Samsung SPF-72H

This review is for the Samsung SPF-72H digital photo frame.

I want to explain what a digital photo frame is first and basically it is a device which is electrical and you can simply put a memory card into the side of the device with as many pictures as you can store and this photo frame will keep on switching pictures so you never have the same picture being shown.

In theory it is just like a normal photo frame except ...
...notice this huge great big Samsung logo under the frame. I would expect perhaps a tiny Samsung logo in the corner but this actually distracts you from the images. You will notice the Samsung logo first well before the image on the screen and this is not what you are paying for, and it seems to me Samsung want to promote their own name rather than the photo frame itself.

The device apparently in the manual takes up to 4 GB memory cards ... more

This review is for the Samsung SPF-72H digital photo frame.

I want to explain what a digital photo frame is first and basically it is a device which is electrical and you can simply put a memory card into the side of the device with as many pictures as you can store and this photo frame will keep on switching pictures so you never have the same picture being shown.

In theory it is just like a normal photo frame except electrical and uses different pictures in a slideshow instead of the same image.

Setup
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This device is very difficult to understand sometimes with the setup. You initially need to plug the device into a wall socket to gain some power. When you have done this the device will ask you for the date and time and you do this by scrolling through all the information on the control pad on the device.

Once you have done all that you are then shown some pictures which are already on the device for you to use should you wish to do so.
The device then asks you to insert a memory card with images on for usage and then you sit back and let them work, however sometimes the setup can be more difficult if you press the wrong keys which can happen a lot and cause different problems and a longer setup.

Design
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This product is shaped like a picture frame and has this huge screen on the front with this white and grey textured side panels which are there to protect the screen. On the back is the stand which is very easy to stand up and this makes sure the photo frame itself does not move in any funny way.

The left hand side has a few buttons which are the main functions for using this device. One of them is the power key which is not that hard to spot and the biggest button out of them all.
You then have the arrow keys below this which are there for you to navigate through the various options and also act as volume controls as well.

You have a play button which is good for when you want the picture to play and pause again if you wish. You have a back button as well which allows you to go back and re-edit any problems you have encountered.
Finally at the bottom there is the menu button and this is very small but is essential for finding out new things to do on the device. My problem is that the menu button being at the bottom might be overlooked quite a bit compared to the other buttons.

Also at the bottom of the frame this is where you insert the memory card for which you store the photos onto.
The power connection goes at the bottom of the device which is hidden away from view. The entire product has this white and grey texture which looks very nice and has a quick shine to it as well.

Specifications
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The screen is 7 inches wide and the screen definitely looks a lot bigger then this does.

The product is 0.6kg in weight so it is very light in weight and not to heavy so if it did happen to fall over it wouldn't cause half the damage it might if it was one of the heavier photo frames you can get.

The device is 21cm in width, 15cm in height and 8.7cm in depth. The depth though is big also because it counts the size of the stand as well. I like the size of the frame and it is very easy to fit into many places.
There is 128mb internal memory which is not a lot and you do have some pictures on there as a demonstration purpose and these do take some of that memory up as well.

Each picture it uses has to be a JPEG apparently but you can use other options as I have found out.
The contrast ration for this product is 300:1 which is very good for such a small device.

This device can take a few different types of memory cards such as SD cards, XD cards, MMC cards and a few others.

The brightness of this product is 200cd/m which is very good as well.
The power this item requires is 10 watts which again is not a lot but you do need to consider the amount of money you might pay for using this.
Features

One of the best features is your own ability to change the time between each picture. So you can sit there and make the picture turn up every 3 seconds or if you wish the picture to last longer you can change this to 10 seconds this all depends on how many pictures you have and how fast you wish to see them.

You can play music with the pictures as well which is nice. I never knew you could do this until I checked the menu and the idea is you load up a music file on the memory card with the pictures and on the menu you locate this file and just simply tell it to play so in the background you hear this music play although not the best sound in the world it is still there for people to use.

When you put a memory card inside with pictures on you can click on the menu on the screen and view the pictures which will show up and this enables you to pick any particular pictures you have as favourites so it makes sure they are shown more often than anything else which is nice as well.

You can make the device show random pictures or to play them by each folder. In mine I have 3 folders, one of the pictures of family and friends, another for pets and another for just random pictures and it tends to play random pictures. You can tell the picture frame to do one folder at a time and it ends up showing these pictures first in order.

Good Points
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The ability to use various sorts of memory cards and have them act as a source for producing pictures online. I like how if you were perhaps struggling to load pictures up on a specific memory card and had a different type which was free of memory you could this to put pictures up on the device. So the variety of memory cards to use is very good indeed.
I think the frame looks stylish and will fit into many sort of places such as a workplace or in a sitting room which is showing this frame as a centre piece.

The way the photo frame lets you use different options in terms of how long you wait for each picture to switch to another is good and I like how easy that is to do.

You have a variety of ways to view a slideshow by using nine different options. One of them is 'Fade' which allows the image to just appear in the frame and then disappear from the centre outwards. So you do have a variety of styles there if you get bored of the same sort of style being used for each picture.

Bad Points
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I find the setup easy but it takes a while to do. Sometimes if you're putting in a time and date and you accidentally click on a different arrow key you find that it deletes all the progress you made and your back to square one yet again. This to me is not the best and without a remote control either provided makes the device very tricky at times to sort out.

I think one of the bigger problems is when you put on a memory card a big file picture, something like a 10 mega pixel image the device can take forever to load this image up and when it does it struggles to swap from this picture to another and you believe it has froze when it hasn't. I think this is not good enough and considering the price of the device it should be able to cope fairly well with this simple command.

When you are looking at the device you notice the really nice colour of the frame itself and then you notice this huge great big Samsung logo under the frame. I would expect perhaps a tiny Samsung logo in the corner but this actually distracts you from the images. You will notice the Samsung logo first well before the image on the screen and this is not what you are paying for, and it seems to me Samsung want to promote their own name rather than the photo frame itself.

The device apparently in the manual takes up to 4 GB memory cards and I have found if you try to use a 4 GB memory card in the device it does not like it and tends to lock up and you have to turn the device on and off again to regain control. There has been on occasions where the device has reset all the settings back to default so it means you have to set it all up once again.

Summary
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If you want a digital photo frame then this device is not the best. You can set the device up and see the photos in good graphics but the problem is if you're using the bigger sized photos.
If you like to use the best cameras and wish to see those pictures over and over again then this device struggles to use them without having other issues take place.

I got this device for absolutely nothing because it was a free gift with my Samsung mobile phone, but the price of this device is around £50 still and sometimes a lot more.
I would recommend people to buy the cheaper alternatives, you save money and you will not have to stare at a Samsung logo before you see your own pictures. 

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