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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
More than just a digital photo frame, Aluratek raises the bar with its new (DLD) Digital Lifestyle Device. View high-resolution, print-quality pictures easily by inserting your camera or camcorder’s digital media card or USB thumb drive directly onto Aluratek’s DLD. With a 1GB SD memory card included, you can also transfer your favorite digital files directly from your computer fast and easy without any software. Play slideshows, zoom, rotate, and listen to high-quality background music all at the touch of a button with the included remote control. Switch to movie mode and enjoy amazing video and audio in near-HD quality. Browse and listen to all of your favorite MP3 music files after your movies over. With Aluratek’s new (DLD) it is now time to have fun with your digital pictures, movies, and MP3 music files that are just sitting on your computer or in your digital camera. Whether it is at work or at home let the fun begin!
Supports most memory card formats such as CF / MS / SD / MMC / XD Supports various picture / video / audio formats such as JPEG, MPEG, AVI, MP3, BMP and WMA Transfer pictures directly from your digital camera/memory card/USB drive to the on-board memory without using a personal computer Easily connect your personal computer thru USB 2.0 for file transfer at speeds up to 480mbps Can be displayed either on a table top with the included stand or mounted on a wall Ease of operation and control with the included Remote control Contains clock and timer 120-day warranty

Rating: - great frame excellent image and video
ordered the frame and it was delivered to my home on third day. here are my initial impression,

frame: widescreen format so regular pictures leave vertical bands on both sides. it has a very imbalance black markings on top and bottom, which is not a big problem when you get accustomed to the frame but at initial look. it made me think what was the designer thinking. the on/off feature is nice and functional. vertical viewing angle is somewhat limited, but horizontal angle is good

Screen: it appears to be a widescreen style. all my pictures showed vertical bands on both the sides. good resolution for all the images observed even for max zoom. a regular screen should have been a great idea instead of widescreen. will resize some of the images to 1024×768 resolution and then try them.

Pictures: because of the widescreen style the pictures needs to be reformated to fit the entire screen. pressing the enter button on the back zooms the images without loss of resolution. all my images from a 8mp camera looked great. some of my images from the camcorder (1MP) also looked very good.

Video: played video as well to test the capability of the frame. all the home video look good. the frame mentions only avi, mpeg video, however I was able to play MOV files from my kodak camera as well withouth any hitch. next I played avi movies, the picture was okay little pixelation was observed, i do not know the reason so will not go in details. overall i played 3 avi files of 45 mins each and it was good viewing.

Sound: single speaker, tinny. but again the frame is not made for music so it can be forgiven, but atleast a stereo sound should have been provided.

expansion slot: the included 1GB sd card worked, but it recognized a 4GB micro sdhc card as well.

USB drive: upto 4Gb working.

computer connection not tried.

Powersupply: the included powersupply cord is small. a bigger cord would have been nice.

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Rating: - Windows Centric Mac Users beware!
If you want to load any video, you need to use the “Evil Empire” Windows system since any Apple Quicktime (the defining movie system!) file will not play. Along with customer service that sounds like it came from China, this company should be out of business by next Christmas if not sooner.

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Rating: - Picture Perfect!
Purchased this frame for my wife and she absolutely loves it. So easy to use and the quality is excellent. The frame comes with a 1GB SD card but I use my own 2GB card. The extra card is nice as I’ll use with my camera while viewing slideshow on my other card. The picture frame also supports background music while the slideshow is playing which is a real nice touch. You can adjust the screen by using the remote control to either 16:9 (wide screen) or 4:3 which is full screen (just like a wide screen TV). Includes a USB cable to connect to your computer (we are running windows XP) then you can easily drag and drop pictures and music. I love this frame and Highly recommend it.

Also - I did have a question for their technical support team regarding the movie playback option this frame offers and they were most helpful.

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Rating: - Doesn’t work
This is the worst Mother’s Day gift I’ve ever purchased. It kept locking up on about the 3rd picture, we tried 3 different SD cards and the unit just doesn’t work. What a disappointment for all of us.

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Rating: - Attractive frame w/Excellent Resolution
This is my 3rd Aluratek frame and I absolutely love it. I bought a 7″ for my office, a 10.5″ for my wife, and now this 11″ for my mother in law. I became a loyal customer when I lost my remote on my 7″ frame 5months ago and called their tech support. They replaced my remote for absolutely free provided I send them a postage paid envelope! Now that is service!!!!

I’ve done alot of research on frames and at this price point and the pros are:

1) Resolution is 800 x 480 which is pretty much the highest out there in the market for this price range and size

2) Brightness and Contrast can be adjusted

3) Slideshow feature that allows you to view 4 smaller pics simultaneously

4) Very solid wood frame

5) Comes with 1GB SD (holds more images %26 mp3s than I need)

6) Allows you to zoom a pic to fill the entire screen

7) On/Off timer, this is a must have feature!

Calendar

Here are some cons:

1) 16:9 aspect ratio - but again, you can fill the screen by touch of a button on the remote

2) Doesn’t allow random pic selection - Majority of the frames at this price point do not have this feature, furthermore, when in slideshow mode unless you are someone that memorizes each picture order on the card or stare at the frame all day long, it’s pointless to have random feature

3) Not compatible with all jpegs - yes folks, if you use a mac or use photoshop to alter images in any way, it needs to be saved in original jpeg format not progressive or it will not be compatible. This is regardless of the brand you buy. Your system often saves altered images in different extensions by default. There’s free software called Infranview you can download to convert images to simple JPEG.

4) Not compatible with all video types - there are lots of formats out there, I never use video features since a photo frame is simply meant for viewing photos so if anyone has any compatibility chart or experience please advise.

Overall, this frame is a great buy. It’s screen is bright, colors vibrant, and has all the features you need to simply play pictures while playing mp3 in the background. I will be buying more Aluratek frames in the future.