Transcend PF730 digital photo frame

Transcend keeps pushing genres with the PF730. Like the earlier Transcend 720, the PF730 ($129) is not only a digital photo frame, but also a video player, an alarm clock, a calendar, and an MP3 player.

The PF730 is quite stylish with its embossed (white or black) frame, and has a bit more of a sophisticated look than the Transcend 720. You might set the PF730 out, say, on the sofa end table, whereas the 720 (which somewhat resembles a radio) would look more at home in the bedroom or on your dorm room desk. The PF730 lacks the FM audio option of the 720, but still has 2GB of internal memory (which could be quite adequate for your entire slideshow collection).

This frame is simple to use: Just plug in your SD, MMC, or MS card, or a USB flash drive; or transfer images from your PC to the frame's internal memory. The unit's remote is large and readable, and the frame is highly responsive to it. The remote covers it all: You can add photos to your Favorites, adjust volume, and set different modes for photo, video, music, calendar, and slideshow functions.

The PF730's 800-by-600 pixel screen looked crisp and displayed natural-looking photos, albeit with a slightly cool colour cast. You can, however, punch things up with the effective "vivid" mode (the frame offers standard, vivid, and natural modes). If you rotate the frame, the PF730 rotates the photo, almost instantaneously. You may also appreciate, as I did, the unusual and sometimes goofy slideshow transitions (a thumbnail that bounces in to fill the screen, or a photo emerging in the middle of another photo).