A photo frame that's more than a pretty picture
MOST DIGITAL PHOTO FRAMES leave little to talk about: Plug in a memory card, turn it on, and watch it go. With its $250 Wireless Internet Photo Frame (DSM-210), however,
D-Link ups the ante in the photo-frame market by adding a slew of features that work really well.
The DSM-210 features a 10-inch wide-screen display capable of 800x480 resolution. In our tests, the display was vivid and bright, but we wish there were controls to adjust brightness and contrast to suit your tastes and viewing environment. We also felt that a wide aspect ratio was an odd choice for a photo frame, considering that photos are
not captured in 16-to-9 format.
In terms of connectivity, the DSM-210 supports wired 10/100Mbps Ethernet and wireless 802.11g connections. It has 1GB of built-in storage and also accepts auxiliary storage via USB and flash-memory cards. The DSM-210 has a simple, easy-to-use interface
with large and easy-to-understand icons. The unit is primarily controlled by the included
wireless remote.
What is unique about the DSM-210 is its networking capability. Once you connect to your home network, the DSM-210 can stream
photos from a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) server. You can browse a media sewer's folders and stream photos to the frame.
Taking it one step further, the Frame-Channel component offers an absolute wealth of photo-sharing opportunities. Here, you can set up "channels" that interface with popular photo-sharing Web sites. D-Link has also rolled out additional channels such as weather, NFL scores and standings, and even one for Getty Images. You can also set up RSS feeds to stream to
your frame. —Rich Greech
www.dlink.com
Computer Shopper January 2009
December 31, 2008
D-Link Wireless Internet Photo Frame
October 22, 2008
D-Link RangeBooster N Dual Band Router (DIR-628)
Fast, cheap and dual-band device
D-LINK'S NEW RANGEBOOSTER N Dual Band Router (DIR-628) is available from online retailers for less than $100, making it the least expensive dual-band model we've ever tested. Despite its low price, it's also the fastest Draft N router we've ever tested, and it has all the high-end features one would expect from a unit that costs twice as much.
The DIR-628's setup wizard is flawless and very easy to follow; we had no trouble replacing our old router. Once you've finished setup, you can administer your network via a Web browser. While we perfer a program like the one Linksys uses, the D-Link tools are easy to handle, and they provide wizards for almost everything (unless you want to manually configure your settings). And though you can't run 2.4Ghz and GHz networks simultaneously, you can run a "mixed" mode that works with 802.11b/g/n adapters.
For a budget-oriented router, the DIR-628's extraordinary speed is amazing. At 50 feet in 5GHz mode, we transfered a 100MB file in 17 seconds, and a 500MB file in 1 minute and 22 seconds, which is record-breaking. It was equally fast in 2.4GHz mode, and its range of 175 feet is top of the charts, too.
The D-Link does have a few flaws: It doesn't offer print-server capabilities, Gigabit Thernet ports, or the ability to add USB storage to the network. Despite those drawbacks, however, the DIR-628 still exceeded our expectations by a country mile.-J.N.
source: Computer Shopper October 2008.
www.dlink.com
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