Go to Windows 7 Insider GuidePhilips AJL308 Digital Clock and Photo Frame (7 inch)
Manufacturer: Philips Consumer Electronics Part number: AJL308
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Marrying a clock radio with a digital photo frame is an awesome concept, but the Philips AJL308 needs to be improved upon before it becomes the perfect union.
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Where to buy
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| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/02/2009 |
CNET editors' review
Philips AJL308 Digital Clock and Photo Frame (7 inch) price range: $74.95
- Reviewed by: David Carnoy
- Edited by: David Katzmaier
- Reviewed on: 01/02/2008
- Released on: 10/20/2007
The good: The Philips AJL308 is both a clock radio and a digital photo frame, and it's got a fairly sleek look to it. It plays back MP3 and WMA audio files, as well as MPEG4 and DivX video files from thumbdrives and SD/MMC memory cards. Some users may appreciate the included novelty alarms and "relaxation" sleep modes.
The bad: The image is low resolution, the sound is tinny, some of the user controls aren't as intuitive as they should be, images load slowly, and not all MPEG4 files are recognized.
The bottom line: Marrying a clock radio with a digital photo frame is an awesome concept, but the Philips AJL308 needs to be improved upon before it becomes the perfect union.
The Philips AJL308 clock radio/photo frame is a tricky product to review. What makes it tough is that on one level the idea of combining a clock radio with a digital photo frame is a really cool concept--and in many ways the AJL308 succeeds. But at the same time it's got some issues that make you wish that Philips would hurry up and make a new, improved version.
On the positive side, the AJL308 is cosmetically attractive, though the gloss black finish around the 7-inch (diagonal) wide-screen display is a fingerprint magnet. The back of the frame is white and bulges out at the bottom, creating a sturdy stand that puts the frame at a good angle for viewing.
Philips also loaded the AJL308 with features. First and foremost, the LCD displays date and time (you get dual alarms), as well as images stored on an optional SD/MMC memory card or thumbdrive that fit into slots on the side of the frame. You can choose to display the photos in a slide show format across the whole frame or have them appear in a smaller box next to the time and date in "clock" mode. If you choose the "wide-screen" option from the settings menu, your photos will be fit to the screen and end up being slightly cropped. If you go with standard 4:3 option, they'll appear as they were shot but with black bars on either side of the image.
On the clock radio front, there's an FM radio with 20 presets (the presets are a little bit of a pain to set, but 20 is a lot), plus two alarms, a sleep timer with interval options between 15 and 60 minutes, and a dimmer/snooze bar conveniently placed at the top of the frame.
Beyond its photo capabilities, the AJL308 also plays back MP3 and WMA files and select video files from your SD/MMC card or thumbdrive. By select we mean limited--we didn't have any luck with videos that we'd shot with a handful of cameras from leading manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Olympus) and the one video that did start playing (from a Samsung camera) didn't have any sound. You're supposed to be able to play back MPEG4 files, but the frame didn't recognize a CNET TV video that was an MPEG4, so we assume it plays back only certain flavors of MPEG4. We had better luck with DivX. The "One: Space Odyssey" short we downloaded from the Stage6 Web site played fine, and DivX aficionados should be quite pleased with this feature. It's also worth noting that the frame is compatible with the DivX VOD service, which means it can be registered and used to play back DivX files you'd rent or buy (download) from an online DivX VOD service.
Unfortunately, the video and photos displayed on the device just don't look all that good. The frame is fairly low resolution (just 480x234), so images and video aren't exactly sharp--to put it kindly. This is typical of budget photo frames, so we weren't surprised, but if you're expecting great image quality, look elsewhere. Also, images, especially those with larger file sizes, tend to load slowly, which is annoying.
We've reviewed several photo frames with built-in speakers and the sound is always really tinny with scant bass, and the same holds true for the AJL308. That said, the Philips does play louder than your typical photo frame, so overall the sound quality is a slight notch up--but again, keep your expectations low, and you won't be too disappointed.
