Home > Consumer Reviews > Coby 1.5-Inch Digital Photo Keychain (White)
Coby 1.5-Inch Digital Photo Keychain (White)
See it at Amazon.com for $6.40Average Customer Rating
(3.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share104 of 104 people found the following review helpful:
Installed and running on Windows XP
(4 out of 5) by Ed on Dec 9, 2007 (NJ)I purchased the Coby DP-151 PhotoViewer, even though I read the reviews claiming the software didn't run on Windows XP, because I found the other reviews quite favorable, and I could always install the software on my wife's Mac.
However, after experimenting on my XP laptop, I found the instructions were missing a few steps. Here's what I did to get the software working:
1. Plug the PhotoViewer into a USB port to fully charge the battery.
2. Install the software from the CD.
3. When the PhotoViewer is fully charged, disconnect it from the USB port
4. Re-start the computer.
5. Plug the PhotoView into a USB port. The screen on the PhotoViewer prompts for either USB charge or USB update. Select USB update.
6. Run the program installed in step 2. It should now work.
I found it fairly easy to select, size and download photos to the PhotoViewer, and am quite impressed with the quality of the display for such a reasonably priced item.
I hope this information is helpful for other XP owners.
However, after experimenting on my XP laptop, I found the instructions were missing a few steps. Here's what I did to get the software working:
1. Plug the PhotoViewer into a USB port to fully charge the battery.
2. Install the software from the CD.
3. When the PhotoViewer is fully charged, disconnect it from the USB port
4. Re-start the computer.
5. Plug the PhotoView into a USB port. The screen on the PhotoViewer prompts for either USB charge or USB update. Select USB update.
6. Run the program installed in step 2. It should now work.
I found it fairly easy to select, size and download photos to the PhotoViewer, and am quite impressed with the quality of the display for such a reasonably priced item.
I hope this information is helpful for other XP owners.
216 of 223 people found the following review helpful:
Nice Photo Viewer
(5 out of 5) by S. Lee on Sep 27, 2007 (Tiverton, RI USA) I just received this LCD Photo Chain from Electronic Express and I was able to install the software and quickly update a handful of pictures in less then 15 minutes. The Picture Viewer program was fairly easy to use. Just pick a bunch of pictures on your drives, add them to your collection and then upload the collection to the key chain. Adding more pictures to collection later on was no problem. There is a counter on the program that will only allow you to store 62 pictures max.
As far as picture quality goes for the tiny LCD screen, I have to say that I am fairly impressed. It was relatively bright and colors were vibrant! The 128x128 pixel resolution was sufficient for viewing and it didn't seem that grainy as compared to other LCD keychains. The best comparison of the picture quality would be to a cell phone screen with 1 megapixel images.
The make of the LCD viewer is sufficient for me but I am not sure how well it would survive key scratches and ocassional drops to the ground since the plastic feels little cheap. The buttons to power on, slideshow mode and forward & backward were intuitive.
All in all, this makes a great gift for someone who loves gadgets and is somewhat tech savvy if they are going to upload images themselves. You definitely need a connection to a computer in order to charge its internal battery. I've enjoyed showing this to the guys at the office and its a sure winner as a stocking stuffer for Christmas.
As far as picture quality goes for the tiny LCD screen, I have to say that I am fairly impressed. It was relatively bright and colors were vibrant! The 128x128 pixel resolution was sufficient for viewing and it didn't seem that grainy as compared to other LCD keychains. The best comparison of the picture quality would be to a cell phone screen with 1 megapixel images.
The make of the LCD viewer is sufficient for me but I am not sure how well it would survive key scratches and ocassional drops to the ground since the plastic feels little cheap. The buttons to power on, slideshow mode and forward & backward were intuitive.
All in all, this makes a great gift for someone who loves gadgets and is somewhat tech savvy if they are going to upload images themselves. You definitely need a connection to a computer in order to charge its internal battery. I've enjoyed showing this to the guys at the office and its a sure winner as a stocking stuffer for Christmas.
119 of 122 people found the following review helpful:
It won't work at first, but KEEP TRYING
(4 out of 5) by Deanna Roy on Dec 13, 2007 (Texas)Lots of people will tell you this won't work on XP or Vista or other operating systems. I had so much trouble at first I was going to send it back. I even called tech support and the operator said, "I'm probably not supposed to say this but these are not very working very well."
BUT, I kept trying, and lo and behold--it DID work! First load the software. Then plug it in and select "USB upload." You have to literally keep plugging and unplugging the device until you get that little miracle beep that signifies that your computer found new hardware. Until you hear that, keep plugging and unplugging! The software will NOT work unless it is plugged in and found. But load it anyway, and wait for the lovely beep.
After that it works very easily. And it's beautiful!
BUT, I kept trying, and lo and behold--it DID work! First load the software. Then plug it in and select "USB upload." You have to literally keep plugging and unplugging the device until you get that little miracle beep that signifies that your computer found new hardware. Until you hear that, keep plugging and unplugging! The software will NOT work unless it is plugged in and found. But load it anyway, and wait for the lovely beep.
After that it works very easily. And it's beautiful!
95 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
No longer works with Windows XP or below
(1 out of 5) by Lorna E. J. Ernst on Nov 7, 2007 (Kitty Hawk, NC)I bought three of these for gifts and planned to preload them with family photos. I have Windows XP. The CD that you load only offered Vista or the program for a Mac. I called Coby and they said that it shouldn't be the case as it advertised that it works with Windows XP. They had me open two of them to check. They then suggested that I return them. I am hoping that Amazon will let me send them back even though they are opened. I can only assume that Coby is switching to Vista only for the PC but hasn't revised any of the instructions or promotional material. How disappointing!
58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
easy to use, fun to have!
(5 out of 5) by Bud's Mom on Oct 5, 2007What a fun way to carry your photos!
I received my keychain just a few days ago and couldn't wait to play with it! It took just seconds to load the software, plug in the camera and start loading pictures. The software is simple to use and allows easy cropping & rotating. The screen is small - just about 1x1.12 inches - about the size of a large thumbnail image but the quality is surprisingly good.
Sure, it's not something you would use to archive your family history but it is a fun "memory keeper" for holding reminders of good times, friends and family.
The screen surface could get scratched easily with standard use (hey! it's a keychain!) so I took a strip of clear package sealing tape and put it over the screen for protection. This easy solution works great on most electronics and doesn't interfer with the image.
I received my keychain just a few days ago and couldn't wait to play with it! It took just seconds to load the software, plug in the camera and start loading pictures. The software is simple to use and allows easy cropping & rotating. The screen is small - just about 1x1.12 inches - about the size of a large thumbnail image but the quality is surprisingly good.
Sure, it's not something you would use to archive your family history but it is a fun "memory keeper" for holding reminders of good times, friends and family.
The screen surface could get scratched easily with standard use (hey! it's a keychain!) so I took a strip of clear package sealing tape and put it over the screen for protection. This easy solution works great on most electronics and doesn't interfer with the image.