Expand memory in that new digital frame to the next level
You just purchased or received as a gift a new digital photo frame. A fantastic gift to display people who will never look as good as the people who came in the static picture frames of yesteryear.. After un-boxing the digital photo frame you learn an import fact, it only has 512mb of internal memory. You think to yourself, sounds like allot and I will never fill that up. Think again Ansel. By the time you copy a few pictures, music and anything else that the frame will support you are out of space. But wait, most frames support several media card formats. You could just spend another $20, $30, or $40 card to expand my digital frame’s memory. Then you just have to load the pictures onto the media card. Oh but wait, you now need another USB card reader to transfer the pictures from your computer to the new media card.
So, after spending another $20, or $30 you are all set. Maybe not…
Now that you purchased your media card and your card reader, you have to decide what pictures to put onto your media card. You sift through 20 gig of images that you have digitally shot over the last 5 years and now have to choose what to put on your card. Do you isolate and choose the photos you really want to see, or do you group them by the event. Oh my, just too many choices to think about. If there were only a way to have all of my pictures that would display on the frame and I just choose what I want to see when I want to see them. You purchased a nice frame that allows you to stream your music and images from another computer where you keep your images. The question, can you network the computer to the frame getting past the firewall settings and connect the two? The other point is, do I really want to keep another computer running with my frame?
Well here is another solution. Most photo frames today support the use of USB media sticks that can be plugged into the frame. 
If your photo frame support the USB sticks then you may be in luck. The photo frame may support connecting a 2.5″ external hard drive to the frame. Most of the nicer photo frames can run enough power through it to support the needed power to drive the hard drive to spin up and work. This is really where quality meets dollars. If you spend a few more dollars for a nicer quality photo frame, it may support providing the extra power. The last thing you need is to hear, “I’m given her all shes got captain.” I have used Kodak and HP photo frames with great success. The drives do consume a little more power, but less than running a computer to stream your pictures to your photo frame.
Most external drives that have about 80-120gb of storage usually sell for around $50-$60. You can certainly step up to the 250-500gb arena for about $100 and have room to place all of your photos on the drive, but also have room to grow. IF you want to tackle this project, just make sure to do it while the frame is in warranty as I have heard if the frame cannot support the additional power requirements through the USB port they will fail within 10 days. Certainly enough time to take it back and get a replacement.
