The Photo Mail is being pitched as one of the easiest frames to use. Each frame will have a dedicated email address to receive pictures. When new photos show up, the frame owner chooses to accept or reject them. The entire transaction is handled seamlessly over the AT&T cellular network, so users don’t need a wireless or wired Internet connection in their home. The photos that get emailed to the frame go into a Snapfish account where they can be managed. Users can also order prints or other keepsakes.

Aside from the email capability, the Photo Mail features an 8″ LED-lit screen with standard aspect 800×600 pixel display. The frame also has 1GB of internal storage, multi-card reader (CF, SD, xD, MS), memory optimization mode, calendar, clock and alarm functions and programmable on/off times. The frame also handles multimedia files including AVI video files and MP3 music.

The Pandigital Photo Mail will be available later this year for a suggested $149.99. This price includes the ability to receive 300 photos. After that users will have to buy additional allotments form Pandigital for an unspecified price.

Not so long ago, if you wanted a touch screen in your digital photo frame, you had to settle for the fact that said frame would be bigger and bulkier than its touch-free brethren. As a rule, it was reasonable to expect that a frame would either have lots of novel tech, or that it would have the sleek look of a traditional photo frame – but finding both in the same package was usually too much to ask.

Pandigital is just the latest manufacturer to buck this trend in 2009 with the launch of the ultra-thin, touch-screen equipped Pantouch Clear series. With gift giving season upon us, could the Pantouch Clear be the sleek melding of form and function that you’ve been waiting for?

Build and Design

Baby brother of the 10.4-inch Pantouch Clear that garnered a fair bit of tech buzz when it launched earlier in the year, the 8-inch Pantouch Clear (officially, the less than elegantly named PAN8000DWPCF1) sports the same innovative touch-screen technology as its larger sibling.

While nothing about the frame screams “touch screen” at first glance, it’s hard not to notice just how thin this device is. Like many newer frames, the Pantouch Clear models utilize a display unit that’s complete separate from the actual frame – in much the same way that a picture sits inside a traditional photo frame. And with the Pantouch Clear’s display components coming in at well under half an inch thick, this frame looks appreciably less awkward than most of its digital counterparts hanging on a wall.

In theory, thumbscrews that retain the display unit in the frame mean that the Pantouch Clear should allow users to swap out the supplied dark brown surround for a different version. In practice, however, sensors for the device’s touch system are embedded into the frame itself (which explains the Mini USB connection from frame to display unit), meaning that if you want the touch controls to work, not just any frame will do.

The Pantouch Clear’s specific touch implementation is unique in the digital picture frame world: rather than using touch-sensitive borders or mats (a la Kodak) or even the touch-responsive LCDs seen on some other frames, the Pantouch Clear allows the entire display area to respond to finger input by building touch response into the glass panel that covers the display itself. As noted, a series of sensors built into the frame itself collect touch data from anywhere on sheet of glass that sits above the mat. This unique approach allows this device to incorporate full-screen touch technology without compromising the look and feel of a traditional glass-over-photo picture frame.

Stylistically, the decision to incorporate touch technology in this way also allows the Pantouch Clear to boast interchangeable mats. The box comes stocked with three choices: a conventional “full coverage” cream-colored mat, as well as cream and grey half-mats that leave a strip of clear glass between the mat and the edge of the frame.

The only potential downside to this more modern look, however is that the clear strip allows you to see through to the frame’s power cord connection and card slots.

A rotating, retractable stand makes the Pantouch Clear ready for desktop use, and a supplied stand extension allows further adjustment of the frame’s viewing angle (especially important for using the device in portrait mode, where the attached stand is barely long enough to hold up the device even when fully extended). Nail recesses allow for wall mounting in either landscape or portrait orientation. There’s also a Mini USB connection on the back of the device, allowing direct-to-computer connections with the supplied cable.

The Pantouch Clear sports touch-screen as well as remote control, but that didn’t stop designers from including a slate of five control buttons for basic function access on the display unit’s top panel.

The right-hand side of the device hosts most of the frame’s connections, with a multi-card slot supporting the common smaller media as well as a separate Compact Flash reader, and a full-size USB port for directly connecting flash drives to transfer images. On the opposite side, you’ll find the frame’s main power switch and volume wheel.

