Review: GiiNii Slope 8″ Digital Picture Frame

Written on Feb 24, 2009 by Thomas S. and filed under GiiNii, Reviews

The 8” Slope digital picture frame from GiiNii offers high-end features like an 8” 800×600 display, remote control, and multiple memory readers at a low MSRP of $99.99. This model is targeted towards users who don’t demand a lot of features and just want something simple to use.

GiiNii Slope Specifications

• LCD Display: 8″ LCD screen (800 X 600 pixels)
• MMC/SD/MS card slot, CF slot; mini USB port for computer connection, full-size USB port for flash memory sticks
• Built-in speaker for music during slideshows
• Video playback (AVI, Motion JPEG)
• On-board FLASH memory 128MB
• Remote Control 
• Ener-GiiNii power-save modes to conserve energy when the lights go out

Build and Design

The design of the GiiNii 8” Slope is very basic with a black plastic border that has a matte finish. Contrasting the matte finish is a thin glossy edge directly surrounding the display to help break up the blending finishes between the matte border and matte texture display. To keep a clean look, all of the controls are hidden on the back side of the frame. The memory card slots are all located on the rear, mounted vertically through the lower half of the frame. This method keeps the cards hidden when inserted, but requires that you pick up the frame each time you want to put in a new card.

Build quality is average with a sturdy plastic body, but the finish leaves something to be desired. The matte texture easily scuffs from something as simple as a fingernail rubbing against it. After setting up the stand I found many little marks from my fingers that needed some elbow grease to wipe off. Although glossy finishes might scratch easier, they are not as prone to blemishes from something as simple as fingernails swiping it.

The plastic stand has three adjustment points, two for 90-degree mounting it vertical or horizontal, and one to have the frame lean back slightly. All three positions lock securely in place, giving the frame a solid footing on most surfaces. The rear also has two wall mounting points to hang the frame in either horizontal or vertical positions.

Display

The 8” 800×600 display is very good even though this model is considered part of the budget or value line. The matte texture helped to reduce glare in bright rooms, something that glossy displays have a problem with. It is bright enough to be viewable in bright conditions like a living room with sun shining over it through a window. Colors were bright and vibrant, and contrast was great for viewing darker detail.

Viewing angles were average, with great horizontal viewing spans, no matter where in the room you are located. Vertical viewing angles could have been better, with colors inverting and getting darker the lower you went. If you were sitting in a chair with the frame sitting somewhere higher than your eyes, most detail in the image would be lost as the screen distorted. Overall though, the screen quality is well above what we expected in this price range.

Picture and Memory Sources

The GiiNii Slope has four methods of bringing photos in for viewing, which include memory card slots on the back, a USB port for memory sticks and camera connections, and internal storage accessible through a mini-USB port. As soon as you insert image source the frame looks through it for any viewable content and automatically starts a slide show.

While playing content you have the option to copy the image between memory sources, such as pulling a picture off the card from your camera and saving a copy of it to the internal memory for later viewing. As soon as you give the frame power and turn it on, you can plug in any memory source and it will start playing it with no other user input.

Display Modes

The GiiNii Slope offers two main viewing modes; slideshow (in order or random with transitions) and collage mode using preinstalled templates. I used the slideshow mode almost entirely while I was reviewing the frame, since it shows the entire image without any cheesy backgrounds. The slideshow mode has random or in-order playing modes with customizable transition effects and interval times. Some of the transitions include horizontal blind, fade, wipe, split, and melt. You can chose one transition if you want, but I think random mode looks best. Interval times include fast, medium, slow, half hour, and hourly. Medium or slow were fine, but half hour or hourly were way too long for normal photos.

The collage mode worked by rendering two or three images inside another graphic, but the included collage modes were very cheesy. GiiNii included templates for Mother’s Day, Baseball, Golf, and Fishing, with each looking pretty weird. Collage mode also seemed to lag, as it took time to render each image inside the template.

The Slope is also capable of playing back audio with a slideshow and can handle video as well (AVI, Motion JPEG). The quality of the playback is about what we expected, a bit middling as most frames are, but still to have these features at all in a value-oriented frame is a nice touch.

Menu System

The menu system is easy to navigate using the supplied remote control or the controls mounted on the back of the frame. The menu is clearly laid out and when you press one of the navigation buttons a screen overlay pops up so you can use the buttons of the back of the frame without needing to look at them.

The menu layout felt clunky at times if you wanted to change certain settings during a play mode, having the exit back to the first screen, then entering the setup area. Almost all of the settings are self-explanatory so you don’t need to worry about digging out the manual to figure something out. Overall it wasn’t the best looking interface, but since most people won’t need to adjust something on a daily basis, it didn’t need as much effort put into it.

Extra Features

The Slope has a power saving “Ener-GiiNii” mode that can be set to automatically turn the frame on and off at set times in the day or using a light sensor to turn off when the lights go out. This helps cut down on power usage in the long run and if nothing else means you don’t have a screen shining in the middle of the night in your living room. Every frame should have an auto shutoff feature and we love that GiiNii included it with the Slope.

Pros

• Nice high-resolution screen
• 4:3 format won’t crop your pictures
• Power saving modes are helpful if you won’t want to manually turn the frame on and off each day
• Sturdy stand with secure locking positions
• Built-in speaker great to play a little music along with your photos

Cons

• Matte plastic trim scuffs easily
• Collage modes look cheesy

Bottom Line

The 8” GiiNii Slope doesn’t bring all of the fancy Internet features some of the newer Wi-Fi enabled picture frames do, but it does have a high resolution screen and simplistic interface. Most online retailers currently sell this frame for around $80, which works well in most budgets. The build quality was pretty good, having some faults like the scuff prone plastic trim, but overall it was a solid device. If you are in the market for a frame that’s easy to get along with and doesn’t skimp on the display, the GiiNii Slope would be a good option to consider.

4 out of 5 stars

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