Photo gallery: Kodak EasyShare M1020Design
The Kodak EasyShare M1020 digital frame can be described in one word — simple. The LCD is surrounded by a glossy white acrylic frame with the connections and memory card slots hidden from view.
What sets this digital frame apart from others is not only its big 10.2-inch widescreen, but its Quick Touch Border.
Just as its name suggests, the Quick Touch Border is a touch interface that allows you to touch the inner border of the frame in order to load up the menu. Rather than leaving smudges on the large LCD (even if you do, Kodak has included a wipe cloth), smudges appear only on the inner, slightly raised border where your fingerprints are not so visible.
Yellow LEDs illuminate when the Quick Touch Border is activated and are dotted along the bottom and right side of the inner frame. These lights are indications of where you should touch to activate the features you require.
The frame can be positioned to sit horizontally or vertically, or can be wall mounted. If the white border is not to your taste, Kodak has included two faceplates in red and silver to match the décor of your room.
Features
The large 10.2in, HD format 16:9 widescreen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels displays incredibly crisp and vibrant coloured photos with realistic skin tones.
With 128MB internal memory the M1020 can hold up to 300 JPEG and EXIF files and has two memory card expansion slots (SD/MMC/MS/xD and Compact Flash/MicroDrive, respectively); a USB port, for connecting a USB stick, camera, or printer; and, a mini-USB for connecting to your PC. Unfortunately there is only an AC adapter included and no other wires for connecting to a PC. Along with the ports hidden behind the frame, there are also the volume and power button, a headphone port, and built-in speakers.
The menu set-up allows you to edit images on the go as well as rotate and delete files, timer settings, sort by date or file name, and select viewing options.
When saving files to the M1020's internal memory, it automatically resizes the images to save on space. An important note to remember is that when you delete a file using the frame's menu ensure that it's not deleting from the camera or PC as it will be lost forever.
Kodak has included its Digital Frame Edition software that lets you edit, print and tag photos among other things. It's a nice and simple-to-use software that complements the digital frame.
When compared to other digital frames we've reviewed over the year, the M1020 is larger and has more impressive features than Parrot's Digital Photo Frame by Andree Putman and Kaiser Baas' 8-inch Digital Photo Frame, and is AU$50 cheaper. Yet the M1020 would've been phenomenal if it had a remote control and Bluetooth capability.
Performance
Once a memory card or USB stick has been inserted, the frame automatically plays without any instruction from you.
As well as playing photos and movies, the frame also supports MP3 audio. Listening to music or watching home videos, the sound was a bit tinny but quite good for a digital frame. When playing the supported MPEG 1 and 4 video file formats, however, it wasn't so perfect with fast-moving video displaying motion blur and colour artefacts. Meanwhile large video files would constantly stutter and were painful to watch.
While the Quick Touch Border is a nifty feature, it can take up to five seconds to get the menu to load. If you're impatient and repeatedly tap the frame it will take you even further into the menu and you'll have to tap back out.
The menu is simply laid out with an easy to use interface. To scroll through images, you slide your finger to the left or right on the bottom right side of the border. It's not as true to life if you were flipping through pages in a magazine and the frame can take up to two seconds to react, but it is still a nice feature. All in all, however, the touch border can be finicky and requires a little bit of patience when using the frame.
Unfortunately one major downfall of the M1020 is that the unit we tested would freeze all too often for no apparent reason, and at times it would restart itself; at other times we needed to pull the plug to get it to work again. It can get frustrating as it never got through all our songs and pictures because the frame started from the very beginning and did not resume the last action.
Overall, the frame is an absolute pleasure to look at and despite its flaws and steep price it will look good in any house displaying your treasured photos at its finest.
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