Are you Ready for the Holidays?

Before you know it's 2010 and we'll have the busiest shopping season behind us. To make sure you're as prepared as you can be, we have compiled a special Reseller Guide for the Holiday Season. 

We have compiled a checklist, some ideas to get your sales started, important shipping dates and even instructions for Facebook integration. So, don't wait any longer and download the guide here.

Upgrading to Windows 7

We have never seen such an enthusiastic reception of an Operating System as with Windows 7. It really seems to be one of the best products Microsoft has produced. Not only is Windows 7 more visually appealing, stable, more power efficient and performing, it delivers a whole host of great capability for business users.

We have received a lot of request to specify which versions can be upgraded and what the relationships are between the versions.


The table below list the NextDayPC.com part numbers for the appropriate upgrade.

If you're running:	Upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium	Upgrade to Windows 7 Professional	Upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate
Windows Vista Home Basic/ Windows XP Home	7893082		7893084
Windows Vista Home Premium / Windows XP Home	7893082		7893084
Windows Vista Business / Windows XP Professional		7893083	7893084
Windows Vista Ultimate			7893084
Windows 7 Home Premium		7893089	7893090

Before you or your customer decides to upgrade make sure to run the Upgrade Advisor. This little piece of software will tell you exactly if it is possible to do an upgrade.

Please be aware of the fact that you cannot do a Windows XP “In Place” install, meaning you will have to back up all your files and then do a clean install of XP.

7 Reasons to like Windows 7

There is a lot of hype around the launch of Windows 7 this October 22nd. Even though Vista has come a long way since it was launched, it could still use improvement.

The question is now, “should you and your customers upgrade or not?”  If you’ve been using Vista for a while you’re probably better off keeping that money in your pocket but if you’re still using XP, the answer is simply yes!  The differences and improvements between XP and Windows 7 are tremendous and well worth the money. I have been lucky enough to have worked with Windows 7 for a few months now and even my 4 year old PC runs absolutely flawless with just a small memory upgrade. To see if your computer is ready for Windows 7 click here for the Windows Upgrade Advisor.

So what is so great about Windows 7?

1)  It runs Windows XP applications
One of the biggest Vista drawbacks was that it was virtually impossible to run legacy applications and sometimes even older peripherals. Windows 7 has the ability to run applications in Windows XP mode, which means that the application will actually think it is running on a XP machine and will behave as such. So, the excuse to stick with XP is no longer valid.

2)  Sharing is Easier
Microsoft has created something called HomeGroup which makes sharing documents, music, printers or any other files a snap. Especially for home users this is a great feature. No more need for sophisticated network set-ups. Just a few clicks and all computers in the house can share.

3)  Improved User Interface
Increased efficiency, user friendliness and Aesthetics were obviously the ideas behind the new desktop layout. With a retooled taskbar and easier ways to get to open windows it’s a pleasure to work.

4)  Easier Networking
Windows 7 makes it a cinch to view and connect to networks on your laptop wherever you go. Just click the networking icon on the taskbar. View Available Networks displays all your wireless and wired options—Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, dial-up, or corporate VPN. One more click, and you're connected.

5) Windows Troubleshooting
Windows 7 has built-in troubleshooters for performance, programs, devices, networking, printing, display, sound, and power efficiency. The troubleshooters help you get to the problem quickly and will try to use internal information or go on the internet to resolve the issue. Getting help from a professional is also a lot easier with the Problem Steps Recorder; End users can record their experience with an application failure with each step recorded as a screen shot along with accompanying logs and software configuration data. They can send this over to a technician for easy troubleshooting.

6) Play To and Windows Media Center
The Jump To feature enables you to send video and audio output from one PC to a network-enabled media player, home stereo and even other PCs on the network.

7) Location aware printing
If you travel between offices or home and office with a laptop, this feature is handy: Windows 7 remembers which network and printer you're using and automatically switches the default printer to match the one you last used.

