Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None

{mosgoogle}With a 20GB micro drive, the Transcend Digital Album can store the same amount of stuff that normally requires 20 CDs. Getting images onto the Digital Album is a breeze, thanks to two card slots that accept most of the current flash memory formats. With the use of an appropriate adapter, the Digital Album supports some of the new smaller flash format as well. A nice add feature on the Digital Album is the ability to record voice memos to each photo. You can also use the Digital Album as an external hard drive via its USB port.

The Digital Album comes with a very sharp 2.5 inch LCD screen for viewing the images. You can view the images individually or as a slideshow, and if you have headphones plugged in, hear your voice memo for each picture. Additionally you can output your shots to the TV via the AV output located on the side of the unit, so the whole family can enjoy those baby photos.

Navigation is pretty easy with the Digital Album. All controls are logically laid out and the unit is pretty fast to boot - we were able to transfer 2GB of data from our ATP 60X SD card in just over four minutes. Besides offloading photos from your flash memory, the Digital Album can serve as a MP3 and M-JPEG movie player. However, the playback quality is pretty weak. The Digital Album will never give the Apple iPod a run for its money, but then it wasn't designed to. Another weak point is the battery life - just 4 hours.

The Transcend Digital Album is a Jack of all trades, master of none type of product. It does some most things well, but nothing great. If you're looking for a way to offload digital photos from your camera and like to listen to some MP3 tunes once in a while, then give the Digital Album a look. If you're looking for something to replace that iPod, better keep looking.

Where To Buy It