Regular readers will know that Wednesday posts cover “Hump Day Hardware” and I’m getting away from some of the normal computer accessories and talking about cool electronic toys for the holidays. Today I’m going to look at digital photo frames.

These day it seems like almost everyone has at least one digital camera. This had led to an explosion of photos and yet there is no way we can display all the pictures we take. That’s where a digital photo frame comes into play. It is an LCD screen with some sort of way to store hundreds of images that play back as a slideshow. Digital photo frames come in all kinds of sizes and a variety of price points. You’ll find to find out the screen size, the number of pixels, the amount of built-in memory, the ability to plug-in a separate memory card and whether you like the look of the device.

In looking over the frames that are available, I selected two different sizes from Samsung. I’m a proud owner of several Samsung products and each of these frames had an excellent sale going on. The Samsung SPF-87H is an 8-inch screen with 1 GB of built-in memory. They claim it can hold 3000 pictures, but I can’t imagine ever putting even 1000 images on a frame. Right now it is only $79.95. If you want something a bit bigger, go for the Samsung SFP-107H. It has a 10 inch screen and the same 1 GB of storage with a price tag under $125.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to store just “photos” on these frames. You can use it as a way to display your portfolio. Just export various projects from CorelDRAW to a high-quality JPG and put those files on the digital photo frame. Or maybe you load up the frame with family photos and give it to a relative as a present. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone wanted several frames to display in different rooms.