Review: Kodak EasyShare D830

Written on Oct 10, 2009 by MKowalski and filed under Kodak, Reviews

Editor’s Note – Kodak makes two frame in this series, the D830, which we have reviewed below, and a 10″ model, the EasyShare D1030. Aside from the size of the display, all other specs are the same.

Kodak’s EasyShare D830 is a basic 8-inch digital picture frame that’s perfect for users seeking a great display, easy-to-use photo viewing, and no frills. As the D830 demonstrates, though, “no frills” doesn’t have to mean plain, ugly, or boring. With classic, go-anywhere styling, a nifty touch interface that succeeds in combining form and function, and an innovative approach to interchangeable frames, the EasyShare D830 is a solid option for photo enthusiasts and general consumers alike.

Build and Design

The Kodak EasyShare D830 is a traditionally styled photo frame with a faux double mat, a replaceable dark wood surrounding frame, and an 8-inch LCD. With the supplied wood surrounding frame, the D830 is stylistically versatile enough to blend in in most home or office settings.

Traditional not your style? No problem. With the D830 Kodak has finally hit upon an interchangeable-frame concept that doesn’t require users to purchase specialized surrounding frames from the digital frame’s manufacturer. Instead, the D830’s display unit is thin enough at the edges to accomodate fitment into most standard 8×10 picture frames.

I tested the device with several frames, and in most cases, users should be able to fit the digital display to the standard 8×10 frame of their choosing – though it’s often a tight fit. Still, kudos to Kodak for rethinking the whole idea of interchangeable frames.

Like the recently review Kodak S730, the D830 does away with all visible controls on the front of the device, and sports a single control button on the back. In their place, the S830 utilizes Kodak’s Quick Touch Border system – a series of touch-responsive “soft” buttons (indicated by LEDs) that appear in the frame’s inner mat area, and correspond to options in bottom and sidebar menus that pop up on the screen when the border is touched.

The system’s operation is unchanged from previous versions that we’ve reviewed in the past. Tap the control area of the frame and the buttons’ LED indicators appear next to a list of on-screen options that varies depending on which display mode you’re in. A pair of arrows at the bottom of the display also appear when the touch system is activated, providing dedicated scrolling controls. As before, this arrangement is easy to figure out, easy to use, responds quickly, and generally performs quite well. My only (minor) complaint is that the frame’s Quick Touch Border interface means the silver and white inner and outer “mats” that surround the display itself are not replaceable/interchangeable as well.

On top of the display unit itself, you’ll find the D830’s sole control button – used to cycle the device through its various display modes – as well as the display’s main power button. Particularly astute readers may notice that compared to the S730, the D830 lacks a dedicated volume rocker switch: that’s because unlike Kodak’s higher-end frames, the basic D830 doesn’t support video or slideshow audio playback.

On the frame’s lefthand side, you’ll find all of the device’s connection options. Two separate card slots – one for SD/SDHC and xD card types, the other for Sony Memory Stick variants – cover all of the current camera memory formats except the larger CF cards still used in many advanced cameras. A single USB port can be used in host mode, allowing users to pull pictures directly from USB flash drives.

The D830 features a plastic kickstand-style support, which clips into an adjustable bracket on the back of the display unit. The stand locks in solidly, and can be rotated 90 degrees to allow for portrait-orientation viewing in addition to the default landscape mode. Similarly, the frame’s display unit provides nail recesses for wall-mounting the device in either orientation. Overall, the D830 display unit’s mostly plastic construction is good to excellent, evidencing the kind of quality we’d expect from an established player like Kodak. The included user manual is, like the frame itself, fairly basic: essentially it’s just a quick-start guide. Given that this frame doesn’t pack in a slew of functions and options, though, it’s probably more than enough for purchasers with basic tech knowledge.

Memory/Picture Sources

As noted, the D830 sports a pair of memory card slots and a USB port. Kodak doesn’t supply a USB cable (or, for that matter, any file management software) with this frame, but if you can scrounge one up, the D830 can also be connected directly to a computer; the frame appears as a mass-storage device, allowing users to directly manipulate files stored on the internal memory.

Speaking of memory, the D830 sports 512MB of built-in image storage. In order to make the most of this space, the frame is set up by default to resize pictures to screen size when you transfer them from USB drives or memory cards into internal storage. Hence Kodak’s claim that the D830 can store 4,000 images, give or take. (If you’d rather the frame leave your shots at their full, unaltered size, automatic resizing can be disabled via a menu option.)

