I think at those price points I'd be tempted to just find something like a 10.3" Kobo Elipsa on sale and see if I could hack it to display a slide show.
Wouldn't be as pretty as this but it's much higher resolution at 227ppi.
Maybe that's the unique selling point of this; a nice presentable frame and photo matte.
eInk/ePaper displays aren't cheap and getting them cheap requires buying pre-loved devices. The only way to drive down costs right now is bulk ordering. Unless your time is worth less than say $25/hr, this is likely much cheaper than building.
I don't really think a person building this would factor wage since it - in my case at least - would be fore fun. That said eink displays are expensive but I feel like one could find one and come in to close to or under the cost of the ArtFrame. https://shopkits.eink.com - has some good options.
Not arguing my aunt would build this, just that a lot of the HN crowd could and often are of the tinkering type to find that sort of project enjoyable :)
Wouldn't be as pretty as this but it's much higher resolution at 227ppi.
Maybe that's the unique selling point of this; a nice presentable frame and photo matte.