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WILLIE STYLEZ TECH REVIEW: HP DreamScreen - IS IT "More than just a photo frame" (I think we have Marketing Liars)
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via news.cnet.com

Reminds me of Sony DASH but slimmer and already (far as I know) offering more content/software. {{turns out this is NOT the case, see below}} I wouldn't mind having one... if it weren't for the fact that I have a Moto DROID and a desk stand that makes my DROID do all the things this does AND MORE! SMH! I LOVE Technology! But I think the price point "excuse" for using 800x480 would be acceptable IF the unit only cost $100! But we would come out better buying a Dell Mini 10 for $300 & doing A LOT MORE than this thing can do! Yes, it would not be touchscreen... but WHO CARES! PLUS with another $200, you could get the iPad (I shutter to think I'd ever buy one of those) and still get a similar screen size with better resolution & again MORE FUNCTIONALITY AND multitouch (which I'm sure this digital frame will lack)! So this price point is probably going to KILL this device! Good luck HP... NOT!

As I stated a little earlier, turns out this thing is NOT all that HP's Marketing Dept cracked it up to be!!! Read this excerpt from a review I found on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/review/R3I6X6BID4QQFM/ref=cm_cr_rev_detup_redir?_encodi...):

Downright Lies
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The following quotes are from the HP site itself:

"The HP DreamScreen is a gateway to the Internet using your wireless network to access
weather info, Snapfish and your favorite web destinations."

This is just untrue. There is no integrated web browser. It has three web `apps' on it: SnapFish, Pandora, Facebook. That's it. It does not read RSS feeds, or do much of anything you probably want it to do, simple things like display news or recipes.

"Stay current with social network sites like Facebook"

`Like' facebook? There is only Facebook: nothing else.

"Be organized with a built-in alarm clock & calendar."

This is laughable. Wondering how to sync the calendar with outlook or google or anything; maybe even just add appointments, I finally consulted their online documentation. Here, seriously, is the feature list for the calendar `app':

"View the current month, press right or left to view the next or previous month."

BWAH HA HA HA... *sigh*

"Touch-enabled controls--Get fast, easy access to information and entertainment with simple touch controls embedded in the display"

This is referring to some buttons around the bezel of the screen and is just so untrue they would have to change the marketing campaign in Europe or get sued. This does however remind me of the old In Living Color sketch where the handcapped superhero always says he is `not handicapped, but HANDY-CAPABLE!'.

"Videos--Watch home movies and video clips in full screen - Its simple!"

It's as simple as taking your video, recompressing it to a supported video codec, resizing it to a specific resolution, and then physically transferring it ot the device -so simple grandma could do it! (with gordian knot, virtualdub, CCCP, and all those other video tools she has)

Filed under: Computers Digital Frames Digital Picture Frames FAIL HP Technology review wifi
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