Memory/Picture Sources

With a pair of card readers, dual USB connections, and even optional Wi-Fi, the Pantouch Clear gets serious about getting images, videos, and music from wherever they currently live onto this device. The smaller multi-card reader supports the standard formats – SD/SDHC, xD, and Memory Stick – although it should be noted that Memory Stick support is limited to the larger MS formats: you’ll have to provide your own adapter if your camera shoots on Sony’s smaller “Duo” Memory Stick formats.

DSLR users will also be happy to learn that Pandigital has thoughtfully supplied a CF slot – an increasingly unusual touch in photo frames these days. Of course, pulling files from USB flash drives is also an option, and the Pantouch Clear seemed to have little trouble finding supported files regardless of where they resided in the drive’s file structure. Likewise, connecting the device to a computer via the supplied USB cable worked flawlessly: the Pantouch Clear appeared as a mass storage device, allowing me to directly manipulate the contents of the frame’s memory to my liking.

When it comes to memory, the Pantouch Clear packs in a lot of it. A full gigabyte to be exact, which Pandigital claims is enough to store more than 6,000 images. Assuming you leave the frame set to its default automatic resizing option (which converts all imported images to screen resolution before saving them) this should be a fair estimate of the Pantouch Clear’s capacity, and even if you opt to copy over full-size files instead, 1 GB should permit the storage of hundreds if not thousands of shots. Of course, given that the frame also handles video and audio formats, that extra bit of storage space is a nice plus.

Display Modes

The Pantouch Clear sports five basic functions in its main menu, with playback for photos, videos, and music, as well as a clock/calendar function and a unique if unusual “Recipe” mode (more on that in a later section). Of course, most users will spend most of their time in the photo playback mode, which works very much like similar modes on other devices. The Pantouch Clear utilizes a slideshow approach to photo playback by default, though users can opt to view all photos on a particular memory source as thumbnails instead by clicking the “Manage” option.

Overall, the frame offers a nice array of options for slideshow presentation, including the ability to add background music, select from a dozen or so frame-to-frame-transitions, and set how long each image holds on the screen.

In another nice touch, users can also put the slideshow on a time-specified schedule by selecting the “Run Program” option in playback mode – a great option for commercial or retail use. There’s also a separate sleep mode option for powering off the frame automatically. Conversely, I found the slideshow options a bit difficult to configure: the frame’s touch interface requires you to click through each option in a list one at a time (rather than providing a drop-down menu), meaning simple tasks like changing the transition style or shot-to-shot interval can become more involved than they should.

Video and audio playback are equally intuitive, though the demarcation between the playback and management areas in these two modes is somewhat less clear. The Pantouch Clear had not problem smoothly playing back MP3 audio loaded to its internal memory, and even handled common-format video files from an SD card without concern. As expected, audio quality is a little “canned” in both cases, and can sound extremely muffled with the frame hanging on the wall. The Pantouch Clear’s physical volume control dial is also somewhat inconveniently located for quick access – especially when the frame is wall mounted.

A basic but attractive clock/calendar mode rounds out the Pantouch Clear’s complement of mode choices. Options for changing the look and feel of this mode are somewhat limited, but users can set alarms or reminders via the touch interface – a nice addition for desktop or bedside use.

Menu System

Although the frame has physical controls as well as a remote, navigating the Pantouch Clear’s menus mostly requires dealing with the frame’s touch interface. Compared to other touch screens we’ve reviewed, Pantouch’s system is innovative in design, but somewhat less functional in practice – often requiring several attempts to get a press to register. This, combined with a slight but apparent lag, hardly makes the frame unusable, but can be a bit obnoxious if you’re wading deep into the menus.

On that note, the menu system itself also proves to be a little clunky (there’s no direct way to get from a running slideshow straight to the main menu, for instance). For quick access to basic functions, the back-mounted physical controls or the frame’s remote are actually easier to deal with than the touch interface. Moreover, the menu is multi-layered and circular at times, though to Pandigital’s credit, it’s also attractively laid out with relatively clear options. In short, the menu system is a mixed bag: it’s certainly not among the most difficult interfaces I’ve dealt with, but it does lack the polish and careful planning that tends to separate good devices from exceptional ones.

Display

Beneath its glass touch-responsive layer, the Pantouch Clear sports an 8-inch conventional LCD. At 800×600, resolution is par for the course in this class of devices, and the Pantouch Clear opts for the familiar 4:3 aspect ratio common to shots from most consumer digital cameras as well.

