You’ve purchased a great little digital camera, you’ve got a cool camera bag, extra batteries, and all kinds of good advice, but now you realize your new toy only holds 12 to 24 pictures at one time. Nothing is more annoying than going on vacation or whipping out your camera at a family event only to discover the memory is full. With a film camera you just pop out the old roll and insert a new one. With a digital camera you either have to delete the photos already on the camera or transfer them to your computer. Luckily, there’s a better solution: Purchasing additional memory storage.

Most digital cameras now accept memory cards that will hold up to 4 GB and up to 8 GB on some models. For most people, these little cards, called “Flash Memory Cards,” are the most economical choice, but if you take hundreds and hundreds of photos routinely, you may want to invest in a separate viewing/storage device, often tagged “smart media.” Smart media devices tend to be expensive—upwards of $300 or more—but most can hold nearly as many photos as a standard PC, plus they have other viewing and editing features included that are great for professionals or badly addicted amateurs.