NEXTAR N1-101 1.1-Inch Red Key Chain Photo Viewer

UPDATE: OK, after having a while to play with it, I would say not to buy it. The software loaded ok, but it would never see the photo album. I followed all the steps as listed and was finally able to get to the menu on the album. Every time I would start the program it would tell me that No photo album was found. It then asked me to format the drive, but when I went to do that it then told me it was unable to do so. At this point I just gave up, there's too many other products out there that is far more intuitive, which is what I base my value of a product on. Good design would let me just pick it up and use it.I would ask for a refund but it's not worth it. I'll just tear it apart and put it in my junk box. Maybe I can use part of it on a different project.PROS: It got here on time, it has some of the best packaging I've ever seen for some this cheap. A mini install DVD, instruction booklet, registration card. Hardware wise, the key chain and a cable.CONS: Was broken when ti got here. The little corner pieces just snap on. One had the prongs used to hold it onto the key chain completely broken off and one of the other ones wouldn't stay on at all. I'm charging it up now and will do an update as too how it works.

This is great for taking pictures with you. I bought two of them. One for my mother and one for my wife. They both love them. The screen is a little small for my mother, but she likes the color and screen protector.

I'm actually returning this lovely piece of junk to Amazon. The photos I loaded played as electronical gibberish onscreen. A real disappointment since it's very stylish and the only keychain with the magnetic cover. I also bought the COBY 1.5 digital photo keychain, which works without a hitch. Beware of this NEXTAR product.

I bought several digital key chains this season and love them all. But they are all finicky and hard to get loaded until you figure it out. It's like riding a bicycle. I do recommend this keychain, however, and it does work quickly and well once you know the sequence to loading and charging the device.But first, it is true that this particular keychain only comes with the PC version of the software, and the software is critical. Go buy the Coby one if you have a Mac, or if you have already bought this one--go download the Coby Mac version of the software at cobyusa.com (these two use the same software called Photoviewer). The complication is that the viewers are preset with the proper crop shape for your device--but it's worth a try before returning it.Okay, two critical points: the software will NOT work unless the device is connected and the computer has recognized it. Second, you must do things in this sequence:1. Load software2. Charge the device fully by plugging it in (do not physically turn it on--let the USB cord light it up).3. REMOVE the device from the computer while the keychain is still OFF.4. Plug the device back in while it is still OFF.5. SWITCH the mode on the keychain screen from USB charge to USB update.6. Wait for the "beep" confirmation that the computer found new hardware.7. THEN open the Photoviewer software.It's so easy to use after that. The photoviewer is fast and intuitive and loads extremely fast. You can crop and go in five minutes if you have your photos picked out.If you do NOT get the new hardware found notice and the beep, simply keep plugging and unplugging the device (leave the cord in your computer and disconnect at the keychain end) until you do. Unlike the Coby keychains, though, this Nextar popped up on first try for me.There have been complaints that these keychains will only load with software and not as a drive, but realize they have limitations (and are cheap for something that can display!) and the software is what saves your pictures down to the right size, something the average person would not do correctly if just sticking full res files on a drive.Enjoy your keychain! This one with a cover is wonderful as the screens scratch easily--and these black and red ones are stylish and cute! Picture quality is better on the Coby, but I will take cute and protected as a minor sacrifice in screen size.

The "Nextar 1.1-Inch Key Chain Photo Viewer" is a nice *small* portable digital photo viewer. It is also a little hard to make work if you try to follow the instructions. See the great review by "Deanna Roy" for tips on getting this working the first time and you will not have any problems.The unit is very well made and has a very functional magnetic cover. The package includes the viewer, a printed Instruction Manual, a USB cable and the PC software CD (with a PDF Instruction Manual).The viewer works great once you transfer the photos from the easy to use software. The photos can be viewed as a slide show or manualy selected.You can choose to have the unit display the time as well.One interesting note, the Amazon description says the viewer can hold 54 photos but the software let me transfer 72 photos to the viewer (which is better :-)The display is very small, but it is much clearer than I expected.For the price and capacity, I recommend this photo viewer.

I agree with everything the previous reviewer, Deanna Roy "Writer and Photographer" , said. You have to load it in exactly the order listed on the manual. I was distracted and did not read the manual so I kept getting error messages with the software. When I started over and did it in the exact order specified, it worked perfectly and the software is easy to use and sync with the picture frame. I own a Dell PC with XP 2002 loaded, so I did not have any problems with the software. The pictures themselves are clear with good contrast. Of course the pictures are tiny so it is hard to make out some detail, but that is due to the size of the screen. It is so important to get a keychain with a cover because if you plan to use it like me, where you bring it out to show pictures of your kid(s) whenever someone asks and you add your car keys to this, you need a cover because the screen on any digital keychain will scratch very easily. In my opinion this looks nicer than what is pictured and I like the reinforced corners. I have seen several digital keychains and I think this is one of the better models.

This is a good deal for the price. It is a little time consuming to get pictures uploaded, but overall a good product.