Colors are bright and vibrant, although I did note that contrast wasn’t as strong – even after making some adjustments – on this frame as on some others we’ve looked at. Having a touch-responsive glass panel over the top of the display is also a mixed blessing: I, for one, prefer the more traditional look of a frame with a glass overlay, but it’s undeniable that the sheet can cause severe glare depending on viewing angle and room lighting conditions. Plus, there’s the added concern of fingerprint smudges, which proved distracting after even moderate use. To the Pantouch Clear’s credit, the display features user-adjustable brightness, contrast, tint, and color. But with slightly soft colors and relatively poor viewing angles, the Pantouch Clear’s display is a mixed bag at best.

Extra Features

If we gave out awards for “Strangest Extra Feature” on a digital photo frame, the Pantouch Clear might well be in the hunt with its built-in cookbook. That’s right: the frame comes pre-loaded with recipes from several popular magazines, and you can add more by – how else? – purchasing them online. Of course, the recipes themselves are nothing more than image files stored in a special folder on the frame’s memory, and while this seems like one of those things that few users would ever have the desire to take advantage of, it’s conceptually interesting, at least.

In the same vein, the Pantouch Clear also features optional Wi-Fi – via a wireless radio module that can be purchased from Pandigital. Unfortunately, our test unit didn’t come so equipped, so I couldn’t say how well the frame’s wireless implementation works, or whether the USB adapter is worth the roughly $30 you’ll have to shell out for one.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the Pantouch Clear is a solid option for anyone looking for touch-screen functionality in a digital photo frame. Neither the most tech-loaded device on the market, nor a bare bones model, Pandigital’s latest shows off a good slate of technology that actually makes sense for most users. The device itself is attractive, modular, and easy to configure, and the few minor nits with the interface’s polish are relatively easy to overlook. In short, it may not be the absolute best touch-screen photo frame of 2009, but the Pantouch Clear has enough nicely implemented nifty-ness to justify the price.

Pros:
- Unique touch-screen approach
- Flawless video and audio playback
- Plenty of memory (and a CF slot too!)
- Configurable with included mats, optional Wi-Fi

Cons:
- Interface can lag at times
- Menus circular, not always clear
- Image quality isn’t top shelf

Rating – 4 out of 5 stars

The Pandigital PhotoLink One-Touch Scanner (PANSCN02) easily scans photos to create high-resolution 1800×1200 pixels and 300dpi digital files. Designed for a less than digital audience, the one-touch scanner simply requires customers to insert the photo into the feeder and push one button to begin scanning.

The scanner accepts photos up to 4×6″ and can save images to a memory card inserted into the multi-card reader (SD/MS/MS-Pro/MMC/XD). The printer is ready to go out of the box, there’s no software to install or connection to a computer required and it comes with a 512MB SD card. The scanner can connect to a computer though via included USB cable to simplify file transfers. 

The Pandigital Photolink Slide & Negative Scanner (PANSCN03) has the same effect as the photo scanner, but handles slides and negatives. Just drop the slide or negative into the scanner and a single button press will save the digital file to an SD card or computer. The PhotoLink Slide & Negative Scanner scans images at 5.1 megapixels and has automatic and manual color balancing and exposure control options for optimum image quality. It also previews the color image when scanning, unlike other slide and negative scanners that typically only allow previews of the negative image.

The PhotoLink One-Touch Print Scanner has a suggested retail price of $129.99, the PhotoLink Slide & Negative Scanner is $99.99. Both units are available now.

Beyond the large LCD panel and Wi-Fi, the big hook with the 10.4″ PanTouch Clear is the “floating LCD” design that the entire Clear line features. We think the design statement is nice, even though it’s somewhat difficult to articulate the difference between this and more traditional designs. The images simply blend more naturally with the frame design and the whole thing feels less like a tech product and more like a home accessory.

The display is also used as a touch interface that incorporates icons that can be touched directly across the entire glass surface of the frame. Pandigital has also applied a layer to the surface to keep it from being marred by fingerprints. 

The 10.4-inch Pandigital PanTouch Clear frame comes with integrated Wi-Fi and is Bluetooth compatible with an add-in USB dongle. Pandigital is yet to specify what online services will be available, but it’s probably safe to assume the usual suspects like Flickr will be supported. We’d also expect either a FrameChannel or Windows Live FrameIt option as most Internet-enabled frames use one of the two free content services.

Other highlights include a standard 4:3 aspect ratio display with 1024×768 pixel resolution. Internally, the frame offers 2GB of storage and a 6-in-1 card reader that supports Compact Flash, SD, XD, MS/MSPro and MMC. Pandigital has also included a mini-USB connection for direct file transfer from a PC. Other features include programmable on/off times and clock and calendar functions. The frame can view JPEG photos, play video (files types not specified) and MP3 music files.

