Finding What's Just Right for You

If you want your home technology purchases to have fairy tale endings, it pays to have a plan in place before you reach for your check book.

One of the first books I could read by myself was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It was one of those little "Golden Books" (do they make those anymore?) with the hard cover and colorful illustrations. Goldi was either very brave or very foolish to go out for a walk in the woods by herself and to enter a strange house -- one owned by bears, no less.

Maybe she was the precursor of the independent-thinking consumer who knew exactly what she wanted and what was right for her. She knew exactly what temperature her food should be, what size a comfortable chair should be, and the preferred firmness of a mattress. And she figured this all out by trying the options.

As a home electronics consumer, it would be nice to walk into a home that had different options in audio and video technologies, test them out, and find the perfect fit. It isn't going to happen that way. For one thing, Miss Locks had to choose from three options in each room and you have many more products to choose from than that. Also, people with expensive electronic products aren't going to be as careless as the Bears family and leave their front door unlocked for you. Life is not a fairy tale. Let's look at practical ways you can find products that are just right for you.

I'm going to limit my discussion to one product in this article, but the process can be applied in different situations. I'll start by sharing some mistakes I've made as a "what not to do" primer. The product is a home sound system. I still don't have one, although it's not for lack of trying -- and buying the wrong thing. Luckily, ill-fitting shoes, wild colored purses, and too-tight jeans aren't the only things my daughter is happy to take off my hands. She now has the sound system that didn't work for me, but it's just right for her. It is a great system, but in the space I have to set it up, the configuration would not work without being intrusive. Plan B: I thought a small system with limited speakers would solve this problem. Wrong again, because surround sound is just what its name implies -- it surrounds you. This time I didn't buy, because conceptually the glass slipper didn't fit. (Oops, wrong fairy tale!) What I needed was a plan that would work, so here's my recipe for what I think will be success in my purchase.

• Go to a professional. It can be a reputable home electronics store or a custom A/V installer.
• Explain what you want and need, and the limitations you have in locations, room size, etc.
• Listen to the different choices in a setting that is similar to yours. This may be a demo room at a store or a job site of a recent installation.
• Don't rule out anything. A retro-fitted in-wall speaker system may seem to be something you would welcome as much as a pimple on prom night, but it might be just what's right for you.
• Weigh all the options and don't rush to make a decision.

A well laid-out plan in shopping for home electronics can lead to living happily ever after with your purchase.