We read of a couple of users complaining that the unit's dimmer doesn't dim the backlight enough, but the dimmer at its lowest setting wasn't too bright for our tastes. The AJL308 doesn't have the most easy-to-use interface, and it took a little tinkering to figure how to navigate and make adjustments to settings. One irritating quirk is that the up/down button doesn't actually control the volume level as you think it might; instead, there's a separate wheel controller hidden on the right side that lowers and raises volume.
There are a few nice features buried in the menu system. For one, you can change the color of the background display. You also get 16 slide-show transition effects to choose from (we liked random), a few novelty alarms (church bells, ocean wave, forest, and rooster), and three different "relaxation modes" for the sleep timer, including the sound of rain, ocean waves, or a new-age-style riff that would be right at home in a massage room.
In the end, we had mixed feelings about the AJL308. There's a lot to like here in terms of features, but the mediocre picture and sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. If you can find it at a bargain price ($80 or less), it certainly makes a decent gift for someone looking for a basic clock radio with digital-imaging perks. Ideally, though, we'd like to see Philips create a version with a higher resolution screen and slightly improved sonics--and we wouldn't mind paying a bit more for it.
User reviews
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It's a clock radio with pictures!
by jflowers1 on January 3, 2008
Pros: Has 2 alarms and displays pictures. Cheaper than just didgital picture frames and plays video
Cons: Could be cheaper, but all picture frames are over priced.
Summary: It is a clock radio, not a high def TV. I wouldn't care if it only played one video standard, as long as it was a popular one. When ...
Summary: It is a clock radio, not a high def TV. I wouldn't care if it only played one video standard, as long as it was a popular one. When I wake up in the morning my eye sight is not ready to appreciate high def images, so the screen is more than sufficient. It is cheaper than dedicated picture viewers and does more. Love it!
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Okay but not the greatest
by newzac on January 3, 2008
Pros: Clock, alarm and radio work fine.
Cons: USB connection but it doesn't play ipod. Also the slideshow doesn't play while the time is visable and when the time is displayed only one image displays.
Summary: I had been looking for a clock radio/alarm that would play my iPod and thought I had found it. So it was a big disappointment when I figured out ...
Summary: I had been looking for a clock radio/alarm that would play my iPod and thought I had found it. So it was a big disappointment when I figured out that iTune/iPod files can't be played even tho there is USB connection. Then I put together a nice slideshow of photos, which runs great, but not when the clock time is visable. I would not recommend it.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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It is a great gadget that has very helpful features.
by pranilvora on November 18, 2007
Pros: You are able to store music, videos, and photos via USB and SD card.
Cons: There is no AM, only FM is available. Also, you cannot directly plug in your iPod into the device via USB. It shows up as no files in the folder.
Summary: Overall, it is a great gift. I enjoy this very much. If you are a person that needs to wake up by an alarm, this is a great investment as ...
Summary: Overall, it is a great gift. I enjoy this very much. If you are a person that needs to wake up by an alarm, this is a great investment as it has the best alarm options. It will wake you up with nature sounds and show you the pictures of your choice.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Clock-Picture frame
Pros: Works Great... Video's and ALL! Just took a little investigation.
Cons: The Rubes at Philips print that there are 2 formats that work, but the MP4 format doesn't work! Regular windows .mpg files work great! I just downloaded a free format converter (Prism Video Converter Plus)
Summary: Once you find out what it takes to work then the clock radio-photo frame-video player-MP3 player works as advertised! Still could use a headphone jack and the radio needs AM.
Summary: Once you find out what it takes to work then the clock radio-photo frame-video player-MP3 player works as advertised! Still could use a headphone jack and the radio needs AM.
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READ This READ!!! AJL308
by Dangleskin on October 5, 2009
Pros: Easy to use, really affordable 4 a LCD alarm clock. You dont need an i(something) to plug on your alarm clock.