Those are the 7 main reasons we feel customers should upgrade from XP and Vista to Windows 7. For more information on Windows 7, check out the Microsoft web site here.

Use Facebook to Sell

We asked if our resellers use Facebook for business purposes recently and it appears that many of you do.

We are working on other Facebook applications but we have started by creating an RSS feed which you can use on Facebook or on any other
site where you can use an RSS feed.

Below are the instructions for importing the Weekly Hot Deals into your Facebook page.

Step 1
Sign in to Facebook's home page using the email address you registered with.

Step 2
Follow the "My Notes" link from the navigational menu. If you have already entered notes on your page, then they will load for you to preview or edit.

Step 3
Select the "Import Blog" or "Edit Import Settings" link in the Notes Setting section. If you are already importing from a blog, the URL will appear here. You can only import from 1 source at a time. Simply "Stop Importing" if you want to change to an RSS feed.

Step 4
Enter the URL for the RSS feed in the box.
PLEASE NOTE: You should use your own discount code instead of the sample code ND?????? below. Your Discount Code can be found on the right hand side of the home page at http://www.resellersonly.com/member

Your Hot deals URL is : http://www.nextdaypc.com/main/rss/bestbuys.aspx?ID=ND???????

Check the box next to the statement that you actually own the content.

Step 5
Click the "Start Importing" button. Facebook will import the content of the RSS feed for you to preview. If everything looks good, then go ahead and hit the "Continue" button. Now your RSS feed is automatically imported into your "Notes" section.

Step 6
Set your privacy levels to determine who is allowed to view your notes, which now contain your RSS feed.

That’s all there is to it. Every Tuesday, when we create new Hot Deals, your Facebook page is automatically update with the latest Hot Deals.

All about the Windows 7 Upgrade

Here's a chance for you and your customers to have the cake and eat it too. With the Windows 7 Upgrade Option you can get a new PC or upgrade the one you have today and get Windows 7 when it arrives.*

Looking for a new PC?
We've worked with PC manufacturers to help protect today’s PC investment. The companies below offer selected PCs that qualify for the Windows 7 Upgrade Option.* Buy a qualifying PC today, then follow the manufacturer's instructions to get the software upgrade. Prices and delivery methods will vary, so please check the manufacturer's website for full details.

* Essential details: When you buy Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate either as a packaged product or on a qualifying PC you can get a comparable upgrade version of Windows 7 after it’s generally available on October 22, 2009. Qualifying PCs, offer details, and product delivery methods will vary by manufacturer, so check the websites below for specifics.

Microsoft Windows 7 FREE Upgrade Manufacturer Information Websites

Please visit these websites for more information about each manufacturer's Windows 7 Free Upgrade program and Qualifying Systems.

Acer
http://www.acer.com/win7upgrade

Asus
http://event.asus.com/2009/windows7

Averatec
https://ebiz.mentormediacorp.com/win7Averatec/terms.asp

eMachine
http://www.emachine.com/win7upgrade

Gateway
http://www.gateway.com/win7upgrade

HP
http://www.hp.com/go/windows7upgrade

Lenovo
http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/windows7

MSI
http://www.msimobile.com

Sony
http://www.sony.com/windows7

Toshiba
http://laptops.toshiba.com/windows7upgrade

Samsung
http://www.samsung.com/us/promotion/win7

Microsoft
http://www.windows7upgradeoption.com

Watch and Learn

Over the past 3 months we have seen an enormous increase in resellers and we have had to find new ways to educate and communicate to get new resellers up to speed as quickly as possible. Today we launched 8 videos that explain some of the features and possibilities of both the storefront and resellersonly.com You can find these videos at www.resellersonly.com/tutorials or you can go directly to YouTube by clicking here: www.youtube.com/resellersonly 
We will be posting more and more videos over time, but please do not hesitate to email your requests. We will try to accommodate as many requests as possible. Please click here to describe your request.

