Product review: Videochip Technologies' Wallet

The nifty Wallet made by Videochip Technologies provides a compact, portable way to display your digital photos without a computer, something like an electronic scrapbook.<br><br>You just slip in a standard

Friday, June 30th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The nifty Wallet made by Videochip Technologies provides a compact, portable way to display your digital photos without a computer, something like an electronic scrapbook.

You just slip in a standard CompactFlash card and see 4-inch diagonal, good-quality color images. It will show single photos or thumbnails, similar to a contact sheet, and features two slide-show modes.

(A SmartMedia card for storing images can be used, too, but requires an adapter.) The Wallet won't be easy on your wallet, however, at a manufacturer's suggested list price of $349.95. It also requires two 3-volt camera batteries, which it eats quickly.

My digital photographer husband would have wanted a cleaner, more balanced frame, with no writing and the scrolling buttons removed to the side. We both looked for a way to change the contrast.

Alan Amron, chairman and director of sales and marketing of Videochip, had answers for these concerns. He suggested cutting a stencil to cover the front of the frame for a less cluttered look and tilting the frame to change the contrast.

Besides, professionals such as my husband are not the intended market, Mr. Amron said. Rather, the Wallet is aimed at "grandmothers in Duluth." Which brings us back to the price issue.

Mr. Amron said he thought the price would be under $300 by Christmas. So talk to Santa.

For more information, go to www.videochip.com or call 650-470-5130, ext. 240.