Okay, so this technically has nothing to do with parenting, specifically, and I’ll admit to that. It does, however, have to do with another hobby of mine: photography. Or more specifically, with the viewing of photographs.

My husband bought me a digital photo frame for Christmas a few years ago, and I loved it. With over 20,000 digital photos in my possession, I can honestly lie watching my photo frame for hours – who needs television when you can relive your own happy memories?

So, when I had the opportunity to get my hands on one of these lightweight (read: easy to travel with) photo frames, I jumped at it.

Honestly, it’s way fancier than I needed, and does a lot more than I feel is necessary in a photo frame, but that’s just because I’m perfectly happy with doing it the old-fashioned way – with a memory card full of pictures.

This Kodak Pulse does so much more, though. Firstly, it is Wi-Fi compatible, so it’s options for receiving data are so much wider. It is quick and easy to connect to a wireless network, from where you can add pictures from your computer, the Kodak gallery, Facebook, your mobile phone and from your frame’s own email address (so that people can send pictures directly to it).

In addition, the Pulse alerts you when new photos are added, so you don’t have to miss any pictures, ever. The touch screen makes for easy navigation of the 4000 photos that can be hosted on the internal memory, with USB and card slots also available.

From an environmental point of view, the Kodak Pulse is great too. Not only does the screen not contain any mercury, but it has a programmable timer so it can be set to be on when you’re generally around and off when not.

The downsides are the cost – at anything from £89 to £130 depending on retailer it costs a lot more than ordinary Wi-Fi-free frames –  and the fact that you pretty much have to have wifi to set it up and get it to work.

All in all, the Kodak Pulse is a great frame, and is kind of the picture version of Twitter – you will see all your friend’s photos if you set up for Facebook – but these are easy to delete at least – and you can walk in to find new photos every day if you wish. A great benefit is that select family and friends can email photos directly to it – so granny and grandad can see photos of the young ‘uns at any time. Or you can see photos of a wedding in progress as it’s happening.

Although I still love my photo albums, I can happily admit that I print less photos now that I have them all visible and available. And of course, 20,000 photos travel a whole lot easier on the Kodak Pulse than in a suitcase!

Kodak has very kindly offered a Diary of a First Child reader the chance to win your very own Pulse. In order to win, tell me about your favourite photograph in the comment section below. The competition closes at 12 GMT on 25 October 2010, a winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and is open worldwide, but please note the plug is for a UK product so if you’re not based in the UK you will need an adapter.

You do not have to tweet or share this competition to enter, but doing so helps ensure that I can keep bringing you give-aways every week! You can subscribe to Diary of a First Child by RSS, email or through Google Friend Connect (see the bottom to the right). You can also follow us on Facebook or on Twitter. We hope to see you back again soon!

Small Print:

Please leave an email address/blog address/twitter name where I can contact the winner. If I am unable to make contact within one week I will select a new winner and the previously selected winner will have no recourse to the prize. Prize cannot be exchanged for cash. All decisions are final.

And the winner is : Pauleen Lazar, congratulations and happy photo viewing!

A huge thank you to everyone that participated in this competition. Some of your favourite memories and recollections of favourite photos brought a tear to my eye!

154 Comments

Kodak Pulse Digital Photo Frame Review & Giveaway

  1. My favourite photo is of my nephew only a few minutes old. In the photo he is wrapped in the hospital blanket with a hand resting on his face and he looks like he’s smiling, as if nothing ever happened. I love taking photos and my computer memory is bursting, mainly with the photo’s of Maxx (My nephew). 😀

  2. My favourite photo is of my son & step son.. the photo was been taken from behind them, they are sitting at a table on holiday, the oldes has his arm round the youngest whilst they are intently reading together.. I love the closeness of it..

  3. i would put pics of all my family from my kids been born up untill now and i would have my nices and nephews photos and my partner.

  4. Hmmm, where do i begin? I have so many beautiful photographs!

    One of my favorites is when my Fiance was playing with the Wii Fit, and he was down doing press ups on the board, and our 4 year old son got down next to him and began copying him! I had to take a photo, and it is very cute!

