In days gone by if you wanted to display your favourite photos then you had two choices, you either placed all the photos in big clumsy albums which you could pass round to visitors to browse through in turn or you could have dozens of photo frames all around your living room making the place look very, very cluttered.

These days with digital cameras we all have even more images to display and now thankfully we also have a new way to display them. The digital photo frame has been around for a while now but they are coming down in price and improving in quality so much so that they are soon going to be the thing no house can be without.

If you are going to go for a digital photo frame then you will want to look out for a few things, you will obviously want one that looks good, you will want one that can take a large memory card and you will want one that has a vivid, high resolution display so your pictures always look their best. Well to save you hunting around I will let you know what one you want and that is the Sony DPF-V700.

Sony has only recently started producing these frames but as with everything Sony, they like to enter the market with something bigger and better than what is already around and they have done it with these frames.

They have a huge display resolution of 800x480, which is about twice what their rivals have to offer and that resolution is offering an image not far from what you would get viewing your photos on disc on a DVD player and although the 7 inch viewing screen may sound small it is more than adequate.

The V700 also has the ability to scale photos down from up to 48MB, which is great if you plan to upload straight from your digital camera, the frame can deal with JPEGS and RAW image files without the need for them to be resized and downscaled in a time consuming session on the PC.

As well as all that and their stunning piano black good looks they also have Bluetooth compatibility with an optional adapter, and HDMI outputs. As well as being a great way to display your images they are also a mini editing studio also, the V700 can correct redeye and allow for exposure adjustment.

It also has a built in image detector that will flip the photo automatically so it will always be viewed the correct way round whether in portrait or landscape mode.

I recently treated myself to one of these for my studio (I am a pro photographer for those of you that did not know) and it is very useful for clients to be able to sit and watch some of my work pass before their eyes as they either wait to have a shoot done or just to discuss having one done.

The images are very clear to view and as they are also very fast to upload to the frame, if I do a particularly good shoot that day I can quickly add them to the frame between clients, I can upload a 14 megapixel image to this straight from the camera in around 2 seconds and as it allows you to build albums internally I can keep all my shoots in order too.

These frames are very robust also and I would imagine they can take a bit of abuse, perhaps from grandkids bumping them about and the likes and as with most things Sony they come with a year's guarantee that can be extended to three for a small price (with these it is £39).

They accept digital images from Memory Stick PROTM, Memory Stick PRO DuoTM, SD Memory Card, MMC, Compact Flash, Microdrive® and xD-Picture Card. Photos can also be transferred to the frames via the USB cable from a personal computer or digital camera.

The only thing I did not like about this frame at first was the fact that it has an internal memory of only 512mb so once you return the memory card to the camera you have to rely on that small space to store all the images you want to display but as I mentioned earlier in the review this frame automatically re-sizes and this means you get the best out of the 512mb and I have quickly found that this will allow the storage of up to 800 images, so I have quickly gotten over that first disappointment.

As I am using it in the studio I have no problem with the Sony badge on the front of this but I can see where some people are coming from when they say that this is ok for TV`s and the likes but has no place on a photo frame, perhaps this might put some people off but it is a small price to pay for such a great piece of equipment and I am personally always happy to show I use Sony stuff as it is the best.

These frames are available in both black and white and will cost you around £130 depending on where you buy it this will vary slightly. If you have a Sony Bravia TV then you want to try to get one of these that was produced after spring 2008 because then your Sony Bravia remote control will sync with it allowing you to view and arrange your pictures by remote control from your favourite seat (isn't technology wonderful)!

If these are on your shopping list for Christmas or if you are just looking for one for yourself then I doubt you will find a better one, it looks great, it display`s images in unbelievable quality, it is one of the few that offer you the chance to connect to your TV and view the photos in giant size, it has the added options of a calendar display and a clock on view when using as a slideshow or otherwise and it comes highly recommended by me!

Thanks for reading!

© thebigc1690