Don't mix horizontal and vertical shots

The first lesson I learned is that you should be cautious mixing photos that are shot horizontal and vertical. On the cheaper frames this looks bad on the more expensive frames over $175 or screens that have high resolution (1024x768) that are larger (7" or bigger) they look better.

How To Get The Photos on Your Digital Photo Frame Part Duex

The biggest question that a person has when hey get a digital photo frame is how do i get the photos on the frame. There are a few ways. You can get a Card reader that fits into your computers USB port and allows you to put the memory card in the other end. Then you can access it like a drive from "My Computer" on a PC or on your desktop if you have a mac. You can then transfer the picture files over to the memory card. Remember to compress or reduce the size with your favorite photo program and save 10 to 100 times the space allowingoyu to put way more photos on a smaller memory card.

The way I do it is to use my camera as a conduit to allow my computer and memory card to talk. The first thing is to make sure the power on the camera is on. Most computer's wont be able to see your camera if it isn't. It should show up as a new drive on your mac or pc. On a mac you should see it on the desktop - usually displaying the brand or name of the memory card. Once this happens get into your photo program (I use iPhoto) and export the photos out to your "camera drive" at medium quality and medium size ( my photo frame's resolution is 800x600 and its about 9"). These settings allow me to store over 7,000 photos and 5 cd's worth of music on a 1 GB SD memory card.

So to sum things up you have to have some way for computer to read the memory card. If your computer doesn't have a built in device to do so, then you may need to use your camera or buy a card reader.

Did you know you need a memory card when you buy a Digital Photo Frame

A lot of folks are going to get this digital photography frame home and give it as a gift. Those folks who get this gift are going to have to immediately go out and get more memory for the digital photo frame. Save your favorite person some time, get them a memory card with the digital photo frame!

I learned this the hard way. I also learned that you don't need the biggest memory card out there either.

I recommend 512k to 1 GB SD card. That will run you anywhere from $12.99 to $19.99.

When they receive it and say I have 8 thousand photos there is no way they will fit on there. Remind them that they need to reduce the size and quality of each photo. So a 10 megapixel camera's photo that's 10 MB (megabytes) should be compressed to a file that is somewhere around 50 k (kilobytes).

For those of you who don't quite get all the computer talk, let me make it simple. I have a 10 megapixel camera I have 7,000 digital photos. I have fit every one of those photos and 5 cd's worth of music on 1 gigabyte SD card.

To top that off I fit 7,000 photos on a 512k micro SD card without the CD's on another frame. If I can do it you can too. I will make sure and explain how in a future post.

Getting The Photos On The Digital Photo Frame

Okay the first problem that I hear about is how do you get the photos on the digital photo frame. I was in line buying this and someone asked me innocently enough - "How do you get the photos on the darn device." I though this was a legitimate question that most consumers must have that do not know a tremendous amount about computers.

I will make it easy - 3 steps

1) You need a memory card. Most people don't know this. They get the frame and find out it can hold 5 photos or worst none. Think of it as a CD for your CD player. Mostly all Digital Photo Frames will take SD, so that's the safest bet. Getting something under 2 GB is also a safe bet (even though the sales guys will tell you all digital photo frames can handle any size memory you put it in).

2) You will need some way to get the photos from the computer to the memory card. (You can sometimes buy a memory card that comes with an adaptor that allows you to plug it into the USB port on your computer, or your computer or printer may have this slot already built in. Once you can figure out how to get the memory card read by the computer that has the photos your more than halfway there!) There is also the sure fire way of using your camera as memory card reader - read more on this here

3) Get The SD Card Into the Digital Frame and get the slide show going (if it automatically doesn't start)

3 Digital Photo Frames Reviewed

First Impressions:

Audiovox DPF700
The Audiovox cost $200. It had multiple frames and just looked classy when I saw it displayed for the first time. It wasn't clear from the box but I am hoping it has some type of power saver feature (some timer or some way to not have it display pictures all the time). This unit looks like it comes with a remote control

Venturer DPF811SE

This one looks nice. It came with 3 covers. This was a gift from my good friend. It did not come with a remote control. It also appears as if this Digital Photo Frame only reads one type of media. Plastic frame surrounding screen is average.

Insignia DPF10A

This unit comes in a white frame which may be hard to match with many things but I do have several mac's and a white fireplace so I am thinking it will look good there. I could also see this working in a kitchen or bathroom. It does have a remote and it looks like it has some advanced features.

I will be reviewing each of these in more detail individually. From my research on CNET.com and some other web sites, it did not appear as if the non-name brand models were reviewed. I know that Kodak makes a good frame but what about the lesser known makes.

Hopefully this will help a few readers on there quest to get a Digital Photo Frame, the hottest gift other than a GPS this 2007 Christmas.