    Another favorite is of our little trip to Blackpool last year to see the illuminations and we had a ride on a horse and cart, and as we were trotting along i took photo’s of us all together, our lovely little family, and we were so happy x

  5. My favourite photograph happens to be the only one I have of my Dad, and the only one I will ever need
    In the Photo I am two years old and standing on a wall with my Dad holding my hand and we are both looking at each other. It seems to me that I am looking at him for reassurance and he his looking at me as if he is protecting me.
    It is a memory that I will hold forever in my heart as my dad is no longer with us, but that picture tells me how he was always there to protect me and keep me safe.
    I only have to look at the photo and it reminds me of who my dad was and all we meant to him

  6. A picture of me a my sister when we were little. You can see the sisterly bond and her looking out for me even back then.

    Most pics nowadays are digital and never get printed so its nice to have that one of us on display in my room.

    N.B. I love photography too 😀

  7. my favourite photo is one of my 2 boys on a forest swing sitting side by side giggling. when they are cross with me or grouchy this makes me smile and love them even more.
    @lottiegirlx

  8. my favourite photo is one of my eldest daughter and my husband i call it the two peas ( our name is phillips!) she is only a week old and they are asleep in bed together facing the same way with the same facial expression it is soooo adorable

  9. My little girl on the beach, she is standing holding seaweed next to lots of rockpools. The look of joy and happiness on her face is priceless. It brings back fantastic memories of a brilliant family outing on a lovely hot summers day.

  10. My favourite photo has to be one of my grandad from the 70s. Think it was one from Yorkshire evening post as he had made a miniature horse and cart.

  11. Mine is a close up photo of my 4 children. their having one big hug and the shot is just of their faces, they look so happy & content I just love it. Its been my desktop pic for a couple of years now & I don’t think I’ll ever change it. 🙂

  12. My fave photo ever is one of me with my daughter Tiana.
    Tiana is reaching out to me while laying in a bed in Cardiac Intensive Care after getting through her 3rd life saving heart operation. It’s one of those one in a lifetime photos.

  13. my favourite picture is one of my son and daughter taken about 4 years ago on holiday in france, they are lounging together in a wicker hammock and my son has such a lovely smile. they are 12 and 17 now and dont like to be in each others company much! and i never get him smiling; either in life and especially in pictures 🙁 so i love to look at this picture and keep reminding myself they wont be grumpy teenagers forever 🙂

  14. my favourite photo is from last christmas, it’s of my little boy who was 1 at the time, he’s dressed in a santa suit and hat and is looking right at the camera. This year he has been diagnosed with autism and we no longer get any eye contact from him so its a beautiful photograph and we will treasure it forever.

  15. Picture this…. a hot september’s day, blue skies, white fluffly clouds and the BEST view EVER of Central Park. Surrounded by high rise buildings and noise.
    Standing on top of the 72nd floor of the Rockefella Centre on 5th Avenue in New York.

    Its not until you see it from above, that you realise how big, green and stunning a park can be, especially slap bang in the middle of a world class city like NY!
    Absolutely breath taking…words can’t describe the feeling of scenery like that.

    Up there, it’s quiet, away from all the noise, sirens, taxi horns and hustle and bustle.
    We done this on out 4th anniversary…a day to remember for ever….

  16. My favourite photo is my first ultra-sound scan of my son.

    I struggled to get pregnant and it took 6 years and 4 rounds of IVF to bring him into the world. I had miscarried before on the day of my scan, so we were so worried that the same would happen again.
    When I was 7 weeks pregnant on the day of my early scan I started bleeding again and we were convinced that the baby would be gone.
    But my baby boy was there, a little cashew nut with a tiny flicker of a heart beating away. That tiny little bad quality ultra-sound scan photo is my favourite photo.
    My son is 9 months old now and is my everything.