The frame comes with a dark espresso wood frame, as well as white and charcoal interchangeable mats, and a white full-sized mat that covers the glass surrounding glass area to offer an option for those who prefer a more traditional frame style.

The Pandigital PAN1000DWPCF2 will be shipping in May at a suggested retail price of $229.99.

The Pandigital 7-inch Digital Photo Frame (model # PAN7000DW) is a standard frame that offers an 800×600 pixel resolution which is standard aspect ratio. The frame includes a multi-card reader that covers all the bases in addition to built-in memory. The frame also supports multimedia playback. Not bad for a retail price of $99.99.

The new Pandigital PanTouch Clear line of digital photo frames delivers what Pandigital calls “the perception of floating digital images.” We’re not entirely sure what that means, but surely it’s a play to make the photos look more like printed photos than digital. There are 7″ and 8″ models available in this new line, both feature a 4:3 standard aspect ratio and 800×600 resolution. They also both have integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The frames also feature a new stand design that blends in better and they’ve said that they put a lot of work into the interface to make it one of the best on the market. Pandigital has also worked on their touch interface to further aid usability.

Otherwise they both feature 1GB of internal memory, enough to fit over 6000 images. The PanTouch Clear models also have a 6-in-1 digital media card reader (Compact Flash, SD, XD, MS/MSPro, MMC) and support a USB connection as well.

Other goodies include a programmable on/off timer as well as clock and calendar functions. From a multimedia standpoint both can handle video and MP3 files.

The Pandigital PanTouch Clear 8-inch digital photo frame (model # PAN8000DWPCF1) comes with a dark espresso wood frame, as well as white and charcoal interchangeable mats, and a white full-sized mat that covers the glass surrounding glass area to offer a option for customers who prefer a more traditional frame style. It has a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $139.99.

The Pandigital PanTouch Clear 7-inch digital photo frame (model # PAN7003DWPCF1) comes with a dark espresso wood frame, as well as white and charcoal interchangeable mats. It has an MSRP of $119.99.

Update 12/11/09 – Pandigital PanTouch Clear Review Posted

Pandigital has announced four new seasonal recipe collections from Bon Appetit for the Kitchen Technology Center. The KTC combines the capabilities of a digital cookbook, HDTV, digital photo frame and Internet device into a single product for the kitchen.

KTC buyers will be able to choose from four different “Best of Bon Appetit” recipe collections – Winter, Summer, Spring and Fall. Each collection offers dozens of recipes in different categories: Drinks & Appetizers; Soups, Salads & Breads; Meat & Poultry; Seafood & Fish; Meatless Dishes; Sides; and Desserts. Each KTC will come pre-loaded with a selection of popular recipes. Additional recipe collections will be offered on SD cards that can be easily loaded on the KTC at any time.

But it’s the touch interface, which promises to make the experience of viewing shots something akin to thumbing through photos in a traditional photo album according to Pandigital, that first grabbed our attention. Without a lot of broad name recognition at the moment, this manufacturer is clearly hoping to break into the photo frame market the old fashioned way: by building a product that does something few others do. Even though we’re fascinated by the idea of a touch interface, the bigger question with the PanTouch will be whether its basic features and functions are solid.

Pandigital PanTouch PAN8002W02T Quick Specs

• 8” LCD screen
• 800×600 pixels
• 512 MB internal memory
• Built-in card reader supports SD/SDHC, xD, Memory Stick, and CF
• USB and mini USB ports
• Audio/video playback
• Touch interface

Design and Build

Opening Pandigital’s box, you’ll find a frame that for all its claims of uniqueness looks pretty much like most of the other digital picture frames out there. That’s not to say that the frame is unattractive, though. Rather, it has a less modern, more traditional look that’s only recently become common among digital photo frames, but should fit in well in the kinds of household spaces most of us inhabit.

A conventional glass plate – just like the one that sits in front of your printed photos in a regular picture frame – and cream photo mat are held in place with a fairly plain looking molded frame. The PanTouch’s removable bezel isn’t actual wood, but it does a decent imitation. Four thumbscrews allow the frame to be removed for glass and screen cleaning, and make it theoretically possible to swap out the frame for a different one – except for the fact that at the moment, Pandigital isn’t offering replacement bezels in other styles.

