Royal PF70 Digital Frame
Royal PF70 Digital Picture Frame
Royal Consumer Information Products Inc.
Price: US$179.95
NOTE: This is the first of an irregular series of looks at non-wireless digital picture frames. These frames, which do not have Internet features, have been available for a few years and provide a context into which the new crop of wireless frames are being released. Because this is not a formal review, no grades are awarded.
Though it doesn’t have the cool factor of wireless frames, the Royal PF70 is an easy to use, appealing digital picture frame. From unboxing the unit to displaying images on the screen takes only about a minute. That’s the kind of easy, quick, satisfying set up that wireless frame makers should emulate!
The Royal sports a 7-inch LCD screen capable of displaying images in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. Because it’s not wireless, it relies on removable memory cards used in digital cameras to store photos. The frame accepts SD, MMC, CF, and Memory Stick cards and hides the slots nicely behind the frame’s top edge. The downside of card-only memory, and what makes updating via the Internet so appealing, is that you need to take the card out of the frame and put it in a camera or computer to add or remove photos.
The frame comes equipped with a remote control to handle all configuration. Using just this little remote, and no computer, for operation is pretty nice and increases the fun of the frame (it also decreases the potential for frustration at set up, something wireless frame makers should be cognizant of as well), though the IR port at the top of the frame detracts a bit from the frame’s visual appeal.
The one potential downside of the remote? Losing it. We’ve all lost countless TV remotes and it’s possible that the same fate could befall this remote. The prospect of taking the couch apart to find a picture frame remote seems a bit much. This is especially a problem because the frame doesn’t have a touchscreen and Royal doesn’t seem to sell a standalone replacement on its website. So, if you lose that remote, you’re in trouble.
Along with photos, the frame can play short AVI or Motion JPEG videos and can MP3s loaded onto memory cards via a computer. MP3 playback is a fairly common feature in non-wireless digital frames and though I question how much people will want to use this, the potential for wireless frames to play MP3s could be huge. Imagine streaming your iTunes library to your frame, or being able to associate iTunes playlists with different RSS feeds. (This also suggests new ways for viral video to be distributed – to your frame, wirelessly, from YouTube, etc.)
Though the set up of the frame is quick and fairly easy, there are a few areas that it could improve. The onscreen menus are small and hard to read, especially from three or four feet across a room. The legibility of these should be improved, especially for people with poor eyesight. The buttons on the remote are also not as well labeled as they could be.
Still, the frame is a solid offering. From a few feet away, the photos look really good (quality tends to suffer a bit closer up) and using it is pretty easy. Wireless frame manufacturers have added many important features to their products, taking them far beyond non-wireless frames and offering something exciting and new, but there are certainly lessons to be learned from their non-wireless predecessors.
Digital Picture Frames, Products, Wireless Home