  17. A picture of my first child being born.Yes looks rather erm scary to others but to a first time dad it looks so special and always will in my eyes

  18. My favourite photo is one of my 2 girls at Dumbarton Rock – this was several years ago when they were quite young, but they are on a set of steep stairs looking down at me and the wind has caught their hair and it is billowing about – reminds me of when they were lovely little girls ( they still are lovely – they just hide it well)

  19. Bit mean trying to pin me down to one. However, one of my wedding photographs is a ‘quite close up’ of my dad leaning through the wedding car window (it was a big old vintage Rolls Royce, so quite high up) and I was just getting out of the car (or more correctly had got out and then sat back in on the edge of the seat with my legs out). I was a bit nervous by now as it was quite close to the point of no return having just pulled up outside the church – so, as I recall, my dad (who had a huge sense of humour) told me a bit of a filthy joke (can’t remember what it was), but I just cracked up laughing, as did my dad. I haven’t seen the picture for a while, but it’s stored in my mind. My dad died a few years ago, but that picture is so typical of him and a great memory.

  20. I have a fantastic picture of my two boys aged 3 and 6 leaning up against a brick wall sort of ina quadrophenia/ Jam Style its just lush

  21. My favourite photo is opne with the whole of my family in it. Parents,siblings aunts, uncles,cousins, nephews and my own children. I have since had another child and have another one on the way so it will soon be time to have another family picture taken 😀

    1. @Donna Reynolds, that is awesome Donna. My whole family haven’t been together since 1 April 2001, (and by that I mean parents and brother and sister!) and we’re all meeting up at the end of November. It’s going to be so awesome! Thanks for sharing your memory.

  22. GOT TO BE MY DAUGHTERS FIRST PROPER SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPH, AND THEN EACH YEAR ANOTHER ONE APPEARS WHICH TELLS A LITTLE STORY OF HER LIFE AND HOW SHES GROWING UP AND CHANGING

  23. my favourite photo is the only one i have of my first cat jeffery. its an old traditional photo i have framed on my mantleplace.

  24. One of my favorite pictures is of a man I dont know. On a ski resort in Sweden one year, a rock band was doing sound checks, and I when I saw the lead singer/guitarist, I felt elated. He had a real grunge look to him, a serious musician, but he was holding a very pink Hello Kitty electric guitar. I loved it! I realized that no matter how serious life can get, we can stil enjoy the little things…. like stopping to smell the roses… I like to look at it now and then when things get hard, it cheers me up instantly! Offcourse my daughter loved it too!!

    1. @Pauleen Lazar, Congratulations on winning the Pulse. Please send me your address as soon as possible and I will post your prize.

      Oh, and great memory! I totally agree – stopping to smell the roses is what gets us through the toughest times sometimes!

  25. My favourite photo is a black and white one of my little nephew, aged two last christmas. Me, my sis and bro in law were in a pub and nephew was running riot! I gave him some mistletoe and he suddenly stopped and quietened down. I got a photo of him just looking at it, deep in thought – lovely!

  26. my favourite photo is of me, my partner & son on the beach on holiday, i look at it every time i am stressed & it relaxes me & makes me think how lucky i am. xx

  27. My fav photo at the moment is the one with which I became one of the winners of travel photo competition. It’s a photo of a street scene from Mexico, and I am proud to have it exhibited in London at the moment!

  28. My favourite photo is of my dad with my two uncles when they were in their teens. They all look so happy and slightly mischievous, makes me smile every time i see it 🙂

  29. My favourite photograph is one of myself at a few days old. In the photo my face is still squished up but it’s great that my dad, who lives in France, still keeps this album of my baby pictures after all these years. I look forward to seeing this album whenever I visit him in France.

  30. My favourite picture is of my 3 year old daughter and partner. We’d had a bit of a row on a posh beach in France. They are standing together looking as guilty as you could imagine. Both a little hot and red-him in trunks with large belly and a hat far too small for his head. She in a little red dress, hot hair stuck to head and the most unflattering pair of black pumps on her feet. The English abroad! They looked so funny, I had (despite still fuming) to take a picture.
    To this day, whenever we have a row, my partner e-mails me the picture, and it never fails to smooth things over.

  31. My fave pic (which I have just blogged about this week for The Gallery) is a pic of my son taken by my husband on a coach to Wembley on their way to see Blackpool play (and win!) the play off final in May. My husband is shooting over the top of the seat behind and my son is looking up at him, grinning with a beautiful twinkle in his eye. It is a fantastic photo.

