Released over the summer, the Smartparts SP15MW 15″ digital photo frame is one of the largest of its kind regularly available. It’s also quite versatile, despite the problems of poor software and slow on-screen operation.

It has a thick brown frame (would be nice if it came in black also, but its a real wood frame, not veneer) and works without a computer, accepting most digital camera memory cards and USB flash drives. There’s also 256 MB of internal flash memory. Plug-and-play settings let you turn it on and go. As long as there are photos to display, the frame will play a slide show of them, but there are also plenty of options to customize the way your images come out.

The frame’s OptiPix Pro software isn’t great (more on that later). It would be much easier to just be able to drag and drop photos from the hard drive, but it gets the job done.

The 15″ frame comes with a remote control and built-in speakers for MP3 playback with your photos, and the monitor is actually pretty good for a “gadget.” But there have been some complaints about 5-7 megapixel images loading slowly or not at all sometimes. If you’re not well versed in image editing, this presents a problem, but all you really have to do is scale the images down to fit the monitor’s resolution and you won’t have any problems.

Features:

• 256 MB internal memory
• LCD screen with XGA (1024 x 768) resolution
• 24 bit display, showing 16.7 million colors
• Adjustable and automatic variable-speed slide show
• MP3 player and built-in speakers
• Volume control
• Remote control
• Solid birch frame
• Adjustable picture stand

“Our new 15-inch frame is among the largest and most versatile digital frames available,” said Stefan Guelpen, president and co-founder of Smartparts in a statement.

The OptiPix Pro software, while not great for home users, gives business users the ability to show PowerPoint presentations, PDF files and dozens of image formats, and that’s the real strong suit behind the Smartparts 15″ digital photo frame. It’s a high-quality product that displays photos well, but it’s too expensive for the average home user. At just over $300, the SP15MW is more suited for business waiting rooms and offices.