Product Description The Ceiva Digital Photo Receiver offers a great way to share digital pictures with parents, grandparents, or non-technical friends and family. The Ceiva makes a great gift because the recipient needs no computer skills or Internet access! You manage the pictures yourself at the Ceiva Website and all Grandma and Grandpa have to do is push a button to see your latest offerings. You upload your latest photos to the Ceiva Website as frequently as you'd like and once a day the Ceiva receiver automatically downloads new photos and displays them in full color in slideshow for your loved ones to enjoy. Pictures are sharp and bright at a resolution of 640x480 pixels with thousands of colors. Picture management options include lock, delete, upload and send. Adjustable settings include the slideshow interval and timed shutoff. The photo receiver plugs easily into a phone jack without disconnecting the phone with the provided Y-connector. Receiver: 8Lx10W". Viewing area: 5Lx7W". Click on Help at the top of the page, then on Product Rebates where you can download the rebate form. .com Ceiva put the future in an unassuming black picture frame with this amazingly simple yet innovative product. This Internet-enabled frame makes it so easy to receive and display digital photos that even the most tech-shy relatives will love it. The traditional frame houses an LCD screen that displays up to 20 pictures in a single-view or slide-show format. Once a day, the frame dials in to Ceiva's Web site and downloads any new photos that have been sent to you (or that you've uploaded). What's truly amazing is that it works flawlessly--it's a cutting-edge technology idea that's well executed. The frame itself is a handsome classic black with a black matte. It's about the size of a standard 8-by-10-inch frame, and the viewing area is about 5 by 7 inches. The display resolution is 640 x 480 VGA, and the images are displayed as JPEGs. We were impressed with the picture quality, especially considering the display is passive matrix--colors were a bit washed out, but otherwise pictures were sharp, bright, and looked good. The viewing angle isn't great--you won't be able to see pictures well from the side--but overall, the screen worked very well, even in relatively bright light. You do the bulk of your setup online at Ceiva's Web site. Here, you can lock, delete, upload, or send photos, and you can adjust the rest of your settings, such as the slide-show interval or the time the Ceiva turns off the display every night. (The standard setting shuts it off from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.) Within your account, you can choose who can send pictures to you (your "Buddy list"). Your buddies don't need to own Ceiva photo frames, but they have to get Ceiva accounts, which are free. In addition to photos, you and your friends can send and receive any kind of digital image, from hand-drawn cards to scanned art. Subscription channels even let you get comics, weather and traffic reports, and horoscopes on a daily basis. Ceiva's site also provides simple tools to add messages to your photos. The controls on the Ceiva are extremely easy to use--there is one button that adjusts brightness and another button to stop the slide show and dial-up on demand. If you want to download pictures immediately (for instance, right after your mother calls and tells you she just sent a new batch), you press and hold the settings button on the frame until it connects. You don't need an extra telephone line to use the Ceiva--the photo frame uses your existing line for just a few minutes every night. Ceiva provides a Y-connector in the box to make it easy for you to plug the frame into your phone jack without disconnecting your phone. The photo frame also doesn't require you to have an Internet connection to download photos, although a subscription is required to download photos. The subscription costs $79.95 per year to maintain this service via a local connection, and multi-year plans are available starting at less than $5 a month. However, if you want to upload pictures, send them to other people's Ceivas, or modify certain frame settings, you'll need to use an Internet connection. Overall, our experience using the Ceiva was simply wonderful. It's intended to be simple to use, and it does a great job receiving and displaying photos. It strikes us as the perfect gift for your mom and dad, your grandparents, or any long-distance friend who is computer-shy. Not to mention that the Ceiva photo frame is just plain cool! --Michael Lewis Pros: Extremely easy to use Good picture quality No existing Internet account necessary Others can send you pictures for free Cons: You must adjust most of your settings on the Web site P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); From the Manufacturer The Ceiva digital photo receiver will be the best gift you ever give. We get letters every day telling us what a difference a Ceiva Receiver has made in the lives of the many grandparents, aunts, uncles and parents who receive