15. Sungale ID800WT Digital Picture Frame

Sungale ID800WT Digital Picture Frame

Not all college students get homesick. But even those who don’t could appreciate photo (and video) reminders of hometown friends and family. Unlike those static rotating-image digital picture frames, Sungale’s ID800WT goes online to connect to photo albums stored on sites like Picasa and videos from YouTube channels.

Beyond that, the frame loads up Internet radio stations, RSS news feeds, stock quotes, Gmail, and traffic and weather reports. The 8.0" screen can also display a clock or calendar and play back music over basic speakers, rather than showing off a constant data feed. By functioning as all of these tools, the Sungale screen might end up making efficient use of valuable dorm room desk real estate. Depending on the student’s needs, this multi-tasking functionality could help offset the expensive price of this frame, which is, after all, a luxury and not a must-have.

If you are shopping for a frame, we like this one better than most. Other Internet-connected frames have suffered from interface and navigation problems with glitch-ridden directional pads or scrolling screen-based keyboards. This frame avoids all that with an 800x600 touch screen (there are also navigation buttons on the back if you opt not to use the touch screen). Viewing angles are excellent—another common deficiency of these frames—and the colors it produces are vibrant.

If this frame finds itself in a location without an Internet connection, it won’t be useless. With onboard memory of 512 MB, and a 5-in-1 flash card slot, it can function as a simple picture frame, too.

• Sungale 8" Wifi Touch...
• • OfficeMax
  • $179.99