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Having upgraded from a smaller Philips digital photo frame, the Sony DPF V1000 is a welcome surprise.

Before to get in to the meat of the review, I feel it is worth pointing out a couple of enhancements in the product right up front.

A lot of reviews here complain about three common gripes:

The illuminated Sony logo on the frame

When you are in date/time mode, the frame only displays the date and time the photo was taken

Non camera pictures do not display

I bought my frame on June 28th 2009 and all these things have either been fixed, or the other reviewers did not read the manual far enough. The illuminated Sony logo may be turned off via the setup alternatives now. There’s a smorgasbord of date and time modes available too, most of which will display the current date and time rather than the date and time the photo was taken. And , the non camera pictures problem looks very reduced now. I filled my frame with all kinds of pictures as well as straight from the camera JPGs and ones that had been altered via Photoshop. Out of 400 pictures, only two did not display, and they turned out to be TIFF pictures I’d put on by mistake. Otherwise, pictures taken from eight or nine different makes and models of camera all showed perfectly, also as those taken from five different cellphone cameras.

So on to the frame itself what is it like. Oddly, bigger than you may think. OK so you may be able to read the dimensions in the product specifications but when it arrives, the box is big, and the frame is much bigger than you may imagine. The quality of the LCD panel looks to be top notch with a bright, clear display and a pretty large looking at angle. The screw in “foot” which makes up the frame’s stand is quite long for stability which means that you can not push this frame up against a wall when putting it on furniture it is going to stand out a pretty way. You may be able to hang it on the wall though it keyed notches in the back for that function. The frame may be oriented in landscape or portrait mode and it auto rotates the pictures to match. The picture display itself may be “original aspect” which shows the whole picture with black bars padding the screen where needed, or it may be “zoom to fit” in which case the image is zoomed somewhat to completely fill the display.

The frame comes with 1Gb of fitted memory also as memory card slots for most types of card. There’s one gotcha here though which is not mentioned in the manual, and is buried deep in the product FAQ on Sony’s web site : when you connect this frame to your PC via USB, you may be able to ONLY upload pictures to the frame’s inbuilt memory. Any cards plugged in don’t show up you either have to load them up individually, or copy pictures to them using the frame’s inbuilt copy tools. Whilst this is not a biggie, if you do not have a separate card reader for your chosen kind of memory card, it is a ache having to shuffle pictures everywhere. Having said that, 1Gb of onboard memory holds a respectable number of pictures enough that you may not need an expansion card. Realistically, I think the card slots are there for straight from the camera image looking at, rather than long term storage.

There are lots of setup alternatives to keep the both the nerdiest photo frame fan and the complete beginner happy. One thing I was happy to see was the choice to set the inbuilt clock to 24 hour mode. Why anybody still uses AM/PM today is a mystery to me, still so many buyer electrical merchandise insist on the twelve hour format. Not so in this case. Also as the clock, there is a calendar fitted too, and in many of the display modes, you may be able to show the clock or calendar with the photo. Another nice feature here you may be able to set the date display to American or rest of world ie. Month day year or day month year in that order. The clock has an alarm mode which may be turned on or off using a slide switch over the frame. Looks a little pointless to me, but then I have a clock radio to wake me up in the morning.

The included remote control is a nice feature. My old Philips frame had no remote so all changes required to be done using the frame’s hardware buttons. With the Sony remote, you may be able to fiddle with the photo frame remotely, as well as all the setup and display features. It has hidden benefits too as an example if you have got the frame set to refresh every half hour and you choose you do not like the current picture, you do not have to wait just click ‘next’ on the remote and on you go.

As with most digiframes, this one has an auto on/off function where you may be able to tell it when you want it to turn itself on and off. It has a simple and complex mode of operation for this feature. In simple mode, you just give it an on and off time and that is it. In complex mode the default setting you may be able to set many on/off times for individual days of the week. A little too much gravy for a photo frame if you ask me.

