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| Brand: Portable USA
Category: Photography
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $53.94
You Save: $6.05 (10%)
New (6) from $53.94
Rating:  59 reviews
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Native Resolution: 5.6
Display Size: 5.6
Removable Memory: Memory Stick
Size: 5.6-Inch
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 1.6 x 5.6
MPN: PU-5P
Model: PU-5P
UPC: 094922831996
EAN: 0094922831996
ASIN: B000YJD5LI
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 59
 Probably not a good idea November 13, 2008
J. Wayland Eheart (east central Illinois)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
After postponing the decision to buy a picture frame several years while the technology improved and the price decreased, I finally bought this frame to display family pictures and quasi-serious nature photography. Here are the pros and cons:
Pros: Bright good quality color, visible from a good angle right to left (although not up and down). Large size for the money (about $200 right now). No software to install on your computer; the frame shows up as a drive onto which you can copy your pictures and also has sockets to accept various types of memory devices. And, finally, no reflection on the frame per se, but Amazon's service was fantastic. I opted for free shipping and they sent it UPS very quickly.
Cons: The first, and biggest is that it simply doesn't display some pictures. Instead, it displays a weird-looking fuzzy icon consisting of a document page behind a large red circle with a white X through it. This seems to be the case whether the files are placed in the internal memory of the frame, an in-camera memory stick type device or a standard USB flash drive (either of which is inserted in a socket in the back of the frame). To add insult to injury, no where in the manual is this problem described or analyzed. I can't discern any pattern as to which files it doesn't like, except that it seems to be SOME (but not all) of the files I have worked on using Adobe Photoshop. Well, guess what, those are the ones I want most to display. And speaking of the manual, it is pretty close to useless, except for a buried warning not to hook it up to your computer before turning it on. The writing is very poor and misleading; if it were a paper by one of my students I'd give it a D. At various places, we are told to "hit" one or another button, which is clear enough, but evinces a fast, sloppy job of writing.
The second big problem is not being able to change the order in which the slides are shown. There is a "random" setting on the menu (good luck in navigating to that point; you'll be lucky if you don't accidentally set the language to Chinese, and, if you do, you'll need to know the Chinese expressions for "set language" and "English"), but that setting is the factory default and it doesn't display them randomly but seems to want to display them in alphabetical order of filename. But if you display a bunch that you have put on a memory stick and then add others to the same stick, it seems to know that, and displays the second batch after the first, and in alphabetical order. If you insert a stick it only displays what's on that stick, and won't display what's in internal memory until you unplug the stick. I'd like it to do through all of them, but it won't do that.
Regardless of what the advertising says, there is essentially no customer support. The website is completely useless, as there is no way on it to contact the company with questions. The support page has prices on it; seems very strange; it appears the website has some problem. And needless to say, there is no mention of the red-and-white X icon in the FAQs. There's a section of glowing testimonials by "customers" whose authenticity is highly questionable, since there is no web-based fax number, email address or phone number by which to contact the company. The company does provide their street address, so, presumably those satisfied customers walked in and delivered their testimonials in person.
There are lots of bells and whistles on this thing; it plays movies and even has some tinny speakers so that it can play sound movies and mp3 files. You can even display a calendar (maybe these should go in the "pro" category if you like that sort of thing). But all these options make the setup menu even more difficult to navigate; it's just about impossible in the first place. The problem is that it doesn't do a good job on its BASIC task, displaying still pictures, with more or less the same options for doing so that one would find on the screen saver of a personal computer.
The frame doesn't come with a Bluetooth dongle, you have to fill out a card and send it in to the factory to get that. Since I am still considering returning it, I haven't sent the card in yet, so I can't comment on that feature.
A small but telling matter is the sloppiness of manufacture. The matting looks like it was cut by a kid with an Exacto knife, not a professional picture frame shop mat cutter. And there are a few pieces of dirt behind the glass. These problems no doubt come from outsourcing manufacture to the lowest bidder.
Another small gripe is the remote. The response to pushing a button on it is very slow and there is no tactile feedback, so it's hard to know if it's working or not. The remote uses a mercury battery instead of standard AA or AAA batteries, so, when it comes time, it may be hard to find a replacement. On the other hand, there's not really much reason to use the remote, as many of its buttons are already on the back of the frame.
All in all, I get the impression that the manufacturer sincerely wants to deliver a quality product at an affordable price. The execution, however, leaves a lot to be desired. The company seems to be run by a bunch of well-intentioned amateurs with inadequate adult supervision. I haven't decided whether or not to keep the frame. It depends on whether or not I can get a satisfactory resolution to my problems. But that will require some work and expense. I'll probably have to get their NON toll-free phone number and call them, which I haven't yet tried. If that doesn't work, then I will be returning it.
 No random slideshow feature November 2, 2008
Jefferson L. Hall (Savannah GA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's worth noting that the display was lovely. Like so many of these digital frames it has a less than intuitive menu, but my big issue with this product (and why it had to be returned) was lack of a random slideshow. With 3200 pictures, a random slideshow feature is a must.
Purchases as part of a 50th anniversary gift October 27, 2008
M. Shigley (Fredericksburg, VA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This frame is very nice. We put a lot of pictures into it prior to giving it as an anniversary gift. It is a little pricier than I would expect, but it did the trick.
slideshow is NOT random, only sequential October 25, 2008
backcountrybum (BOISE, ID USA)
The frame is very nice, the picture/display quality is great, and it worked well (tested it for less than an hour).
However, the slideshow is NOT random. That means if you have 500 pictures, it will always start with picture #1 when you turn it on.
It seems that most digital frames do not offer random slideshows. Philips is an exception, and so is Opteka. Some SmartParts frames are random, while others are not. Check the reviews, manufacturers website, etc.; if you can't tell, then it probably is not random.
Also, beware of "random slideshow fade" or "random slideshow effects"; this means that the effect when changing from one picture to another picture is random. That is not the same as random slideshow or shuffle.
Fortunately, I bought this frame from Amazon; both the original shipping and return shipping were free; so, I didn't lose any money.
Excellent frame..minor problems September 30, 2008
T. Flyntz (Kansas)
Great resolution and display options, especially the option to run videos.
Although I did need to purchase software to convert to divx it is still worth it. The major problem I have is the inability to transfer data from a USB stick into the installed flash card which makes me have to shut down and move the frame to my computer (I do not have a bluetooth computer) to transfer additional data. The frame is still a terrific way to get those digital pictures out for display and enjoyment!
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