  32. My favourite photo is of my fioncee and I on our holiday in Hong Kong last year. It was amazing and I would love to go back.

  33. My favourite picture is a few years ago on holiday when my duaghters were 3 and 5 standing holiding hands with their dad, they looked so tiny next to him and it is a really sweet photo!

  34. my favourite photo is of my son who i lost at the age of 22 it is placed in my bedroom where i say goodmorning and goodnight

  35. my favourite picture is of me and my partner and two lovely kids at Disneyland Paris, our first amazing holiday together. We are all standing in front of the castle.

  36. My favourite picture is when were in Walt Disney World in Florida 3 years ago. It was a big trip for us and the picture was one in the ‘Animal Kingdom’ along with Donald Duck and the family. Magical and memorable picture. Loved it. 🙂

  37. My favourite picture is the very first one taken of my son. He is now 20 years old but i still remember taking that first picture

  38. My favourite photo is taken from the top of a pyramid in Guatemala – we climbed up before dawn and watched the sun rise over the jungle and could hear the howler monkeys calling. We photographed parrots flying over the trees with the sun melting the morning mist away above them. Looking at this photo brings back that feeling of pure awe!

  39. A photograph of my three children with my mother, who passed away 2 years ago, she is so happy and full of laughter. The children are in their Christmas present pyjamas, suurounded by wrapping paper and giggles.

  40. my favourite photo is of my daugher at 18 months dressing up as micheal jackson shes holding a soft micro phone and is wearing a trilby , with her three quatre length dungerees, she looks so cute , and really natural ,x

  41. my favoroute picture is one of me standing on the edge of a cliff arms spred out in the air with the houses and countryside in the background

  42. My favourite photo has to be the one of me when i was 2 years old, my mum had organised a private party for me and her, i dont remember it but when i look at that photo of my kissing my mum on the cheek i look soo happy, and it just make me feel closer to my mum 🙂

  43. my favourite picture is of my 3 year old daughter stood in the garden with a flower she had just picked in her hand. She didnt know i was there so she was looking down at the flower pulling at the petals and it looked so natural. I love it!!

  44. picture of my 2 year old son in his wetsuite sat next to his uncle in his wetsuite on the beach looking out into the sea with the sun setting taken from them

  45. my favourite photo is of my 2 daughters,aged 3 and 5,we were at the park,my eldest daughter picked a small flower,gave her little sister a cuddle with the flower in front of them both,they both gave a lovely smile,they look so cute and i was so proud.

  46. My favourite picture is of me and my fiance which was taken last year at new year ! We were both not paying attention and someone snapped us and it looks fab !

    @cheekyd19

  47. My favourite photo is of me and my partner on a holiday to Tenerife 2 years ago. Reminds me of how happy we are together and how lucky I am to have such an amazing person.

  48. My favourite picture is one taken by my dad of my mum, my sister and I. We were getting ready to pose for a family picture, but my dad took this whilst we were fussing – my mum is getting a thread off the hem line of my dress, my sister looking in the mirror on the wall behind checking her makeup and I saw my dad clicking the camera and so did a funny pose – we all have a smile on our face and look lovely

  49. My wife is the worlds worst photographer. However on a holiday to France a few years ago we rented a villa with a pool. Kath took the flukiest photo ever of the three kids holding hands when jumping in the pool, the frame was frozen with them all in mid air – brilliant and great memories.

  50. My Favourite is a black and white photo of my parents when they where 1st going out in their teens, mum passed away 4 yrs ago my dad was so handsome in those days .

  51. My favorite photo is of my husband with our little girl on his knee at my sister wedding. My husband is on dialysis for kidney failure, he’s awaiting a kidney & pancreas transplant but we don’t know if he will get one in time so every photo I get of them together is precious

  52. Mine is one a friend took of me with my daughter when she was just a few months old. Neither of us were aware of the camera, and we were just smiling at each other… it makes me fill up with happy tears every time I see it.

  53. my favoutite picture is one that my mum took when i was queuing for my gown at graduation – i didn’t know she had taken it and the lighting was beautiful on it

  54. I have a very small passport size photo of my great grandmother. What I find amazing is that she was born in 1865 and the photo was taken shortly before she died in 1965. I also have a few other very old photos, which are just a precious, but this one small photo still moves me every time. I truly am standing on the shoulders of giants.

