Guide to Consumer Electronics

You can conduct business easier, faster and more enjoyably than ever, thanks in large part to technology advancements and competition within the consumer electronic industry. If you look around your office, most everything in it that allows you to perform your job (other than your furniture) contains an electronic component.

If you're looking for ways to make yourself more efficient and productive both in and away from the office, take advantage of all the choices available through consumer electronics companies. As you shop within the consumer electronic industry, remember:

1. Home electronics solutions can solve home office and small business challenges, often for less money than equipment made for larger businesses.

2. Think twice before you buy extended warranties for products purchased from consumer electronics retailers; they serve as a great profit maker for consumer electronics companies.

3. Make sure you buy products from reputable consumer electronics retailers for easier returns and customer/technical service.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Shop different consumer electronic brands for equipment you use in the office every day

Just about any small business owner and professional needs to copy, fax, print, shred, calculate and work at a computer. If available space limits your ability to buy a separate printer, copier and fax machine, and only a few people would need regular access, consider combining them. Computers and associated monitors seem outdated almost as soon as you buy them, and if it's been a year since your last monitor, you'll like the selection and prices available now.

I recommend: To hit all price points in your search for a copier/printer/scanner, start at NexTag and compare prices. If you need a new computer monitor or any other consumer or home electronics, take advantage of Circuit City's free shipping and low-price guarantee.

Make your mobile life easier with equipment from electronics stores

When you're out of the office making a presentation, driving to a meeting, waiting in a doctor's office or staying home with a sick child, you can still accomplish work-related tasks. Owning your own projector and laptop lets you dry run presentations anytime and anywhere. Using your own equipment to give presentations at someone else's place of business frees you to focus on the presentation instead of wondering when they last changed their projector's light bulb and if everything's compatible. Additionally, other electronic devices/equipment allows you to keep working even when you're not in a work setting.

I recommend: Check out the 2.9-pound View Sonic projector at Monitor Outlet and then visit Super Warehouse to price laptops you can use for presentations or lightweight Notebook PCs you can use in the doctor's waiting room. You can also check out digital voice recorders that will keep you from forgetting everything you remember when there's no paper, pen or computer at hand; start your search at Just Recorders.

Stop by any consumer electronics business and find a way to indulge yourself at the office

If your budget allows, you can find some great ways to pamper yourself and relax before you head home at the end of a long, stressful day.

I recommend: If you frequently feel stressed and frustrated, check out the hand-held biofeedback Stress Eraser from The Sharper Image. Better yet, imagine the possibility of a calm rush-hour drive home each night after you first relax in one of the massage chairs offered by Massager Machines & More.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Before you spend money at a consumer electronics store, check to see if any of your existing devices and equipment already perform the task you want to accomplish. For example, some MP3 players can double as voice recorders, too. If you don't have an MP3, consider leaving yourself messages on your own cell phone.

The official source of Consumer Electronics is the Consumer Electronics page at Business.com