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Comment by LASR | Hacker News Reader

For those who want less tikering: Two 24 inch monitors bought from a design house auction connected to 3rd Gen Chromecasts.

They automatically boot up and display a Google Photos album that contains pictures of the family and pets. These monitors are set to power on at 8 AM and off at 10 PM.

Initially my wife hated the idea of having two monitors in the living room. But after I put them in place, we both found it is a constant reminder of good times - which was helpful in many subtle and unexpected ways.

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…or buy a cheap digital picture frame from <mass market retailer>.

When my g-parents passed, and the family moved away, we bought everyone a cheap digital frame linked to a shared family album. They’re like 50-200$ depending on size. My grandmother was always bringing the family together, and we wanted to honor that with way to see each other across geographies.

Our chosen company’s albums have an email address that you email a photo to, and it displays on everyone’s frame. Very easy for everyone to contribute.

What brand and model did you buy? I've been looking for something like this for my family.

I got an "Aura" one. It works well and supports connecting a google photos album.

I think it’s NixPlay. I think they’re commodified though so I don’t know how much brand matters.

+1 for Google Photos and Chromecast or Nest Hub

I take photos on my iPhone, Google photos automatically uploads and I can set my Google devices to show a specific album or a "highlight" reel which is pretty awesome. Not only does it show recent photos, but also photos from the same time the previous year (ala social media "memories"). It's a wonderful, automatic memory machine!

More info here: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9136992?hl=en

What is a "design house auction"?

It sounds like a museum auction or something? If so, that sounds like a nice way to promote an environment to enjoy things. Would make a great entrance/foyer hallway feature.

Design firms frequently upgrade their hardware. So you can frequently find great hardware at very low prices. Also snagged a fully loaded Mac Pro trashcan for $1200 back in 2017 when they all went for the iMac Pros.

I spent $50 for each monitor and additional $50 for 2 x Chromecasts.

Net out, 2 x 24” auto-updating photo frames for <$200.

Wow that's extremely good value.

Where did you end up finding the auctions for these? Contact the design firms directly?

This is basically the main value prop behind Samsung's "Frame" series of TVs (but you also use it as at TV). People who love them love them.

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