daily pictures of the grandchildren and family. The Receiver's owner doesn't need a computer to receive and display great digital photos. It's simple to set up--once a Ceiva Receiver is registered, the owner of the Receiver just plugs in the power and the phone line, presses one button, and from then on, up to 20 new pictures of the grandkids can appear automatically as a slide show every morning. If you are giving the Ceiva Receiver as a gift, you can register the Receiver before you send it, so it's all ready to go. The Ceiva Receiver is designed to resemble a picture frame, with a sleek 8 x 10-inch design that fits in with all decors. How does the Ceiva Receiver Work? The Receiver automatically makes a short local call through an existing phone line each night to get pictures sent to it. There's no interruption to current phone service, and no toll charges. It's silent and secure. Each Ceiva Receiver requires a monthly subscription. Low monthly rates cover all needed processing, storage and transmission costs for receiving photos, and allow unlimited sending of photos from family and friends. We recently received a copy of a thank you letter sent to one of our customers from his grandmother, who said: "As I sit in my big, comfortable chair, I watch television and look at my picture frame. I see your pictures as they pass by, and it makes me so happy that I lived to be able to enjoy this invention in technology. Thanks so much for caring enough to make this time in my life such a happy one." See more
J**Z
Ceiva's Time has Come and GONE!
I was an early Ceiva Customer. Bought my first frame in 2001. Since then I bought 3 more frames. The first 3 were for old, copper wire, two-pair, telephone company (telco) landline devices - who has landlines anymore. And one of those 3 - the first one i bought had a lifetime plan. Just saw it hasn't "phoned home" in six years - since 2014 - because my mom who I bought it for doesn't have a landline there anymore. I replaced that frame with a newer wifi one and have been paying ($) annually. And with days left on the annual subscription, Ceiva has been calling me desperately trying to get me to renew. When I told them the problem I needed solved they were clearly not interested. Only interested in getting me to pay again - pay more money. There are too many better products on the market now for me to reward this lack of customer service with more of my money and loyalty. Ceiva - if you don't take care of your customers, somebody else will. Farewell from one of your oldest and longest customers.
K**H
The best Grandparents' gift ever!
My husband's parents live in a different state, and while we are constantly sending them e-mail pictures, they always complain that they aren't enough. They have an ancient computer and a very slow modem. They can't see the entire picture.....Well, this will fix ALL of that. The Ceiva picture frame, was easy to set up-take it out of the box, get the serial number and plug it into the wall and the phone jack. The instructions were great and simple. Then you go on-line and set up the account. After reading the last review, I had it sent here for set up, because the recipients aren't that techno-saavy; and I wanted to take care of the subscription as well. I didn't have any trouble at all with their interface, so I must have gotten the new one mentioned coming in the last review. Set up the receiver 1-2-3. Then I went in and set up their subscription. While I had anticipated problems with setting this up in my own name, I encountered none. They are set for a year.Now on to uploading pictures. Anyone with any concept of files and directories can handle this. You can upload single or multiple files (up to 10 at a time) and you find them simply by clicking on the BROWSE button. Within the interface, it is fairly simple to edit what pictures you want to see, and I deleted all of their "canned" pictures from the unit.Now push the white button on the back and hold for it to connect, and it will download your first *10* pictures. For it to get the 20 it advertises, it had to make an automatic connection at night first. Since I had put in 15 pictures, it only got the first 10. It got the other 5 after it's connection and everything is great-It's ready to ship.There are only 2 real down points to this. 1) It is an expensive gadget-not only to buy, but the subscription required is another "big amount of money" a year (though they have a 3-year for 2 deal, but are they going to be around then?). 2) You MUST have access to a computer somewhere to utilize it. Pictures must be sent over the internet, and all the administration is through their website. So, if they don't have a computer, they are going to be relying on you to set pictures, on and off times..... But the plus side to this is that ANYONE can send them pictures, and they can be taken on Christmas and show up miles away the next morning in a viewable format.Everytime we looked at it, during it's trial here, we kept saying how much they are going to LOVE it. I have ordered 2 more!
