Print this article

eStarling Impact7 WiFi Digital Frame


Date
: 12/22/08 – 03:19:43 AM

Author
:

Category
: Misc

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer:
eStarling

As the holidays near, one thing is for certain: most of us will take a lot of photos. And the vast majority of those are in a digital format, except maybe a father here and there still rocking the 35mm. With the proliferation of digital pictures we have digital frames. Some digital frames are simple and merely use onboard memory or inserted flash memory.

Today we would like to welcome eStarling to Overclockers Online. eStarling launched their first WiFi digital picture frame back in 2006 and today we have the pleasure of checking out their Impact7 WiFi digital picture frame. Aiming to go beyond just a mere picture frame, the Impact7 plans to keep you connected to friends. Read on to find out if the Impact7 should be on your holiday shopping list.

Page 2 : Package and Accessories

The box the Impact7 comes in can be described as simple and elegant. Mostly black throughout, the core benefits of the frame are listed along the bottom on the front and back.

The sides of the box show larger pictures for the main benefits along with a short description of each

When you open up the box, the frame is nestled in a centered square cardboard cutout with foam protecting the top. This should provide sufficient protection during shipping.

Included are a quick start guide, warranty card, power adapter and USB cord.

Next we will move on and hit up some specs and features.

Page 3 : Specifications and Features

I grabbed the specifications straight from eStarling's product page here.

Specifications:

* LCD Display: 8-Inch LCD screen (800×600 pixels) with built-in high speed JPEG decoder/rendering engine
* Communications: Internal 802.11b/g (WEP64, WEP128, WPA1, WPA2)
* Interface: MMC/SD/MS/CF card slot; USB 2.0 client and host ports
* Memory Size: On-board FLASH memory 256M
* Remote Control for PC-less easy setup
* RTC-powered automatic shutdown feature for increasing reliability and saving energy
* Power Source: External AC Adapter (Input:AC100~240V 50/60Hz 0.6A,Output:DC12V 1A)
* Weight: 2.8 Lbs

And here are some features supported by the Impact7 as well as eStarling's other WiFi digital frames through their Seeframe.com site.

* Email photos directly to the frame with little effort
* Display your friends' photo from social networks
* Post photo directly to eStarling frame from iPhone
* Get almost any RSS photo feed from the Web
* Create fun photos, add text to photos, and edit photos
* Use Group Frame feature for simultaneous sharing among multiple frames
* Use Timed Playlist setting to schedule displaying of designated photos

As you can see eStarling really hits you from a lot of directions with their digital frames and services. They make it simple to get photos from your friends via social networking sites, RSS feeds and even email. Or if that isn't your thing you still can upload images directly to the frames built in memory or play directly from a flash memory card.

Page 4 : The Frame

The frame comes with a plastic sheet over the front to protect against scratches during packaging. The frame is a shiny black around the LCD in the center. You can see the touchscreen buttons along the side; we will get a better look later on.

As the frame is flipped over, the remote is stored in the frame support arm.

The remote features 13 buttons that are clearly labeled with their function.

With the support arm pulled out you can see a better view of where the power cord is attached and the storage pocket for the remote.

Now that we have gotten a good look at the frame, time to power it up and see how it works.

Page 5 : Setup and Use

When you first power up the Impact7, it searches for wireless networks and displays a list of those found. Once you select your network you can enter in the key if need be. Luckily this typically is only needed once since it can be a long process using the remote to select each character.

Once your frame is connected you are presented with a 12 digit registration code. This is the code you use to register and setup your account on eStarling's photo sharing portal. Once you register the frame and create your account, the Impact7 flashes your Seeframe.com email address that can be used to send pictures directly to the frame.

The Impact7 settings menu contains such settings as automatic timing to turn the frame on and off as well as changing the slideshow effects and speed.

The touchscreen buttons along the left side light up when you touch them and turn off when not in use. This is a good thing since the LED lighting is pretty bright.

The Seeframe website is where the majority of settings and options reside for use with the Impact7. An account is free with the life of the frame and offers quite a bit of features. From here you can upload pictures from your computer or share your Seeframe email address with friends and family making it easy for them to share photos with you. You can also subscribe to RSS feeds and social networking sites (supported sites are Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa and Twitter) as another way of connecting to friends photos. You also have options to create timed playlists and allow others access to your photos via an RSS feed. Oh and if you are afraid of someone getting your email and sending pictures you may not want to see, you can set up a filter to only allow pictures received from a list of emails.

Of course you still have the option to use a flash memory card to play your photos, but this leads to one of my complaints. The slot is situated to where the card sticks up when it is inserted. This takes away from the clean lines of the frame with the slot cover also sticking up. I also kind of wish there was a way to copy from the inserted memory to the built in flash memory of the frame or even a port to use USB thumb drives.

And lastly here are some shots of the varying slideshow effects.

Page 6 : Conclusion

I'll have to admit that I had a pretty general view about the usefulness of a digital photo frame in that they served one purpose, to display the photos you have taken. After having spent some time with the eStarling's Impact7, I realized this frame brings far more to the table. eStarling has taken the digital frame and merged it with social networking features to help you connect with friends and families. The built in WiFi makes it a cinch to send pictures to the frame directly from your computer, through email or even from your cell phone. The included remote makes control a breeze and a nice touch is the place to store the remote out of sight when not in use.

I really only have two minor complaints and they both deal with using external devices. The first is the location of the memory card slot and the way the cards stick out when inserted; it just looks clunky and takes away from the clean lines of the Impact7. The other is the exclusion of a USB port for thumb drives, as they are typically easier to carry around and move pictures on.

Even with these minor complaints, the Impact7 is a great frame that is loaded with features. A great gift idea for relatives that will give you an easy way to instantly share photo's from almost anywhere.

Advantages

• Simple and intuitive interface

• Remote
• Broad range of ways to get photos to frame
• Built in WiFi

Disadvantages

• Memory cards stick out

• No port for thumdrives

Overclockers Online would like to thank eStarling for supplying the Impact7 for review.