like that, but simply because I found it particularly difficult to get used to the menu navigation system. However, I have to admit that the designers have added quite an interesting feature, namely a small strip in the upper part of the screen which displays the active control buttons and their position. Did I say interesting? Sorry, I meant vital, because without the aforementioned feature, navigation would have been hell, and I probably would have quit trying quite rapidly. That's it with this step. I'm not particularly fond with the way this device's user interface works, so I'll move forward, directly to....

Step 3: Laying back and observing the results

First of all, I must admit that - despite the difficulties encountered in accessing the various functions mentioned ? the features are absolutely amazing. The quality of the display is breathtaking and the image is so very crisp and clear that it's quite hard to realize that you're not actually dealing with a real paper photo. Moreover, the Digital Photo Frame offers 2 different viewing modes (slideshow and browse), 2 orientations (horizontal and vertical), and also lots of various effects in the slideshow mode, which make it a lot more interesting than a normal frame.

Leaving aside the more ?blingy? features, the device also has in store some pretty practical functions. Thus, the brightness level is adjustable, and there's also a special 6PM-6AM setting, so that the device won't generate too much light during the night. Moreover, the user can even turn off the Photo Display between certain hours (probably during the night), in order to save some energy.

So, after a lot of testing and staring into the device's display, I've decided to move to the....

Philips 7FF1M4/00 Digital Photo Frame Roundup (+ the all new InOut factor)

I'll start this section by announcing you that, due to several reasons (some of them related to the current trends and evolutions on the market, others to a surprise Softpedia is preparing for you in the (relative) near future), I've decided to bring something new to the roundup section, namely the InOut factor, a grading system based on several factors, as for example popularity, coolness, the advantages and disadvantages ratio, and so on. So, here we go....

What's Cool: The design, materials and finishing, generating an overall stylish and cool look. The great quality of the displayed images, the effects in the slideshow mode, the timer and other brightness-related features. The device is quite trendy, as digital photography has conquered the consumer market. So, the Philips 7FF1M4/00 Digital Photo Frame is 80% In.

What's not so Cool: The user interface and control system, far from being the most user-friendly I've ever seen. The battery life is too short, so the only way one can use this device is to always keep it plugged-in the wall socket. The fact that you always have to clean the plastic frame after touching it, as it gets filled with fingerprints quite fast. The fact that it doesn't have a touchscreen, as well as the fact that it has only 12 MB of internal memory. All of the above, plus the fact that, considering just how fast technology is evolving nowadays, it's quite sure that mode advanced devices will appear quite rapidly, made me decide to consider the Philips 7FF1M4/00 Digital Photo Frame 20% Out.

Conclusions

The Philips 7FF1M4/00 Digital Photo Frame is a very interesting device, even if it can be considered more of a luxury item, at least for the time being. It offers great quality images, sports some pretty cool features, and looks very cool in a modern home, but it's still far from a cheap, user-friendly and affordable product. Nevertheless, it's one of the first steps towards the tomorrow's photo frames, and should be treated as such.

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