Toshiba Tekbright 7-inch photo frame review

Need your pics to be interactive? Tosh thinks it has the answer

19 March 2008 13:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

As the picture frame continues to go digital, Toshiba is the latest manufacturer to enter the market with its Tekbright Photo frame range, but can the television maker succeed at still images? We get viewing to find out.

The Toshiba Tekbright photo frame is a 7-inch digital photo frame that comes with a thick glossy black boarder and a chocolate-esque interface.

The 7-inch model offers a resolution of 800 x 420 and can display only JPEG and BMP files. Clearly taking its inspiration from LG's mobile phone handsets, the device's control buttons are touch-sensitive and accessed by touching the frame underneath the screen.

What you are doing will govern which blue buttons appear and these button relay to on-screen instructions.

The interface is simple and easy to use and certainly better than having the controls around the back or on display on the front.

Around the back there is the on/off button and two memory card slots giving you the chance to store images on either Compact Flash via one slot and SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro and xD via another, the frame itself has a 64MB memory and USB 2.0 hook up, although you'll want to use the memory card if you plan to store anything more than a couple of images.

Once you've got your selection of photos you can opt for two modes to view them: slideshow and calendar.

The calendar is, as you would expect, 12 of your images displayed behind a calendar and a clock. You can scroll through the calendar, but that's it.

The more important of the two - given this is a digital photo frame - is the slideshow option. Here you can set your images to rotate through as a slideshow. The simple setup allows you to set how long the images are displayed, the transition effect and the order they appear in. You can also set whether or not you want background music.

Yes that's right, not content with offering you the chance to view your images, the Tekbright also features an MP3 player complete with a tiny 0.5 watt speaker. The speaker isn't going to light up any party, but will appeal to those looking for some music with their slideshows.

Via the touch-sensitive buttons you can access the music files, although don't expect an impressive interface, skip, pause and play is about all this photo frame can muster.

The main lacking point here is the Wi-Fi connectivity, however not all of us want Wi-Fi connectivity (Toshiba are promising a 10-inch Wi-Fi-enabled frame later in the year).

Verdict

The Toshiba Tekbright photo frame is a stylish frame that offers a good picture and easy to use interface. The chocolate-esque buttons give it a classy feel and this should fit nicely into any décor you're trying to match it with.

Simple, basic, but it works with a touch of class.

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Review Recap

Made by: Toshiba
Price as reviewed: £90
The good: Glossy frame, touch-sensitive buttons, easy to use, SD and Compact Flash buttons
The bad: No Wi-Fi, no video support, only supports JPEG and BMP file formats
Quick verdict: Simple, basic, but it works with a touch of class
Score
Winner