  55. My favourite photo is a picture of myself and my best friends when we were on a tour in Italy, singing. We are all walking into the sea holding hands and it means a lot to me 🙂

  56. My favorate photo is a picture from behind of my 18month old daughter and my husband walking hand in hand. She recently had a hip operation so to see her walking again is magic x

  57. My favoriute picture is of myself kneeling up with my arms folded and my wife leaning ove rmy shoulder with her arms draped in front of me. What make it special is it was taken by my 7 year old daughter pretending to be a photographer and she told us exactly how she wanted us to pose.. so sweet..

  58. My favourite picture has to be one that I took a couple of years ago of my son and partner at the beach. They are far off in the distance of the shot but its just them, the sea and the sandy beach. Always reminds me of a fab summers day!

  59. Pictures speak a thousand words so this is my favourite http://twitter.com/account/profile_image/Heavenly_Charm It’s such a candid shot which isn’t easy to pull off when you’ve got the camera in one hand and a wriggling child in the other. His smile and laughter just brings all our family so much joy. So lucky to have him in my life 🙂

    Thank you for the great competition! We spend hours looking at photos on the laptop so this would be a fantastic prize! Debbie (@Heavenly_Charm on Twitter)

  60. My favourite photo is one of our Granddaughter on her Christening Day……we never expected to have grandchildren, so Caitlin Freya is an absolute delight!

  61. I love the pictures of my kids with there sunflours and have some great ones of the dog, plus christening photo’s. I have to many favourites to mention, but the absolute favourite is of my little boy in an electric car.

  62. Oh I have so many but I think my all time favourite is of Mr L and Baba on the steam train when we went to Wales they are so happy and laughing together defo my fav xx

  63. My fav pic os of my twins.. My hubby took a pic the very first moment they were placed together on the hotbed..
    They were taken away from me when they were first born as they were so premature..
    So this pic means alot to me x

  64. Hard to choose an outright favourite but one of my favourites has to be the shot of my eldest daughter aged 3 at the time meeting her brand new baby sister just 3 hours old and kissing the top of her head ever so gently, it was a beautiful moment and the memory sits on top of our TV set

  65. My favourite picture is the one that was taken of me the first time my daughter was passed to me after she was born! I would love to say I remember the moment perfectly (it was nearly 5 years ago) but with all the crazyness that happens in the delivery room I can honestly say I don’t. But I just have to look at my face on this photo, the purest joy ever and a perfect memory, it’s also a picture that my daughter can treasure.

  66. A difficult question…I’ve so many, but I think my favorite would have to be my daughter on her trampoline – she loved bouncing, and the photo captures her spirit as well as her beauty.

  67. My favourite photo is of my Uncle who died in 1988. He was always the life and soul of the party and this picture of him at my mum and dad’s 25th wedding anniversary keeps him alive in my head.

  68. I took a picture when we were only holiday of my hubby carrying my son towards the sea, I loved it so much I had it enlarged and have it black & white in my front room.

    🙂

  69. I have an old family photo of my mom, brothers and I trying to do hand stands in the garden. Its one of those pictures that you just have to smile when you see it.

  70. My Favourite photo is the first time me and my brother went on holiday together a year ago and we were grinning while sitting in front of a view of the opera house and harbour bridge! First trip of many I think!

  71. We had our camera card stolen when our baby was 4 weeks old and lost all of our hospital photos. To make up for it we took loads at home to make up for it and my favourite is my little girl about 6 weeks old fast asleep on her daddy’s chest.

  72. My favorite picture is of my husband and I on our wedding day. We were standing on a pretty wood bridge over a pond with out arms around each other kissing. It reminds me of all the happiness and contentment I felt that very moment, an throughout the day.

  73. My favourite picture is the picture I have of me and Taylor Swift! I met her about 6 months after and she signed it as well! win-win!

