Two digital photo frames that try to do more

The creep of convergence—that is, of devices that take on extra tasks once done by separate, standalone units—has now reached the digital photo frame, with mixed results. Yesterday, we blogged about the Sony DPF-V700, $189, a decent-performing 7-inch frame that's also a fine slide-show player for your HDTV. Today's post covers two more attempts to integrate a digital photo frame with another device: the SmartParts SP8PRT, $279, an 8-inch frame with a built-in printer, and the GE 27956FE1, $130, a 7-inch frame with a built-in cordless phone.

Both are the first of their kind that we've seen and tested in our labs. And an electronic picture frame that does more than just show off digital photos might sound cool—and a seemingly perfect gift for Father's Day or recent graduate.

Unfortunately, neither the SmartParts or the GE digital picture frame fulfills the promise of convergence.

The Smartparts SP8PRT

While the frame's screen that scored good in overall quality, and performed especially well in contrast, the dye-sublimation printer produced 4x6 prints that were only fair. Some looked soft, while others were marred by color bleeding or blotching in areas of solid color, such as blue skies.

These problems likely result from inconsistent alignment of the images' three color layers. Prints make four passes through a dye-sub printer, one for each of the yellow, magenta, and cyan colors, followed a final pass to apply a clear, protective coating. The three color layers need to be aligned correctly for the print to look sharp and for the color to look good.

The printer has other drawbacks. Protruding from the back of the unit, it makes the SmartParts more than twice as thick (at 4.1 inches) as other frames we've tested. It also makes the frame weigh a hefty 5.5 lbs. And prints don't come cheap—they run 42 to 56 cents apiece, depending on the price of the cartridge ($15-$20 for 36 prints).

The bottom line: The Smart Parts isn't bad as a photo frame, but its printer falls enough short of the mark as to make the device a dubious buy, even for those who seek a single device to display and print their photos. For about $100 less than this SmartParts, you could buy a standalone frame with better image quality—very good overall, rather than merely good—that was lighter and slimmer to boot. Our current Ratings of photo frames (available to subscribers) include three 8-inch models priced around $180. And if you really want a portable printer, $100 is about what you'd need for one of the more modestly priced, high-performing models featured in our latest Ratings of snapshot printers (also available to subscribers).

The GE 27956FE1 PhotoPhone

The frame's screen was unimpressive. It scored fair in overall quality. Its low resolution showed jaggedness along edges and only fair color reproduction. It also has a widescreen, 16:9 ratio, similar to an HDTV. That's fine for photos shot with a digital camera that supports a wide format, but for the squarer images most cameras produce, it forced you to either stretch the pictures or display them on less than the full screen. We didn't test the phone's performance; we'll include it in our next Ratings of cordless phones (available to subscribers).

The GE did have an interesting feature: It can provide photo caller ID (displaying a photo of the caller) if you have caller ID service from your provider.

The bottom line: Even if a frame/phone combo is truly an idea whose time has come (and that remains to be seen), the GE isn't a good choice.

—Terry Sullivan