When a card or flash drive is inserted, the D830 automatically jumps into slideshow mode, displaying pictures from the new memory source first. Easy-to-use single and multiple select options make pulling files from external to internal memory a relatively quick and painless process.

Display Modes

Like the similar S730, the D830 features four basic display modes: slideshow, collage, clock, and calendar (plus the ability to view single pictures and videos). If pictures are loaded into the internal memory or an external memory source is inserted, the device defaults into slideshow mode. Several options exist for tweaking your slideshow, including the ability to choose transitions, set how long you want each image to stay on the screen, shuffle the order of playback, and set images to play back in chronological order (newest to oldest, or oldest to newest, based on each shot’s EXIF data).

The D830’s multi-shot automatic collage mode is identical in this implementation to the function on other current Kodak frames. It’s a nice, visually interesting display mode, and a feature that sets Kodak’s frames – even basic ones like the D830 – apart. As before, you can’t change the layout of images within the collage, but you can adjust how frequently new shots are transitioned in.

The D830 also provides basic but attractive clock and calendar modes that use a split-screen display arrangement.

As noted previously, there’s no provision for either video or audio playback on this device.

Menu System

Having reviewed several Kodak frames in the last year, I’ve become familiar with Kodak’s Quick Touch Border interface. Having spent a fair amount of time with this control arrangement, I can say with some certainty that it’s a system that grows on you the more you use it. As an interface, it’s far from perfect: the soft buttons can be laggy or completely unresponsive at times, and the icons used in the sidebar menus are occassionally confusing. All of that said, the system is a vast improvement over the majority of photo frame interfaces out there, and once you get beyond it’s few quirks (you press the “Menu” icon to go up a level in the system, for instance), it’s a very functional control system.

Ditto the menus themselves, which are thoughtfully laid out and relatively condensed compared to the menus in many competitive devices. One press of the main menu icon provides access to the majority of the frame’s options, allowing you to switch modes, select a limited group of photos for playback or copying, change the memory source photos are being pulled from, or configure basic frame options. Equally appreciated is the fact that the settings sub-menu contains all of the frames ten or so setup parameters in a single list, eliminating the need to wade through submenus to track down a specific option. With the D830, what you see is what you get.

Display

The D830’s display is an 8-inch TFT unit. The standard 4:3 aspect ratio display touts some solid specs, including a 500:1 contrast ratio and 270 NIT brightness. Controls are more limited, however, with the D830 providing the option to adjust the display’s brightness only.

In terms of performance, the D830’s screen stands up well other devices in this class, providing excellent side-to-side viewing angles, and better than average up-and-down viewability as well. Colors are bright, deep, and appropriately saturated by default, and can be further enhanced by enabling Kodak’s trademark “Perfect Touch” color enhancement option. Overall, when it comes to the task of displaying photos, the D830’s screen turns in a solid performance that should please serious photogs and family snapshooters equally well.

Extra Features

As has been alluded to throughout, the D830 doesn’t have a lot to add in this area, and if you’re looking for the latest flashy technology or connectivity gimmickry, the EasyShare probably isn’t the right choice. In fact, besides the aforementioned Perfect Touch system and collage mode, the only “extra” feature that really distinguishes this frame is its ability to fit the display unit to standard 8×10 frames.

Conclusion

Without a long list of bonus features and sophisticated technology, you might be led to believe that the D830 fails to impress. When it comes to the basics, though, this frame excels in the fact that it doesn’t surprise. Frames that promise a lot often fail to impress when they don’t live up to their bold claims. The D830 is just the opposite: it doesn’t promise much in terms of features, but it won’t give a user headaches trying to perform basic tasks like loading new photos, deleting old ones, rearranging slideshows, and. It’s this “set it and forget it” simplicity, in fact, that makes the D830 one of the more straightforward, pleasant, and appealing frames out there. For a frame with few advanced features, the D830’s $140 price tag may be a little steep, but even so, I’m betting many users will think the EasyShare’s versatile styling and straightforward simplicity justify the extra expense.

Pros:

- Couldn’t be easier to use
- Display works with most 8×10 picture frames
- Crisp, vibrant display
- Nice collage mode

Cons:

- Few extras for the price
- No audio/video playback
- Quick Touch interface lags at times

Editor’s Rating – 4 out of 5 stars