I think a digital photo frame is a great gift idea that you could give to many different people – for many different holidays and celebrations.

However, I’ve been looking into the possibility of buying one, as a gift, and I’ve come to the conclusion that, if you’re the type of person who cares about image quality, the minimum you’re looking at paying is about $100.00 – here and now in December 2008.

Here are some considerations to keep in mind when buying:

According to PC Magazine, a digital photo frame should have a resolution of at least 640-by-480 pixels.

Also, consider who you’re buying for. If it’s someone who’s not tech-savvy, make sure they can easily access the photos. If I was going to give this as a gift to anyone over 60 or so, it would be for a family member and I’d load it up with photos in advance for them. This way they’d only have to figure out how to scroll through photos or set it to a slide show.

Make sure there’s enough memory built-in to the frame. It should have at least 128 MB or some easy storage for the photos. I would want the built-in memory.

Consumer Reports recommends buying a frame that’s at least 8″. They also recommend a matte frame.

The most standard and less expensive frame right now is 7″ – so if you’re going to go up to 8″ as recommended by Consumer Reports – it’ll cost more money.

I’ve only been able to find two digital frames that are close to $100 (on sale), that are 8″, with a resolution of at least 640-by-480 pixels, and with the buit-in memory of 128 MB. They are:

Smartparts SP800WS 8″ Digital Brown Wood Picture Frame
Kodak EASYSHARE M820 Digital Frame (Photo Above)

I don’t have direct experience with these frames. You can check around the internet to see what other people say about them, if you’d like, and to hunt for bargains. These are the two I’d check out based on what’s out there for a reasonable price right now.

My hope is that next year there will be lower price/higher quality choices!