So you brought home that beautiful new plasma TV, and now you need to have it installed and set up to give you the best possible picture you can get. Or you want really finish that finished basement with a new media center, and you don't know where to begin. Or you're desperate to consolidate that stack of remote controls into one easy-to-use integrated remote control. You need some help!

There is an amazing amount of technology that can be brought into the home these days. Choosing the right equipment to meet your specific needs and making it all work easily is another story. You need to have a partner that can help you in this process. You can go to one of the famous big box stores and ask for help and become just another customer. You can call your brother-in-law, who swears he can do it for you, but that can lead to family strain and frustration if he gets in over his head. For the best results, we would recommend that you find a small tech company that can give you the kind of personalized help that you need.

The tech company you choose must have qualified technicians that can listen to you and find out exactly what you need to make your life easier and more enjoyable. Take the above-mentioned remote control issue, for example. Have you ever gotten one of those dreaded phone calls from your spouse who can't figure out how to make the DVD player show up on the TV? You sit there trying to describe which remote to use and which button to push and everyone ends up aggravated and upset. These days, a qualified tech company can meet with you and design a remote control just for you, that consolidates all of your remotes into one easy-to-use display unit. A truly qualified company can design a remote so intuitive, that anyone picking it up for the first time will be able to run your system perfectly.

You also want a company that will not sell you something that you don't really need. We all know there are 'geeks' out there who can tell a customer, "I can set up your home so that you can log onto your computer anywhere in the world and control the lights in your home." Is this really possible? Sure it is, but do you really want or need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on this technology? Your money should be spent with a small, skilled and caring technology company whose main goal is to make your home technology do what you need and keep it easy and stress-free.

In closing, in your quest for the perfect technology solutions for you, chose a small, honest, well-qualified company capable of offering solutions for technology design, installation and operation that truly meet your specific needs, desires and budget.

I look forward to sharing more about technology with you next month!