Cons: There's no battery backup : you just miss few seconds of electricity and the next morning, you wake up late.
You can play some mp3 music but you CANNOT have your MP3 as your alarm sound.Summary: Its only a simple radio or buzzer alarm clock with personnal picture on the screen.
Anyone likes to wake up with the sound of stupid jerks on air in the ...Summary: Its only a simple radio or buzzer alarm clock with personnal picture on the screen.
Anyone likes to wake up with the sound of stupid jerks on air in the morning. So You cannot wake up with you favorite music. It's not even good 4 a picture frame 4 your desktop because of the poor picture quality. If your just looking 4 a cool radio alarm and willing 2 pay almost 50$, try something else.
Wandering... all users comments don't really show all the side of the alarm clock. -
Nice first try, but worth waiting for a better follower
by dz71 on July 20, 2009
Pros: Unique digital picture frame/alarm clock combination, dual alarms, reads photos and videos from USB or through SD/MMC memory card.
Cons: Low resolution, no iPod or AM support, sub-par build and sound quality, screen burn-in visible on higher brightness settings.
Summary: Overall satisfactory product. Nice idea, but not really put together all that well. Build quality and sound are poor, display has adjustable brightness and different themes (red, green, purple and ...
Summary: Overall satisfactory product. Nice idea, but not really put together all that well. Build quality and sound are poor, display has adjustable brightness and different themes (red, green, purple and blue) however the resolution is poor. Supports USB and various memory stick options, but does not support iPods or various video files. Device broke after 6 months. If you're willing to dish out a little more money, get a Chumby instead.
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Feature packed Photo Frame
by Mojorisin74011 on December 17, 2008
Pros: It has tons of features and the image quality is that of a 50 digital photo frame.
I bought 2 at Walmart for 49 bucks so for me thats a good price point for what you get.Cons: price I would not pay more than 50 dollars for this.
I would expect better picture quality for the price.Summary: If you can pick one of these up on the cheap its a good photo frame for all the features it has. If you dont want as many features then ...
Summary: If you can pick one of these up on the cheap its a good photo frame for all the features it has. If you dont want as many features then you should probably get a better resolution photo frame.
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A combination digital frame and clock radio that does a poor job of both
by sfauvelle on May 14, 2008
Pros: good looking,
Cons: poor image quality, no battery backup
Summary: Great concept, but poor execution. Problems include: very poor image quality, especially with clock display, cannot read some jpeg files (did not try mp3 or video), no battery backup to ...
Summary: Great concept, but poor execution. Problems include: very poor image quality, especially with clock display, cannot read some jpeg files (did not try mp3 or video), no battery backup to save date/time/alarm settings in case of power failure. But the biggest problem is screen brightness. At full or medium brightness, the display is too bright for use at night by the bedside. But with brightness set to minimum, the clock is illegible, making it useless as a bedside clock.
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Great idea, still has some kinks
by vcirmia on January 19, 2008
Pros: great space saver, looks great, wakes me up nice and slow :)
Cons: won't recognize mpg4 files, horrible tone
Summary: everyone now a days has a ipod which works with the mpg4 file format, but this thing won't play them! in addition, you would think that once you got ...
Summary: everyone now a days has a ipod which works with the mpg4 file format, but this thing won't play them! in addition, you would think that once you got music onto this thing you would be able to choose that music to wake up to, but. Finally, I don't know if this is a problem with everyone's product but mine plays an aweful buzzing tone in the back of all sound that lasts a few seconds after the sounds shuts off. Because of this I can't use the sleep feature because as the sounds decreases (when I should be falling asleep) the buzzing tone gets louder. It also happens in the morning with the alarm, and anytime I want to play music. Poorly made, although a great idea.
Manufacturer info
- Philips Consumer Electronics
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Philips Consumer Electronics products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.philipsusa.com/
- Address:
100 E. 42nd St., New York, NY - Phone: 800/223-1828
- Email: us.ce.webmaster@philips.com
- Fax: 423/475-0411
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