Digital photo frames are becoming quite fashionable: last month we reviewed the wireless i-Mate Momento 100 (web ID:117924), and now it's AG Neovo's turn with the V-10. Available in a tasteful dark red or black trim, it's a 7-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels, giving it a fine enough pitch to make photos look sharp and detailed. Colours are slightly subdued, but this lends solidity to the image and makes it look like a real print, far better than being too garish.
The V-10 looks like a normal frame, but brush its bottom or right edge and touch-sensitive controls light up, giving access to a menu system. From here you can choose a picture to display or opt to cycle through images at an interval from a minute to a day, with a range of transition effects. Pictures can be loaded into the 128MB internal memory via USB, or you can plug in a memory card - every common format is supported. Only JPEG files can be used, but that's the most popular format for digital photos, so it shouldn't be a problem.
The V-10's internal battery is rated at just an hour, so realistically it needs to stay plugged into the mains. The power cable shouldn't bother you unless you were hoping to wall-mount the frame. It only draws 12.5 watts, and you can further reduce consumption by setting the frame to turn itself on and off at certain times.
Sadly, all these good ideas are offset by one glaring design flaw. The screen resolution of 800x480 gives good detail, but translates to an aspect ratio of 5:3 (not 16:9, as the maker claims), which simply isn't the right shape for a normal digital photo. Standard pictures are displayed with black bars down the sides, spoiling the elegant looks. There's an alternative full screen mode, but this distorts your images to fit the frame.
If you're willing to resize all your photos to fit, the V-10 works well and looks great. At over £100 for a 7-inch display, however, you might prefer a frame that fits your photos.
Screen size: 7in
Resolution: 800x480 pixels
Connections: USB (mini plug, cable supplied)
Internal memory: 128MB
Memory card formats: SD, MMC, MS, CF, MD
Picture formats: JPEG
Size: 197x52x129mm
Weight: 0.5kgDigital picture frame that looks good even when empty. An elegant, well-engineered frame, but the non-standard shape could prove awkward.Author: Darien Graham-Smith
AG Neovo FotoVivo V-10