  74. My favourite photo of all time is one of my grandon fly-fishing.A very difficult skill to master.It took my husband and myself quite a time to teach him as he is proundly deaf and my husband had to use his hands to show him the technicalties of holding the rod etc.and I had to use my hands to sign to him.Took a lot of patience but we did it and we have the photographs of him casting and catching to prove it.

  75. My favourite is of my two little boys. They are about 4 and 5 at the time, they’re in the garden making snowmen. They’re all wrapped up and looking cute, but it’s not that or the rubbish snow lumps that they’ve made, it’s that there faces are just so natural, it’s just their exact personalities captured. The older one looking all serious the little one behind looking full of mischief. It’s everything you need to know about them in a single frame. I love it.

  76. my favourite picture has to be the first picture ever taken of my daughter when she was only a couple of seconds old and her eyes had just started to open looking at us for the very first time and feeling the love that you feel for your child it always reminds me of how precious time is and how fast it goes as she is already 1year old.

  77. the one of my little boy holding his 5 meters swimming certificate on holiday. None of us could have been more proud of him if he’d swam the channel! His face is beeming!

  78. my favorite picture is my daughter phoebes 3D scan picture i had done at 29 weeks, it still amazes me what technology can capture now. you can see her waving her tiny hand and her little face yawning. its truly amazing. phoebe is now 19 months and as you can imagine we have taken thousands of pictures but none even come close to that picture from inside my belly something only a mummy can understand 🙂

  79. It has to be the one with all the family on when we were in Florida, only problem is when we took it we did not notice there was one of them “wet floor” signs right next to us

  80. I have one of my youngest daughter just woken up with her arm over her face. She’s only 2 and it seems like such an adult thing to do.

  81. My favourite photo is from a few years ago and was a photograph taken by Bence Mate for the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year. It is a portrait of a red fox in winter. I love the contrast of the colours of the fox against a dark background and the delicate drops of snow on its coat.

  82. My favourite photo is one I took of my boyfriend pushing a wooden boat with other holidaymakers we had only just met knee deep in a river in the middle of the Malaysian rainforest when it got stuck in a sand bank! It was a great icebreaker and reminds me of happy memories of the beginning of the best holiday ever.

  83. Picture of my cat, he doesn’t tend to let me take nice photos but I got really close to his face one day, it really is a stunning photo

    @Nicolaliz

  84. The picture of me holding my new born son and a tear running down my cheek,not just a picture a whole moment captured in time.

  85. My best photo is of me and my wife walking along the beach in Turkey had in hand. I am now unable to walk through disabilities.

  86. my favourite photo is our first one as a family after our son was born. he was 11 days old before we could all 4 of us have a photo together as he was in intensive care (SCBU) for 11 days and in HDU for another 3 days before he came home. our daughter was 2 at the time and the photo of us all sat in that hospital room is in my heart forever. (he’s a very healthy 7 year old now by the way x )

  87. My favourite picture is of the children and hubby in swimming pool on holiday as hubby is now Disabled and unable to walk

  88. My favorite photo is of my partner and daughter on a beach in Cromer. He is showing her how to make a sandcastle (she was only 18 months at the time!) and she is looking up at him laughing. It’s such a beautiful picture and always reminds me aiof a very special holiday =)

  89. Already following you all over the place 😉

    My favourite photo is of the three children, lying on a hotel bed in Ibiza – all jut laughing at the camera. It was taken a few years ago but it’s such a natural shot that I love it 🙂

  90. My favourite photo was taken only days ago! It’s of Mister A cuddling Little E and they’re both smiling – you can actually see it on my latest blog post.

    Great prize – I’ve never owned a digital photo frame before *fingers crossed*

    @second_time_mum

  91. Definately the one I have of me and J in hospital, I’m cuddling him and hes asleep. It was one of the first times he fell asleep on me and the first time I actually thought “maybe I can do this”

    Hope all is well in SA!

  92. I have a lovely one of Lily and Thomas, taken this summer on a walk through Buckland Abbey Estate. They were both running through a field of long grass and had the biggest, happiest smiles on their little faces. It was a real ‘moment’ that I will always remember as one of our best times.

  93. I’ve got so many! Back in March we had a professional photoshoot done and the photos finally came through last month. I was looking at them last night and there’s some fab ones of TB being all moody!

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