Rating: 
Summary: What is everyone complaining about?
Review: I bought this item for my father, right before the birth of my son. My father is far from a technophile, but even he could figure out how to use it, and even moved it to a new state and got it set up correctly. All of his friends comment on it, and have asked how they can get one. I am not sure why people are trashing it. It isinexpensive ($150) for what it is. The monthly service charge is a little high, but besides that it is priced far below competition. I think that people are expecting something for nothing, I mean, no its frame is not oak, and the picture quality is not the same as their olin mills 8x10 on the wall, but for what it is, it is awesome.
Rating: 
Summary: CEIVA SUCKS
Review: I was very excited to buy the CEIVA for my mother for Christmas 2002. Since then, we have had nothing but problems. I purchased it so that she could stay in touch across the miles when we had a new baby. Too bad the CIEVA didn't work for the first 10 weeks of my baby's life and it took the company that long to get us a replacement part. Unfortunately, I let my sisters talk me into buying a second machine THIS Christmas for my father. The first machine didn't work (on Christmas Day, how disappointing!) and had to be replaced. Now, it won't let me upload pictures. Their customer service is absolutely AWFUL and I never hear from them in less than 48 hours. Since I have had these two machines, I must have asked for refunds 3 or 4 times. Mostly, I am disgusted that such a GREAT - seeming product really STINKS. Don't buy it unless you are committed to daily frustration.
Rating:
Summary: Customer Support Is Totally Lacking
Review: What a wonderful product!! Too bad their customer support is non existent. Tried twice to contact them about 3 serious problems but was put on hold for over 30 minutes each time.Frustrated in Utah!!
Rating:
Summary: Works like a charm
Review: Worked fine for us. Had a question about sending pictures which I emailed to their customer service people. Got a response in 24 hours, which wasn't too bad. Our parents in Jacksonville get new pictures on their frame every day from us, which of course thrills them. Nice way to keep in touch.
Rating:
Summary: Works great for us!
Review: When my folks moved to Florida I got them one of the ceiva 2 frames to stay in touch. It's been pretty cool as they are elderly & can see new pictures of their grandkids every morning without having to do anything. (They do not have email) Sounds like some of the folks who have been disappointed in it didn't really check it out prior to buying. We love it. It has helped our family stay in touch across the miles.
Rating:
Summary: Send some photos instead
Review: I attended a focus group session for this product and the overwhelming sentiment in the room was, "It's fine, but I'm not going to buy one."
Well, I told my wife about it and we bought one for her parents in another state. We set the thing up locally and mailed it to them. I'll be honest with you, they're not "technologically-savvy" people. It wasn't a huge surprise when we came to town three months later and the thing was still in the box. I hooked it up, but mostly for selfish reasons; I paid $199 for the thing.
I got it working after buying a phone cord long enough to get the Ceiva close to a power outlet. I hung it on the wall and my mother-in-law hated it. With two twisted black cords hanging out of it, I can understand why. Although the old girl put on a happy face when shots of the grandkids came up.
We came back home and never heard about the Ceiva again. That's because it's back in its box collecting dust on a shelf somewhere. While Mom hated the way the thing looked, my father-in-law managed to lock all the photos so they saw the same shots over an over for a month. After that he took it down. Costco makes digital prints for $.19 a piece and stamps are cheap. Sometimes old technology is still the best.
Rating:
Summary: Piece of Junk
Review: The Ceiva frame would be a great product if the year was 1994! HELLO!!!, the "technology" involved is trivial and it is hard to believe that with so many implementation flaws and limitations that Ceiva will be around much longer or, much less, will survive a competitor entering the market with a product based on 2004 technology. I was very disappointed when I first fired up my frame.
But hats off to Ceiva's sneaky marketing department that regularly puts five star reviews into Amazon's customer review database! The latest one ("A very popular gift, March 1, 2004" by "A customer from California") had me laughing because it borrowed so much copy from their advertisements & website.
Maybe they have a non-subscription version with a decent-sized quality screen ready to build and in an effort to maximize short term profits they are just waiting until they are forced by the market to provide it. If so, hats off again to their sneaky marketing department. (Of course this is a losing long term strategy, as countless technology companies have proven over and over, but hey, marketing must remain tactical to survive within a greedy company.) Oh well! Maybe next year. I will enjoy watching Sony (or someone else) eat Ceiva's lunch.
Rating:
Summary: not so good
Review: I was disappointed in this product - I bought it as a gift for my parents, they can only see it if they are looking right at it - the picture quality is good, but only if you are staring at it - I wanted them to see it from the whole room, and be able to see their grandkids all day long - the set up was easy, but it was not worth the money - I was confused by the monthly service fee and am wishing I bought them a bigger computer monitor instead.
Rating:
Summary: Great Idea - Bad quality
Review: I bought this for my Mom. Broke after warranty period, bought second one at reduced rate. Broke again due to power supply, Broke again - pictures would not download. Cieva recommended another power supply. New power supply faulty. This product is a great idea, but due to poor quality it is a MONEY PIT.
Rating:
Summary: A very popular gift
Review: We've given this gift to several of our family members and it has been a HUGE hit. Our family is spread out all over, and many of them are not computer savvy. It has allowed my grandparents, who are thankfully still with us, to see their great-grandchild grow up on a daily basis even though they live very far away from us and are so afraid of new technology that they don't even have a VCR (they got one as a gift once, but it was "too complicated" so they gave it back. We are able to send out photos to all of these Ceivas and when our family members wake up in the morning, they are on display. Do I wish the service was cheaper? Well sure, it is always nice to spend less money, but I think the service is worth the fee because of the amount of joy it has brought to the people we have given it to. It helps us feel very connected over the many miles.
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