The fact that this frame is really nothing more than a digital picture box within a traditional photo frame means that you might, if you were industrious, be able improvise your own interchangeable frame system with this unit as a starting point, but in terms of what’s currently available for purchase, you’re stuck with the look you start with in this case.

Fully assembled, the Pandigital frame runs about 1.5 inches thick, or about par for the course in terms of thickness for an 8” frame these days. Four nail/screw recesses on the back panel allow the frame to be mounted on a wall in either landscape or portrait orientation.

You’ll also find a swing-out “kickstand” for supporting the frame on a table or desktop. The stand can also be positioned to allow for portrait or landscape playback.

In spite of the PanTouch’s relatively light weight, however, all is not well with this frame’s flimsy plastic support leg. On more than one occasion, the frame toppled over on my desk after being lightly bumped. Without much rigidity and with no grip material to help it stick to the desk, the stand allows for a lot of slipping and sliding and makes the frame a little more delicate to deal with than some others I’ve used.

Memory card readers and USB connections, playback/menu controls, a headphone jack/audio out with analog volume control, and the master power switch all reside on the top and sides of the unit, recessed several inches below the edge of the frame itself.

Additionally, the back of the device houses a pair of speakers, allowing users to put their slideshows to music or play back video files with audio.

Memory/Picture Sources

On the back of the display, you’ll find two card readers: one for CF memory, and an additional multi-card slot that handles just about anything else (SD/SDHC, MMC, MemoryStick, and xD-Picture Card). A USB port also allows the Pandigital to serve as a host device and transfer files from USB flash drives.

While the memory connections aren’t easily accessible with the frame hanging on a wall, for instance, it’s nice that memory cards and even most flash drives are hidden from view when looking at the frame head on. A mini USB port for transferring files directly from a computer is less conveniently located on the back of the frame, but we’re guessing that Pandigital assumed most users won’t be connecting their computer with the frame hanging on the wall.

I put the Pandigital frame to the test with SDHC, xD, and CF memory, and had no trouble connecting, viewing, and transferring files from these card types. A flash drive in the frame’s USB host port also worked without a hitch. In each case, Pandigital’s latest doesn’t seem to be particular about where images are located, finding files located several levels down in the USB drive’s file structure. Copying a single file, a selected group, or the entire contents of a card to the frame’s internal memory is as easy as selecting the appropriate menu option in the photo view screen.

Speaking of storage, the frame’s 512 MB of internal memory provides enough storage space for around 500 high-res, moderate compression images. If you’re willing to resize your files to fit the frame’s 800×600 display area, you should be able to store more than 3,000 JPEGs, according to Pandigital. That’s not bad capacity at all for a frame in this class, and file management on the PanTouch couldn’t be much easier with its USB connection: simply connect the frame to your computer with the supplied cable and add or remove images, videos, and audio files as desired.

Display Modes

Powering up the PanTouch, the frame launches into slideshow mode unless you tell it otherwise. There’s no memory function, meaning that the slideshow returns to the top of the list of images whenever the power is cycled. The only problem here is one of startup times, with the PanTouch taking roughly 20 seconds to boot up and display the first image from the time the switch is flipped.

Photos from memory cards or flash drives can be added to the mix instantly by simply inserting the memory type into the frame’s reader. The PanTouch will immediately move to the first image on any connected external memory type before displaying shots from its internal memory (unless shuffle mode is selected, that is).

The PanTouch is a bit weak on slideshow options. While background music – the frame supports MP3s only – can be added, the PanTouch is limited to six slide-to-slide transition effects and three playback speed settings (fast, medium, and slow). Hence, there’s no way to set up this particular model to only change images once every 15 minutes, or once an hour.

With desktop use clearly in mind, the PanTouch also features a Calendar/Clock mode, with a small window that displays the slideshow alongside a month-at-a-time calendar view.

Video playback on digital photo frames tends to be hit or miss, but the PanTouch lands a hit in this case. The frame had no trouble smoothly playing back 640×480 AVI video directly from a memory card; while supported video formats aren’t specified, we were also able to successfully view MPEG clips. And even the audio playback isn’t terrible. The PanTouch is capable of more distortion-free volume than I expected, though the sound is a little thin. Also, because of the position of the speakers on the back panel of the frame, audio is noticeably more muffled when the frame is mounted on a wall than when it’s sitting on a desktop with the speakers able to direct sound outward without obstruction.

