$30 Digital Picture Frame/Viewer

[Chris Gohlke]

Go to Radio Shack

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F010%5F001%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=63%2D1078

If they have it in stock in your area, then go get this coupon

http://www.psehgal.com/backup/RSC.jpg

Add the cheapest filler item you can and get it for $30, or do like I did and get two for $80.

It appears that it is just a rebranded version of this

http://www.avlabs.net/productdisplay.php?productid=28

or this

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002FDK8W/qid=1094244962/br=1-1/ref=br_lf_p_1//104-1371185-8274330?v=glance&s=photo&n=525460

which goes for $130 on Amazon.

(Deal found on FatWallet)

[Andy Manea]

Wow, I am just reading this and can't believe no one answered to your post yet. That's a great deal, so where's the catch?
Do the two units you bought work well? Can you post a little more info about them, now that you had enough time to use them?

Thanks!

PS: Will they accept a scanned and printed coupon?!?

[Chris Gohlke]

I still like them, here are the highlights

Screen about comparable to that on my Axim X5

TV output not that great - then again, I am displaying a 240x320 image on a 65" set. Also, can't see pic on device screen when plugged into TV

Automatically shuts itself off after 12 hours, so I have to make a point to turn it on.

Still, all in all a good deal for the money.

[Andy Manea]

Do they use batteries? And in case you have not seen my PS, do you think that they would accept a scanned coupon? Have you ever successfully used one?

[Chris Gohlke]

Do they use batteries? And in case you have not seen my PS, do you think that they would accept a scanned coupon? Have you ever successfully used one?

No, it does not use batteries.

The coupon says not valid for on-line or phone orders. Do you have Radio Shack stores in Germany? The brick and mortar store here accepted the printout of the scanned coupon. I have used that coupon on two seperate occasions.

[Andy Manea]

OK. No Radio Shack in Germany but I can have it bought and sent to me :wink:

Thanks a lot for all the info!! :P

[Kursplat]

Ok. I went to RS tonight and picked up one of these. It seems to be very picky on how you name your files and what folder(s) they are in.

I am using the folder it seems to want to use (DCIM\100MEDIA) and have my files named in an acceptable format (foto0001.jpg, etc). I put my SD card in, power up the display, and..........



nothing.



Just a bright white screen. If I press the slideshow button, I see the blinking icons, so I know the unit isn't totally hosed.

So far, its not looking too promising.

[Chris Gohlke]

You don't happen to have the video cable plugged in do you? If so, try unplugging it.

[Kursplat]

No, the video cable and USB cable are not plugged in. Either one will disable the video screen.

After I posted my last message, I took an SD card straight out of a camera and put it in the unit. The pictures came right up. If I run those pictures through Elements batch processing to reduce their size, the pictures stop showing up.

If this device REQUIRES the full-sized, untouched files straight from your camera, this unit is going back to the store. That's just plain silly.

Hopefully, I can figure this thing out and it won't actually be that restrictive.

[Chris Gohlke]

I've reduced the files on mine without a problem. Make sure the file names are exactly the same before and after. Especially check the UPPER vs lower case letters in the filename and extension.

[Kursplat]

Finally figured it out. A co-worker went Googling and came up with this review (http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2004Aug/con20040826026436.htm). The user comments at the bottom reveal a lot.

Because of the way Photoshop/PS Elements optimize the Huffman tables to improve compression, the viewer can't display the images.

There is also a reference to this utility (http://www.willus.com/archive/rsdpv.exe) that will correct the images for display in the viewer. I have not tried it yet, but I have no doubt it will work.

The user comments on that page also note that the TV-out is lousy regardless of lo-res/hi-res image and regular vs HDTV television.

For $30, its a cheap gadget to own. I probably would not pay the full $50, and definitely not $129+.