Now Shipping to your Customers Overseas

Have you ever told an overseas customer that you could not ship products? Well, as of July 18 you have the ability to offer our products to your international customers using the services of our brand new partner, Bongo International out of Connecticut.

Once a customer is on the storefront they create an account on the storefront and with Bongo, which will give them a physical address in the US, for as little as $5. The whole process takes about 3 minutes and the customer doesn't even have to leave the storefront.

After placing the order we will ship the product to the newly created US address and Bongo takes care of shipping the order to almost any worldwide location. It's that simple!

For more details, click on the "International Shipping" link on your storefront, or call us at 800-270 0700.

Water and Fireproof Data Storage

Every now and then a new product arrives that really gets our attention. This week we came upon IoSafe’s water and fireproof data storage products. There are three different drive sizes, 500MD, 1TB and 1,5TB. These drives can be submerged in 10ft of water for at least 3 days and can withstand well over 1500 degrees for at least 30 minutes. It’s like storing all your important data in a safe.
Besides the fact that its fire and waterproof the drives are very competitively priced, between $150 and $300, each drive comes with a 1 year data recovery warranty. If, for some reason you are unable to get the hard drive to work after a fire or a flood, IoSafe will spend up to $1,000 to try to recover your data. For an additional fee you can extend that warranty to 2, 3 or 5 years.
To us this seems like a no-brainer for small businesses and consumers who want to keep their important business data or family pictures safe from disaster.
You can find the IoSafe products by searching for “IoSafe”  on your storefront.

Unfortunately we do not have product information on the product on our product detail pages but we have some files you can use for your customers here : http://groups.google.com/group/resellersonly/files?hl=en

Dell is Here

We’re happy to announce that, as of today, we’re carrying the Dell Vostro Desktop and Notebook line of products. The Vostro products are specifically built for small businesses and are a much better package than the products available for consumers.

This arrangement will allow our network of more than 10,000 Technology Resellers and Solution Providers to add another great brand to their arsenal of tools and services and enjoy collaboration in place of competition with one of the best known technology companies in the world.

Dell product experts are available at NextDayPC.com to answer your questions and help you find the most suitable solutions for your needs.

Windows Home Server - Revisited

A few months ago I wrote about Windows Home Server and how wonderful it was, at least from the demo and other information I received. In the past 2 weeks I have been able to actually take one home and I don't think it will be leaving any time soon.

If you run a small business, have a family with numerous computers, or both, or have a large collection of documents, pictures, music or other files, Windows Home Server is a very solid solution, for you or your customers. With daily backups of all the 6 computers on our home network I don't have to worry about anyone losing homework or family memories. If someone accidentally deletes a document, it is retrieved in seconds.

The other important feature is that all the users on the server can get to their documents remotely from any internet connected computer with a browser. You can even access running PC's on the network via remote desktop in case you need to find something on a particular machine. So your son can create a word document on his computer, save it on a shared folder, and continue working on it in the school library without having to carry a copy of it with him.

If you want, Microsoft also gives away a free domain name like http://myserver.homeserver.com/ which you can use to either log in and access your documents or computers but, more importantly, if you have family and friends all over the world, like we do, within 30 seconds you can have pictures or music online by creating a web site for it. Updating is a breeze, you just drop and drag your pictures or any other documents into shared folders on the server and you're web site is updated.

The system has a lot more features and with add-ins you can give the server even more functionality. The other nice feature is that, once it has been installed, it can run "head-less", without monitor, keyboard or mouse, so it can be put somewhere in a corner or closet.
Don't think for a moment that you need a high powered machine either. It runs fine on a P4 machine with 2GB of memory as long as you have plenty of storage space, either internal or external via USB.

I would like to suggest trying this yourself to see if this something for you or your customers. Microsoft has made it very easy; they'll even send you the 120-day evaluation software for free by filling out a form here.

Your storefront carries a few servers, from HP and Systemax and the software itself but we'll probably see some more manufacturers coming out with these servers as the interest seems to grow. Just search for Windows Home Server in the storefront to bring up a list of available products.