| Rosewill 10.4-Inch LCD Photo Frame RDF-104 |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Accessories | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Emily Ladouceur - Edited by Olin Coles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 13 December 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rosewill RDF-104 LCD FrameWe are definitely in the middle of the digital age. It seems that everything is switching to digital ... TVs, DVDs, and now even picture frames. Digital picture frames aren't new, although, if you haven't seen them around you definitely haven't been paying attention. Believe it or not, they have been on the market since 1999 with the Cevia Logic being the first. Now they are practically everywhere in nearly any size you might be interested in; with lots of different features you may or may not want, depending on your needs. It may not be very common but there are some people who use their HDTVs as an enormous picture frame sometimes displaying a faux fireplace. In this article Benchmark Reviews examines the Rosewill 10.4" LCD Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 to see how it stands up with other comparable digital frames. Will it be a frame anyone would be happy to have on their desk? It could be. It plays videos or movies and music as well as scrolling through your personal photos as a slide-show. There is no software required so it could be easy for anyone to use, even your techno-phobic friend or family member. Let's find out if the product is as good as the marketing suggests it should be.
Digital frames are becoming common items one might see in peoples homes and offices. The Rosewill 10.4-Inch Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 claims to be easy to use and doesn't require any software. If the photos are clear and the colors are bright this frame just might be the perfect gift for any occasion.
About the company: RosewillFor several years now Rosewill has been selling a wide range of technological products from computer hardware to headphones. Here is a little more about the company from their website. Not long ago we had an idea - bring quality hardware and affordable prices together. From that idea Rosewill was born. Formed from a top team of hardware professionals, Rosewill is dedicated to our mission to compete and win on price, quality, and service. We work only with the best partners - businesses we know and businesses we trust. Our vision is to become the leading brand in computer hardware and peripherals. We aim to achieve this goal by creating superior customer satisfaction. We view our customers as our most important assets. Through our integrity, our innovative products, and our excellent customer service, we aim to create lasting customer relationships. Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 Features:
Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 Specifications:
Closer Look: LCD Photo FrameI was pretty excited when I first saw the big black box with the photo of the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 on the front. It looked like an actual picture frame and I had my choice of a light or dark wood. I thought that was a great idea for them to give the consumer an option. I kind of prefer the dark wood. It was extremely easy to switch out the frames. It was just like a regular picture frame with the screwed in latches that can be moved to release the frame from the body of the unit.
After unpacking everything my excitement waned a bit. I realized this was a pretty big unit and would take up quite a bit of space. I realize that it's difficult to tell from the photos included but believe me ... this frame is quite large. I also felt a bit intimidated. The box promised that it was easy to use. 
From the front the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 is a very attractive frame. The interchangeable frames have a glossy, real wood appearance but they have the feel of plastic. The beveled edges add to the clean lines. The attached flat black mat (seen in the above picture) helps the unit look more like a frame and less like a small TV. The accessories include the AC power adapter, DC power jack and the stand. I found it a bit odd that the stand was separate from the unit, but if you want to hang your frame on a wall you would need it to lay as flat as possible. 
The Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 comes with a remote control. There are many more options with the remote than with the selections buttons on the top of the unit. The remote is very small. It would be extremely easy to lose. Each button is about the width of a pencil eraser and the remote is approximately as thin as certain cell phones. I had to be careful to keep it near the frame so it didn't disappear.
We'll take a closer look at the detailed features in the next section, so make sure you don't skip to the conclusion. RDF-104 Detailed FeaturesNow I'm not the most technically savvy person but I'm not a complete dolt either. The fact that there were three slots for media to choose from and six modes of media card support for the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 worried me a bit. Which one would I be able to use? Were they all easy and could I use multiples at the same time? As you can see below there is the USB slot, the CF slot, and the MS/XD/MMC/SD slot.
The power switch and input is pretty self explanatory, located on the opposite side from the media slots, the bottom left side. The power switch is the toggle and the input is the DC 12V plug.
All of the menu buttons are located on the top of the unit. The selections are: Menu, left, right, up, down, and OK. There is also an LED to let the user know the frame is powered up.
There are slots in the back of the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 that you can see in the below picture where you insert the tongue of the stand. You have your option of standing the frame horizontally or vertically. There are also two slots located on the back (as seen below) for hanging the unit on the wall. Although, your only choice is horizontal viewing.
