Home > Consumer Reviews > Aluratek 10.5-Inch Digital Photo Frame w/256MB Internal Memory (Wood)

I got this for my parents (in their 70s) for Christmas. We have found it very simple to use and straight forward. It's always nice to look at and the frame is decent quality.

The remote and menu system is very intuitive, however the remote is small (credit card sized) as is the writing on it. Also, you can't be too far away with the remote and you have to be head-on.

It has two slide show options. One which uses the full screen and one that will put up to 3 pictures on the screen at once, rotating one at a time - sometimes taking up 1/2 of the screen, sometimes 1/4 - somewhat random.

What this frame does not have is a random feature for the screenshots. One of the things I really wanted.

When using the slideshow, or viewing the pictures individually, they are in the order of how you placed them on the card or built in memory.

The pictures are very good quality as long as you start with a decent sized one to begin with. If you start with a picture that's wallet sized, it will expand it to fit and become pixeled, which is to be expected. You do not have to crop the pictures, as the frame will auto-center them either based on height or width, depending on which level it fills up first.

The built in memory (256 mb) is more than enough for the 600 pictures that I have on this so far, even though I actually have them on a 2 gb SD card.

I have not tried videos or music.

I'm ordering another one of these exact frames.

Pros: Nice looking frame
Easy to use - very intuitive
Good quality pictures

Cons: Small hard to read remote
No onboard battery backup
No random feature

I've never had a digital picture frame before buying this one and it meets whatever mental expectations I did have. I choose this product over other similar products mostly because of the higher resolution screen (1024x768 vs. more typical 640x480). The picture quality is "good", the controls are reasonably straightforward, the remote control functions properly. I have not tried sound or video but the slide-show playback of photos works as expected. The frame is fairly ornate and hideous (other products had interchangeable faces, a nice feature) but I knowingly traded this for the greater screen size. The frame also stands out a bit from the wall; this too was not unexpected but people should be aware of it. All in all, I am pleased & satisfied with this frame.

Built quality is good, real wood frame. Plastic backside is OK. Remote control better than my Coby 10.25" digital frame. Can be turned-off with the remote. Decent sound but nothing to get excited about. Tiny speakers, what can you expect. The visible display is actually 10.25" measured diagonally. Picture quality is good but I could not see much difference from my Coby when viewed about 6 feet. Coby has brigthness adjustment but this Aluratek has none - but it is bright enough. There are black bars on the sides about 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch top and bottom. The picture of the pretty girls face shown on their sample is actually inaccurate, it shows filling up the whole frame. It would have been better if they reduced the frame to the actual visible area. I will only use it for picture slideshow, could not comment on videos. Overall it OK.

I just tried the Aluratek 10.5-Inch Digital Photo Frame w/256MB Internal Memory ordered from Ritz (~$180). I was horrified to see at least 12 bad pixels including a big red one right in the middle of the frame. I also see many weak pixels when I look closely at the screen. I bought my wife a Royal (PF80) last year and it is still perfect after many hours of use. Aluratek has real quality control problems so I would avoid their products.

After doing some research, we decided to purchase the Aluratek 10.5-Inch for the size, resolution, features and the price. It's got everything I want at a $180. I have had it for about a month now. My 5 and 8 year olds can play the pictures and the videos by themselves. The only thing is after turning it on, you have to go through each step as stated in the instruction for it to work. Can't take any shortcuts. I would recommend this product to anyone.