Menu System

The 8″ PanTouch’s menu structure is relatively transparent for a digital frame. From the easy to access Home screen, users can get to one of six basic modules: Photos, Music, Video, File, Clock, and Network Photo (if you have Pandigital’s optional Wi-Fi dongle attached).

Jumping into the Photos, Music, or Video areas pulls up thumbnails of all available files of the type indicated by the area name. Viewing photos full-screen or playing back video or audio files is as simple as selecting the appropriate item from the list of available options.

Pressing the “Setup” button from the Home screen calls up a master setup menu with options mostly pertaining to the slideshow. From this menu, users can change slideshow speed or transitions, change video playback settings, specify automatic on/off times for the frame, or even reset all settings to their default values.

In terms of physical interface, you have three methods for controlling what’s going on on this frame: a set of top-mounted buttons, a remote control, and of course the touch interface. Of the three, the five round buttons that sit on top of the display unit itself are by far the least convenient when the frame is set up and in use, as you have to reach behind the bezel to access them – which also means that you can’t easily see which button does what.

The remote control provides redundancy for the top buttons, as well as some additional controls for things like playback volume, in an arrangement that’s much easier for navigating menus.

Pandigital’s generic but easy to use remote was my preferred control style, in fact, until the controller decided to stop working altogether two days into the review. Swapping for a fresh battery did no good. Not a good sign.

As for the touch interface, as it turns out the PanTouch doesn’t actually have a touch screen at all. Rather, the system, which Pandigital calls “Edge Touch”, works like a series of touch-sensitive soft buttons beneath the horizontal and vertical portions of the top right-hand corner of the frame’s mat.

Tap top right corner of the photo mat and you enable the touch system, which mostly just works as a series of directional arrow soft keys to navigate the menus with the same left/right/enter/exit controls found on the back-panel buttons (think the series of five or so soft keys that run down one side of the screen on your bank’s ATM and you’d be on the right track).

Of course, this means that menu control isn’t as simple as touching the option you want to select directly on the Home screen. If anything, having to navigate with the area-specific soft “buttons” is actually less intuitive than just using the remote. As easy as thumbing through pages in a photo album it isn’t, and after the little bit of novelty had worn off, I went back to using the remote and dedicated buttons instead.

Display

The display itself is an 800×600 pixel panel that’s acceptably bright and crisp. Viewing angles are fair to good: there’s practically no color inversion when viewing the frame from side to side, but images tend to invert quickly when looking up or down at the frame at angles greater than around 45 degrees.

Straight out of the box, the PanTouch’s colors looked a little washed out against those from the same images viewed on a computer monitor. Conveniently, the PanTouch allows users to modify screen brightness, contrast, tint, and color by selecting the “Adjust LCD Color” option within the slideshow setup menu. In our case, a little tweak of the brightness setting brought back some vibrancy.

Otherwise, the Pandigital’s display is unremarkable, accurately reproducing the full range of color in even the most vivid images most of the time. I personally find the PanTouch’s traditional glass over mat look appealing, but it should also be noted that the top glass layer, while providing protection for the display itself, can also pick up distracting glare and make on-screen images difficult to see at times. The brighter the room you’re planning to use the PanTouch in, the more this may be a real concern.

Extra Features

The PanTouch has a couple of automatic shutoff options, including the ability to turn the frame on and off automatically at specified times that’s perfect for business uses, as well as a more conventional “sleep timer” that lets you set the frame to sleep automatically in a certain number of hours.

As mentioned above, there’s also a wireless networking option with the PanTouch. To get connected this way, you’ll need to purchase Pandigital’s Wi-Fi adapter, which plugs into the USB host port on the frame. Cost? Currently about $30.

Pros

• Decent internal memory
• Smooth video, audio playback
• Display features color controls

Cons

• Touch interface a bit silly
• Additional frame styles not available

Bottom Line

Ok, so Pandigital’s touch interface is a little bit of a gimmick. But if you can look beyond that, the 8″ PanTouch is a pleasant surprise insofar as it does practically everything else reasonably well. Menus could still be clearer and more logically organized, slideshow options are a bit scarce, and speaker positioning isn’t ideal. But an 8” multimedia frame with a nice display and decent memory capacity for less than $150 doesn’t look like a bad deal to begin with. Factor in the PanTouch’s flexibility in handling file and memory types, its color/contrast controls, and its clean, classy appearance and this model definitely seems to be worthy of serious consideration – touch interface or not.

4 out of 5 stars