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

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.

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

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.

bought a similar keychain last year but it did not have the scratch cover feature - great addition as the screen will get scratched if used as a keychain. easy installation download - pics aren't superb quality but what do you expect from such a small screen - gets the job done with pics on the go

1. The magnetic cover is 1.1" but the actual screen size is a 1/2 inch.2. Supplied software will not load on a later version of windows xp software.3. You have to download the latest 2.4 photo viewer software from the Nextar website. FYI, it's a zip file and navigating the website is very slow.4. I did get the latest version to boot up but it's unpredictable and fails to communicate with device at times.5. There's was no indication that the lithium battery would charge as stated in the instruction manual (no battery meter).6. Even if you do get this piece of cheese to function properly, it's small size and poor contrast ratio will force you in a dark room with a magnify glass to share your photos.

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 item never seems to be fully charged. I had it plugged in for over 6 hours today and no matter what, the first thing it wants to do when I plug it in is charge.My computer can't "See" the device and the software that is supposed to run it is full of flaws and horrible mis-spellings. I'm still trying to get it to work per the instructions in other reviews, but this was so not worth the $5 I paid for it. I checked some other forums and will NEVER buy another Nextar product ever, no matter how "great" the deal is.What a joke.