download software was a pain, poor usb cable, badly - written manual
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
So we meet an old friend by accident and it's been a while we don't see each other. Probably we want to share our photos with him/her but unfortunately we don't always carry our photo albums all the time, nor PCs nor memory cards where we store them into. Wallet yes, but not many photos we can put in there. What we need in this situation is something small like pocket-sized, can put our photos easily in there, and store many. Will this Coby DP-151 1.5" Digital Photo Keychain be the answer? Let's find out.
Package
I got this as a gift from my friend. In my package: The Digital Photo Keychain Mini CD software USB cable Manual
First impression
When I first opened the package and saw the device, it was like, wow, how cute! The item is 2.25 inches wide, 1.5 inches tall and half an inch thick, silver-white colored, and light to carry. There are three buttons on top of it, and the chain is located on the left side, and looks pretty solid. On the right side I can easily see the USB port.
Operation
By looking it at the first time, what flash my mind is that it is very simple to use. Apparently I was wrong. Well, don't treat this as a usual flash drive that we can simply copy and paste files/folders. It is my mistake trying to think that way, while the operation is so much more complicated than I'd have imagined. I tried to read the manual, but it doesn't help either since it isn't well-written. After several trial and error, here are some tips I'd like to share:
1) Software Installation
* First of all, we need to install the Photo Viewer software in the mini CD. It is mentioned that the software only works with Microsoft Windows 98SE, 2000, XP, Vista, and Mac OS X. Mine is XP and it works despite hours of efforts, but when trying to install to Mac OS X (my friend's) it doesn't seem to work. Turns out it's not Mac compatible. When installing software, I should warn you that you shouldn't plug the device into your computer yet. You will get error message if you do that.
* After installation complete, don't open the software yet. Reboot computer instead.
* Next plug in the device to computer using the provided USB cable. Make sure there's a click (really connected) or else, it cannot detect the device. I think the provided cable is of poor quality, so perhaps you might want to use your own.
* After connecting it, on the keychain screen we will be asked either to charge or update. For first use, select charge. It takes almost all night to charge it for the first time. After finished charging, unplug it then restart computer.
* Plug-in the device (once again, make sure it clicks) and select USB update. If not automatically open, you can open the program manually.
2) Working with the software program
The center of the application screen displays file browsing; you can pick photos from your hard drives or memory cards (supports JPEG, GIF, and BMP image files). Then you can see your selected photos on the right; it is used to store your photos collection, which can only store 62 photos maximum (16 MB built-in memory). It has a counter which can tell how many slot left to be uploaded. There are buttons to change the order of your photos, to save and load collections, and to crop photos to fit size on the keychain display. Oh, yes, I suggest that you crop photos by using the software provided. The cropped ones are as good on the display as the original image. This surprised me since usually lower resolution impacts on low-quality display. I guess it is designed to fit the screen and maintaining the display quality as well. On the left you can see the photos that are already on the device. To move the photos on the right to the left (upload them to the device), press the "transfer" button. It may take some time especially if you load photos quite a lot. And now we are ready to use the keychain.
3) Using the device
Using it is not as complex as installing the software. Simple operation is applied on the device.
* How to turn it on/off To turn it on/off, just simply press the middle button of the three buttons on top of the device for about a second, just like the way we did to cell phone. It's that simple.
* Next/Previous To see the next photo you can press the right button, while the left is to see the previous one.
* Delete photo To delete a photo or all, simply press the right/left button quite long. You will be asked to confirm that you are going to delete it.
* Slideshow If you want to have slideshow, just press the middle button while it's on.
What I have to say about the device
POSITIVE VALUE - It's cheap, about $12 now - Display clarity and color is good for such size and price - Using crop menu enables me to have a lower resolution of the picture. However, in the display it is still as good as the original one - Adequate memory to store many photos - It's small and compact, very convenient to carry - The chain hangs on firmly, protects it from falling - Once the software has been installed and pictures are uploaded, operating the device is quite easy
NEGATIVE VALUE - Recharging the battery will need it to connect to computer. So if you give this to someone, ensure that the receiver has computer - Battery life is not that good. Only holds up for a couple of days. Thus I remind you to turn it off when you're not using it otherwise it will run out faster - The provided plastic screen guard seems having cheap quality. So look for screen protector that really helps you from getting it scratched - Make sure that your computer has mini CD slot. Otherwise you won't be able to install software which in turn makes the keychain useless without software - File transfer rate is slow - Poor USB cable. Use your own instead to make it faster the operation on your computer - Badly-written manual. Reading it makes more confused
To Sum Up
Positive values that should be highlighted are its price, compactness and simple operation on the device (after software is installed). However, these values can't seem to cover-up the whole bundle. It has more bad things than the good, that makes it seem to have cheap quality overall, especially with the software. As you can see, there are so many steps involved working with the software. In other words, software installation is a very hard-working job, very frustrating. But what do you expect from such price?
Anyway here's my suggestion to consider: 1. Before you bought this, or give this as a gift, make sure you or the receiver know some computer stuffs, especially software. If not, then at least you should have someone know about it. 2. Own a computer with mini-CD slot and compatible OS. 3. Beware of the USB cable and battery life. 4. Follow the instructions "very carefully" when installing software.
So, will you prefer using laptop, old photo albums, or wallet for storing pictures and carry them whenever you feel like it, or will you just carry this pocket-sized device with you with lots of photos to show despite the time spent to upload the photos into the device? It's all yours to decide, but as for me, probably not this device. I will look for something similar in design but easier, no kind of software installation, just copy and paste files and it will appear immediately, probably spend a few dollars more but not to be bothered by software. But again, it's yours to decide.
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