The slideshow modes have the common array of fades and swipes, also as sequenced or random image mode. For the most part, you will usually end up in random picture mode, and random fade/swipe mode. The slideshow delay has some number of predetermined alternatives from every three seconds right up to once a day for the picture change. Common choices like five minutes, ten minutes and half an hour are all present and correct.

You can do many underlying image editing in the frame though any serious total of image touchup is out of the question. It has a scrapbook mode where you may be able to frame the pictures with backgrounds and other add on graphics though it does seem a bit pointless to purchase a big digiframe , then intentionally shrink the pictures you are showing on it ..

In short this frame has more than enough features for the technophile, whilst being pretty easy to just pick up and use for those who want to throw many photos on and be done with it. You can not argue with the clearness of the LCD panel either. All in all, a good choice if not a little pricey. Sure you are paying for the Sony name, but if they did an same model with all the frills removed ie. No touchup mode, no alarm, no scrapbook mode and no card slots, that could be a product with more mass market attraction. That being said, I do not think you will regret this buy it simply is that good.

So why four stars and not 5? Well the internet is full of people who either think product X is the best thing since sliced bread, or have an axe to grind with the maker. Those two review types account for 5 star and zero star reviews. Not many merchandise warrant a full on 5 star review because most merchandise have one or more features that a chunk of the purchasers will not like. So four stars is my ranking here ie. It is a bloody good part of kit but it is not perfect. I do not think the perfect 5 star digital photo frame exists still.

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52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of five stars
DPF V1000: Great frame with many issues,
July 21, 2009

By&nbsp,Oop Boy NJ, USA See all my reviews

This review is about DPF V1000. Unfortunately, combinations all the Sony digital frame reviews together, so the star ranking is pretty useless, since it’s really an average of the ratings for all the Sony frames. Nevertheless here is my review..

As of this writing, I have had the frame for about a week, and so far it is great. The frame looks nice I have the black one. The photos display obviously, and the frame fits nicely on our coffee table. I think a smaller frame could have been too small. So I’m happy with the buy.

I only give it four stars, though, caused by these notes.

1. Odd warning in the manual. The owner’s manual says this:

“Due to one of the characteristics of the interior memory device, pictures stored for a long time or read many times can be subject to data error when read too frequently.” It has a alike warning about the memory card device.

This is odd to me, because it generally says if you look at the photos too much, the frame may not work right. I have not encountered any problems still, but, as I said, I have only had the frame for a week. Still, if this is a large enough issue to justify these notes in the manual you can find a .Pdf of the manual on Sony’s site, it makes me a bit nervous. I am not sure I could have bought the frame if I had seen this ahead of time, but since I have not encountered a problem, I am not going to return it. We will see how it goes..

2. Another note in the manual says that picture files edited on a computer may not display. I really did have a problem there, because I touch up all my photos with Photoshop Elements then save them as JPGs. Many of those photos didn’t display. Sony tech support was of no help with this, but I did figure out a solution. If you get this frame and plan on using Elements, here is an vital note.

When I do a “Save As.” in Elements six and choose JPEG, a window comes up called JPEG alternatives. This window has a radio button called Format alternatives. I had the radio button selected for “Progressive.” seemingly, this doesn’t save a file that conforms to Baseline JPEG 4:4:4, 4:2:2, or 4:2:0 format which this frame requires, so photos saved this way didn’t display. So I tried saving again, this time selecting the JPEG Format radio button for “Baseline Standard.” This worked. So be sure you pick that radio button choice when saving JPEGs from Elements. So far, taking that approach, I have about 400 jpg photos on the frame, and they all display good.

3. One small issue about folder management. You may be able to have folders and sub folders on your memory card, but in the frames folder filter mode, you may be able to only choose single folders to display. For example, I have a folder called 2008. It has no photos in it. It does, but, have a bunch of subfolders that do have photos. I’d like to be able to pick the 2008 folder and have a slide show all the photos in the 2008 subfolders. But, the frame won’t let me choose 2008. I can only choose a subfolder inside of 2008 and only one at a time. Note that you may display all photos on the card, so this comment only applies to the folder filter mode.

