Kodak Easyshare EX1011 Picture Frame- Decent features, up until it stops working
Written: Jan 12 '08 (Updated Jan 17 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Photos look colorful and life-like, remote is easy to use
Cons: Quit working right after the warranty expired. $150 to get it fixed.
The Bottom Line: A nice way to display your prized photos, up until it quits working.
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| xxskagirlxx's Full Review: Kodak EX-1011 10 Digital Picture Frame (WI-FI) (87... |
Update January 17, 2009:
My Kodak Easyshare EX1011 picture frame worked perfectly up until the moment it didn't, malfunctioning exactly one week after the year warranty was up.
I noticed that the frame had turned off, so I turned it back on thinking maybe we had had a power outage. Five minutes later, it was dark once again. So I turned it on again. And back out it went.
Turns out, on closer inspection, the frame was simply dimming to the point where you couldn't hardly make out the picture.
Several instances were spent with Kodak's tech support. The first stated that we should simply send it in and pay the $150 fee to have it fixed (since it was out of warranty). The second urged us to upgrade the firmware, which we had already done. He claimed we didn't have the correct firmware on the frame, so we upgraded again. Strangely enough, the firmware out on Kodak's website did not match the firmware he stated we needed. We inquired about this, and he did say that the correct firmware was out on their website, so who knows. All I know is that I have a frame that worked well for exactly one year and one week, and now it's worthless.
Original review:
My dad, who is an over-the-road-truck-driver, often needs my help procuring Christmas gifts for my mom. He thinks of something, calls me up, asks me to do the research, and then I'll go pick up whatever it is he's decided on.
This year I was sort of surprised when he called up and said that he wanted a digital picture frame for my mom. I did some research, and the Kodak Easyshare EX1011 quickly caught my eye because of it's wireless capabilities. My mom is fairly capable when it comes to technology, but I liked the Kodak Easyshare Gallery feature, meaning I could feasibly send my photos to her wirelessly. After doing a little digging, I determined that Wal-Mart had the cheapest price at $225. My dad choked a little at the hefty price tag, but in the end he decided it was worth it.
This is where my story deviates a little- my husband, knowing that I'm an avid hobbyist photographer, decided to follow in my dad's footsteps, and I was surprised with a Kodak EasyShare EX1011 under the tree.
My mom, unfortunately, wasn't as impressed with her gift, and she returned it for a DVD player. So, this will be about my experience with the frame.
What's included in the box:
-Kodak 10" Digital Frame (16:9 ratio)
-Power cord
-USB cable
-Remote
-Remote holder
-Kodak Easyshare Software CD
Looks:
The frame itself is all black, with changeable faceplates available online. All of the controls are along the top, hidden by the large frame border. Overall, it's not something you'd exactly find in the MoMA, but it doesn't look like it came from a dollar store either. The included remote rests in a remote holder that's tucked on the back, away from view.
Set up:
Initial set up is easy; you simply plug the power cord into the back, and then plug it into the wall. The frame has an easel, but can also be hung on the wall (keep in mind that the cord will show). We decided to stick with the easel, which tilts the frame at a strange angle. It's much too flat. We solved the problem by putting a small stack of books underneath it, which you can't see unless you're looking at the frame at the side.
The frame can be powered on by flipping a power switch located on the side of the frame. Once the power switched is flipped on, the power can also be controlled by the remote control.
There's some first steps you have to walk through on the frame, like a language selection. It also asks if you want to set it up on a wireless network.
Setting up to work with your wireless network
The frame detected our wireless network right away, but since it's secured I had to have my husband add it through it's MAC address. Not a big deal. However, in order to share photos with the frame wirelessly from your computer, you have to set it up to connect through your Windows Media Player. Being an iTunes user, I'm not used to the layout of Windows Media Player and found the set up a little confusing and tedious. I was a little surprised that the included Kodak Easyshare Gallery software didn't come with the stuff needed to connect to the frame wirelessly. Go over the included instructions carefully.