As you can see above, the speakers are located on the back of the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104. If you were to hang the frame on the wall you might have a problem hearing any audio file, music or movies as the speakers would be flush with the wall which might muffle the audio. Once I was finished going through all the accessories and replacing the light wood frame with the dark, I read through the six page manual to see if it was going to be as easy to use as the manufacturer claimed it was. It appeared to be pretty simple. Will it stand up to other frames on the market? We'll see in the next section. Comparison MethodologyI wasn't quite sure how best to test the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 at first. So I figured a comparison with another digital frame would be the easiest way to see how well the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 works. I happened to have an Axion 7" Digital Photo Frame AXN-9700 that I had given a family member as a gift. Now what I'm aiming for is a comparison between the resolutions of the two frames. Which would have the better picture? The Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 has a resolution of 640x480 and the Axion 7" Digital Photo Frame AXN-9700 has a resolution of 480x320. Resolution is determined by the number of pixels in an image and the larger the space the more pixels there are. Thanks to Wikipedia I found that "a pixel (short for picture element) is a single point in a graphic image." So it stands to reason that the more pixels the clearer the image. ResultsFirst I searched for a color intensive picture to size and use in both units. Once the pictures were re-sized and loaded onto both frames I took a photo, at night and in the dark, of each frame while displaying the image. The photos were taken approximately the same distance from the unit.
The picture above is the actual image I resized to 480x320 and loaded into the Axion 7" Digital Photo Frame AXN-9700. Below is what the 480x320 photo looked like once it was displayed on the frame's LCD.
Quite a difference as you can see. The colors are washed out and somewhat darker. The image is not nearly as distinct as the original. There is a little bit of blurring in the buildings in the distance. When I put the actual and the viewed pictures side-by-side I was astounded by the difference. I really didn't think the photo was that different when I was viewing it on the Axion 7" Digital Photo Frame AXN-9700, but you can see for yourself how much the frame changed the photo. Scroll down to see how the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 handled the same photo.
The picture above is sized for the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 at 640x480. The image below is how it appeared in the frame.
The image isn't exact but it is significantly better than the smaller frame, except for the slight cropping and distortion in the upper right hand corner. I was able to make the distortion move but not go away completely. The colors are still a bit washed out but they are much closer to the original. The image is much clearer also. There doesn't appear to be any blurring that was present in the Axion 7" Digital Photo Frame AXN-9700 picture. All in all I'd have to say the Rosewill 10.4" Digital Photo Frame RDF-104 did pretty well. Final ThoughtsI think it's pretty safe to say that just like the LCD technology they are derived from, digital frames need a higher resolution to offers better picture quality. The more pixels the clearer the picture, which usually means the larger the frame. I thought the Rosewill 10-Inch LCD Photo Frame RDF-104 was a very attractive frame and my photos displayed clearer than I expected them to. I especially liked the two choices of outer frame that came with the unit. Overall I thought the Rosewill 10-Inch LCD Photo Frame RDF-104 was a great frame. The only suggestions I have would be to make the CF slot, and the MS/XD/MMC/SD slot able to pop out the cards. It can be difficult to pull the cards out yourself, because there isn't much to grab onto and the space is a little confined. Another suggestion would be to have the stand flip out from the back rather than having a separate piece. Things are too easy to loose when they aren't attached. Lastly, and this may just be my own personal quirk, I didn't particularly like the auto slideshow being the default selection for photo viewing. Especially since I had to go back in and change all the settings so I could view a single photo. Otherwise I found this frame to be as easy to use as the box indicated.
ConclusionThe frame comes in a very attractive package. The black box with a picture of the Rosewill 10-Inch LCD Photo Frame RDF-104 with the light wood frame shows the consumer exactly what you are purchasing and doesn't skimp on the description of what it can do. All of the specifications of the frame are on the back of the box so the consumer isn't left in the dark. The frame and all its accessories are well packed with lots of padding. If you were to drop the box it is extremely unlikely that anything would break. Once everything is removed from the box it's pretty obvious that hard plastic is a main component. So unless you plan on doing some batting practice in the house this frame probably won't break very easily. The screen and other delicate parts are unlikely to be scratched unless someone is very careless. The frame works as well as the manufacturer claims and it's also as easy to use. All that is needed is the right media card and you are ready to view all your favorite photos. At $149.00 with a $30.00 rebate on NewEgg.com this is a great value. You can't beat the price. So if you plan on giving it as a gift I don't think anyone would blame you for getting one for yourself. Pros:
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