Kodak EasyShare W820

When it comes to smart digital photo frames, experts indicate that users have a panoply of impressive-sounding options to select from but will often be hampered by difficult setup and disappointing performance. This is true for Kodak's EasyShare W820, an 8-inch frame that offers such features as Wi-Fi connectivity, the ability to display RSS feeds and lift photos from web-based photo-sharing services, and a large array of display options. Even more impressively, the W820 packs 512 MB of internal memory (a lot for a digital frame) and supports virtually all memory-card formats and several audio and video file formats.

Although universally impressed by this advanced list of features, reviewers hone in on the one aspect of the Kodak W820 digital photo frame that is less than stellar: performance. The touch-screen display icons are unintuitive and widely described as difficult to use, as is the complex, nested menu system. Many of the services Kodak's frame supports require logging into and setting up auxiliary services, which are also pegged as overly complicated. One of the frame's biggest draws, its Wi-Fi capability, comes with a setup that is so frustrating and difficult that more than one expert indicates that it just wouldn't be worth it for anyone who isn't highly skilled in wireless technology.

Once through their intimidating recitation of the W820's shortcomings, however, reviewers concede that most of the digital frame's frustrations can be found in the initial setup, which only needs to be done once. When it's done, the frame performs very well and has a lovely display. For an alternative Wi-Fi frame with simpler setup and navigation options, critics look to the Ipevo Kaleido R7 (*Est. $150). However, the R7 also includes a steep price tag and doesn't have support for audio and video files, or the assortment of web-enabled features found on the Kodak W820.