Once your computer is set up to share photos wirelessly, it will show up on the main screen of the frame as "Network Computer". There were also be a few other options: "My Frame" (for viewing photos either on the included 128mb of memory or from a memory card), "Kodak Gallery" (viewing photos from an online gallery), and "Settings".
All told, it took about 30 minutes before I could view my photos from my computer. However, I quickly discovered one of this feature's major pitfalls: The instant my laptop went to sleep, the pictures stopped playing on my frame. It makes sense, but definitely weakens the strength of this feature.
Out of curiousity, I decided to try viewing photos through a Kodak Easyshare Gallery instead. First, I installed the included software. Following the steps, I was easily able to upload my photos to an online album at www.kodakgallery.com.
Once my photos were uploaded, I went back to my frame and pressed the "Home" button on the remote. From the main screen, I chose "Kodak Gallery". It asked me to enter my username and password, which is tedious using the arrows on the top of the frame and much easier using the remote. Once entered, a list of my available online albums came up. I was able to choose my album and had pictures playing in a matter of seconds.
However, there was one problem; all the photos had black bars because it wasn't automatically resizing my photos to a 16:9 ratio (a problem I wasn't having when viewing photos wirelessly from my computer). After some online research, I discovered my firmware needed to be updated, which involved connecting the frame via the included USB to my laptop and transferring a firmware file I downloaded over to the frame. So, lesson learned: check to make sure you have the latest firmware version
Once my firmware was updated, the black bars disappeared.
Viewing photos from my online Kodak Gallery has been a much better feature because the photos continue no matter if my computer is on or off. However, I've noticed that the photos seem to be a lesser quality than the photos that were coming directly from my computer. The difference isn't that huge, but it's worth pointing out.
Viewing photos off of a memory card:
I haven't used this feature yet, but am considering it next to get the highest quality photos playing on my frame. The frame takes almost every memory type imaginable (CF, SD, MMC, xD and MS), and also comes with an included 128mb of memory. You can also source digital files from any digital still camera, home PC, Jump Drive and Flash Drive via USB 2.0
MP3 playback
Yes, the frame also has speakers for MP3 files, if you'd prefer a little bit of tinny music with those photos. I think this is a totally unnecessary feature, and one I won't use.
Settings:
The Settings option can be found on the main screen. This is where you can set the brightness, re-set your Kodak Gallery username/password, and choose different slide transitions and lengths. For what it's worth, I think all the different transitions kind of stink (they're all just "wipe" transitions, no cool fade ins/fade outs) so I just keep it on "none".
Overall picture quality:
I am extremely pleased with the photo quality of the frame (aside from the lowered quality of the photos from the online Kodak Gallery aside). My sister received a digital frame about 18 months ago as a wedding gift and I couldn't believe how pixelated the display was. This frame is leaps and bounds beyond that. The photos show up saturated and life-like on the 800x480 screen. One thing to keep in mind is that it is an LCD display, so it does put out a fair amount of light.
In summary, I'll list what I feel are the pros and cons of this product:
Pros:
-Nice display quality: Photos are nicely colored and saturated
-Sharing photos from an online Kodak Gallery is pretty easy (wireless connection needed)
-Remote is easy and intuitive to use
-Frame has 128mb of memory included
Cons:
-Spendy at over $200
-Sharing photos wirelessly from a computer is hard to set up, and only works if the computer is on
-Easel supporting the frame props the frame up at a weird angle
-Photos from the Kodak Gallery online seem to be transmitted at a lower quality
Bottom Line:
Overall, I'm happy with the frame. However, I consider myself a fairly techy person and it definitely required a little bit of goading during certain parts of set up (Windows Media Player, I hate you). I'm also disappointed that the wireless feature seems to be more of a gimmick than a standout feature. I hope Kodak takes some time to reevaluate the functionality of the frame- with a little bit of tweaking, I feel it could be an excellent piece of technology.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
xxskagirlxx
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Member: Stevie
Location: South Dakota
Reviews written: 152
Trusted by: 85 members
About Me:
I dress up my dogs and then force my husband to take them for walks.
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