Photos and a weather station, all in one

Pros: Nice design; Simple, fast controls.

Cons: Weather station can be distracting; Screen quality not great.

Bottomline: Although quality is not great, the price is not too high either.

Manufacturer: Polaroid

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The Polaroid XSU-00770B is unique among all the photo frames we've reviewed in that, in addition to the 7in screen for displaying images, it also includes a weather station built in to the bottom of the frame.

What that means in practice is that it displays the temperature and humidity (along with a simple humidity-based rain forecast) both inside and outside the house. The box contains a separate transmitter that needs to be fixed somewhere outside, such as inside the shed, to pick up and transmit outdoor conditions to the frame. There's also a remote control and power plugs for the UK and Europe.

Although the box claims the frame supports virtually all memory cards, the significant one missing is Compactflash, so digital SLR users won't be able to directly view images from their cameras' memory cards, unless they use one of the other supported formats.

While what looks like a pair of speakers is built into the rear, there's no capacity for playing music or video files, and that means the controls are fairly simple, limited to simply setting up and viewing the slide show. It can be wall mounted and comes with its own kick-stand built into the back of the frame. Unlike many frames, controls are fast and responsive, making navigating through pictures quite easy.

The USB port allows for connection of a USB storage device, should you have pictures on one of those.
The weather section looks distracting and unattractive from the picture on the box, but in use it's relatively inconspicuous. The real problem with the frame is its screen quality.

The resolution is a poor 480x234 pixels (for comparison, this is just 0.1 megapixels, some 100 times lower than a modern digital camera), so images appear extremely blotchy and pixellated. It's better from further away (at 3-4ft quality is much improved) but this frame isn't one for close-up viewing.