So in general, I could recommend this frame unless you found another that did not have these issues. : If I do run into problems at many point, I will post a follow up to this review.

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Twelve of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of five stars
Best Digital Photo Frame,
September 12, 2009

By&nbsp,Raymond A. Colgrove “Vette Man” See all my reviews
REAL NAME
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I tryed other frames and they do not compare to the Sony. Other frames blacken at the sligest looking at angle and have restricted features. The Sony frame has it all. It works from wider looking at angles, has excellant resolution, many transitions from frame to frame, HDMI output, multi card reader, one GB memory fitted, scrapbook features,index views, clocks, calendars and mixes. Printing may be forced on photos. The frame is well built, has remote control and the remote pickup window on the frame is invisible not like an eye loking back at you like most other frames have. The Sony is a bit more costly than the other frames but it also looks better and has many more features on it. I like the size of this frame much better than the Sony 7″ frame I have for looking at from accross the room. It does not have a way to view photos with a battery, but a battery most likely may not be powerful enough for any looking at time on a big display. I also like the fact that it does not have a big frame and a mat around the photo that’s useless and does not look as nice. I greatly reccommend the Sony Frame.

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20 Responses to “sony dpf v1000”

1. Margaret H. Says:
   May 1, 2009 at 11:17 pm

   I have one on sale, best price, email me if interested

2. Marlin Says:
   May 2, 2009 at 8:37 pm

   I saw Staples has it for sale

3. Melvin Says:
   May 3, 2009 at 0:33 pm

   What is the warranty like?

4. Odessa Says:
   May 4, 2009 at 8:13 pm

   wouldnt want to get this one refurbished haha

5. Deborah M. Says:
   May 5, 2009 at 2:14 pm

   i buy it at Staples store that had a lowest price, but usually online deals are better

6. Jane S. Says:
   May 6, 2009 at 4:47 pm

   Pros: Great product for the low price. Cons: Difficult to find in stock

7. Elizabeth S. Says:
   May 7, 2009 at 4:48 pm

   Has been reviewed more on Costco site, check it there

8. Earl V Says:
   May 8, 2009 at 3:27 pm

   Generally the best offer for sony dpf can usually be found at an net dealer or ebay

9. Christina T. Says:
   May 9, 2009 at 3:22 pm

   Couldnt find any sony dpf v1000 deals in Milwaukee

10. Samuel W Says:
    May 10, 2009 at 3:42 pm

    I checked Frye Electronics and they dont have any wholesale deals are there any wholesale deals online?

11. Clarence D Says:
    May 11, 2009 at 7:24 pm

    Check any price comparison web sites for lowest price.

12. Theodore N Says:
    May 12, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    I am looking to buy one in Indianapolis so i dont pay for shipping if it’s not free

13. Philip E Says:
    May 13, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    What would be the discount if you get it wholesale?

14. Carol B. Says:
    May 14, 2009 at 7:23 pm

    What’s sony dpf compared to other digital frames?

15. Henry76 Says:
    May 15, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    it’s in limited availability, and hard to find a rebate, so dont bother too much, just buy it

16. Brandon G Says:
    May 16, 2009 at 5:15 pm

    It’s on all price comparison web sites, just look around if you dont think this is the best deal

17. Domenic Says:
    May 17, 2009 at 11:21 pm

    Is that the lowest price for sony dpf v1000 online, or all deals included?

18. Keith J Says:
    May 18, 2009 at 3:41 pm

    Nothing in Costco, couldnt find rebates or coupons

19. Marcus Z Says:
    May 19, 2009 at 8:59 pm

    Not sure, but it’s pretty expensive in Indianapolis area, maybe try Target

20. Dewayne Says:
    May 20, 2009 at 0:38 pm

    None of the stores in Charlotte had it in stock so i had to buy it from ebay