Much like cell phones, GPS units, and just about every other electronic device under the sun, digital picture frames seem to snowball more and more features every month. While earlier tricks such as playing MP3s and displaying RSS feeds have been quaint, really useful features have been quite elusive.
LG takes one step closer to a truly useful and multifunctional LCD frame with its DP889 8-inch portable photo frame, which just doesn’t do static images – it does DVDs. At home, it’s a stationary centerpiece for photos, and on the road, it’s a portable entertainment system to stave off boredom and the snoring of the guy next to you.
Since not many people want to carry a wood-trimmed picture frame onto a plane, switch off Grandma and turn on Transformers, LG’s designers have done their best to make the DP889 fit in as both a picture frame and a portable DVD player. Its flat face and gloss-black bezel would look at home on an end table, but its rounded edges and smooth profile also give a comfy-to-hold look more common to PMPs. Most of the controls have been relocated to the side where they are less conspicuous, and its DVD player functionality has been disguised best of all – it cracks open down the middle to reveal the interior disc reader.
Image Courtesy of LG
Adding to its repertoire of travel-friendly features, the frame also gets dual headphones jacks for splitting with a friend, speakers for playing out loud, a car charger for keeping its 3.5-hour battery topped off, and A/V outputs for connecting it to a TV at your destination and getting a more cinematic experience. LG even includes a full-function mini remote for navigating DVD menus and performing other features without having to fiddle with the handful of tiny buttons on its side.
Image Courtesy of LG
Though movie-watching will be the main attraction of its internal DVD player, LG also designed the unit to read a number of other file formats off discs, turning it into something of a 4.7GB storage drive. It will handle MP3s, WMAs, JPEGs, and even conventional CDs. And if that storage won’t cut it, there’s also an internal 256MB, plus an SD/MMC slot and USB port allows its memory to be expanded ever further with flash cards and USB keys.
Perhaps the most alluring aspect of the DP889, besides the appeal of having one less travel gadget to store when you’re at home, might be its retail price of $280. That’s only a hair more expensive than an ordinary digital photo frame or portable DVD player with the same specs, and it should essentially do the job of both. More information on the DP889 can be found at LG’s home page.
