Digital photo frames are now common enough not to be interesting in themselves, so new models have to distinguish themselves with extra special features.

The Varnam VM830BT is an 8in digital photo frame with a resolution of 800x480 pixels. That's similar to most common frames, but because it's stretched over only eight inches, rather than 10, images appear quite sharp and clear on the screen.

There are six such touch-sensitive buttons along the bottom for navigating the on-screen menus. While the buttons are very good and are more responsive than those on most of the frames we've seen, the menus are quite ugly. They're not hard to use, though. You have to select a folder to view images so, although it sometimes took a while to get to our folder it was relatively easy.

In addition to displaying pictures, the frame shows text files, video in common internet formats, and plays music through the built-in speaker or headphone socket.

Quality was impressive and more than up to the level of competing handheld DVD players, for example.

There's an output for a TV and cables are supplied, as well as two USB connectors. One attaches to a PC for loading images onto the 128MB memory and the other can accept a USB memory key with images, music or video for playback. There are also sockets for all common memory cards. The 128MB of memory is not much, but if you crop the pictures first on a computer you can easily store over 100.

The frame's internal battery is something of a rarity among these products. It means the frame can be used away from a mains socket. It charges when the frame is plugged in and lasted an impressive two hours for video playback. That's handy for showing off your snaps to a group of people, but it also lends the frame a secondary use as a good video player. It's sturdy enough to take a couple of knocks when being used that way.

Although the price of the VM830BT is quite high, the high quality of the screen and the ability to play back video make it a good choice for someone who wants more than a standard frame.