A**R
Ceiva should be a controversial product, but we tolerate it!
We were early adopters of Ceiva, having gotten one for my folks over a year ago. They have loved it, and we even got in on the "lifetime" plan for them. Then we went ahead and got another for the wife's folks this Christmas. Don't know their reaction yet, but it's likely to be initially mixed. Finally, we voted with our wallets and got one for ourselves this Christmas as well. So, you would think we are thrilled with this product, right? Not quite.The basic problem is Ceiva service/attitude. A few examples: the warranty if for only 90 days. This is unbelievably short for electronics. It might be tolerable, except that if you have a problem, there is usually no way to troubleshoot, given the poor Ceiva support. They send you an e-mail that tells you how to get yours fixed for "only" $100--plus S&H. Of course, with the current rebate, you can get a new one for $100. Oops, there's a catch: the service is NOT transferable to a different Ceiva. So, if you choose to just buy a new one, you are screwed.Luckily, we've not had to have any Ceiva's repaired. The oldest one had a "glitch" a couple of weeks ago and I was worried--the screen turned to stripes and stopped changing. My Dad thought he had broken it. I attempted to contact Ceiva, but they didn't reply for over 2 weeks. Luckily, turning the unit on and off reset it, and it's been fine ever since. Hope it's not an early sign of the thing failing--the lifetime plan has only been in service since October 2001!The one we bought for my in-laws this year also was worrisome... out of the box, it worked but had about 25 vertical stripes across the screen. Again, luckily, it burned in, and was ok after about 48 hours. Not terribly unusual for electronics, but a sign of poor QC.Another example is that the "lifetime" contract was actually either "7 years or the life of the unit, whichever was shorter". Interesting concept of lifetime, especially since the contract can't be transferred to another unit. For most of you, it doesn't matter because you can't sign up for the lifetime service anyway!Of course, the latest indicator of Ceiva's lack of customer orientation is the current mess at their internet server. We tried for hours to upload yesterday to both of our parents' units. The site was overwhelmingly slow. Finally, they posted a notice of their servers being swamped---well, duh! What did they expect with the current rebate program? And, now, today, their site is apparently completely down. My folks' unit did not update last night due to "internet congestion" and I assume my in-laws' unit failed as well.So the big question is how quickly they recover, and whether the overwhelming demand results in improvements or disaster. It's clear that Ceiva is a great concept. The user needs absolutely NO computer experience, and, for those without it, someone else can manage the unit remotely without a great deal of effort. The fact that we have bought three of them indicates our feeling about it, but it's sure disappointing to have such poor support and service that you almost feel like they are taking advantage of their customers.Finally, all the quality issues raised by others--quality of display, need to be looking at it directly, etc. are all true. However, it's still such a great concept that it's worth the price, and, I guess it's worth the hassle. Just hope that you don't need support/service. Probably should buy it with whatever gold credit card extends the warranty for the longest time!
C**K
Absoulutely awesome gift for parents and grandparents!
No question, the best gift we have ever given our parents. Being 900 miles away from them with 2 small grandchildren is hard, but they have loved getting fresh pictures each day. I also send greetings for birthdays and holidays in the mix. None of them have a computer or high tech knowledge but it doesn't matter as I control all functions from my computer. It only has two buttons, one to make the slide show start and the other for brightness control. It only needs to be hooked up to a wall outlet and a phone outlet (anyone can figure out how to do that!). So simple. I even preloaded them with pictures before I gave it to them so it would turn right on with their grandkids' faces as soon as they plugged them in. And the yearly fee is less than internet service or making reprints of all of your pictures (really!). A gift they will really use and enjoy!
