11.02.2006
Why Wait for Vista to Buy a New PC?
Posted by Chip Lowell - VP Sales and Marketing

I took a call on the Velocity Micro sales phone the other day. After discussing our PCs a bit, the caller asked, “Should I buy my new PC now, or wait for Microsoft Vista to come out in 2007?” We are getting this question every day on the sales phones and chats. I decided to tell the caller that we at Velocity Micro are very excited about Microsoft’s new OS – for a lot of reasons:

1. Aero – this is the term for Vista’s cool visual elements that take advantage of modern 3D cards to jazz up window opens, minimizes, alt-tabbing and other movement in your display.

2. Very robust and fast search – Vista utilized “search” in new ways. Not only can you search your PC for docs, pictures and media with keywords, but any part of the system, too. Example: can’t remember where to find “Add/Remove Programs?” Hit the Start button, start typing in the Search field “add remove programs” and viola! The link/icon to launch it is right there for you.

3. Real, working Parental Controls. You can lock down the whole system by days/hours, browser use, gaming by ratings – lots of great control for parents.

4. Nice sidebar with gadgets. I’ve always loved this stuff: clocks, picture rotators, system monitoring.

5. Lots more: Backup, Live Taskbar, Virtual Folders, better security and performance, . . .

After getting the caller excited about the new stuff, I said, “The real question is, ‘Do I desire to play my killer new games I get in December – in December? Or will I just stare at the pretty game package until I get a new PC to handle its killer graphics needs in February?’” The caller told me they wanted to play their new games NOW! Well, that’s easy . . .

If you’re in business and you have a need right now for PCs – you don’t have a decision to make. Your IT department hasn’t tested the released final of Vista yet (shoot, our R&D hasn’t finished with it yet!), so you pretty much need to go with XP. If your PC just died and you cannot live without one until January or February (who can?) you’ll need one right now, too. Bottom line: if you want or need a PC now, get a PC now.

If you don’t need a PC for your Christmas games, your business or recent lack thereof, then let me share my problem solving technique with you. In selling, it’s call the “Ben Franklin” close – it’s really just a list of reasons for and against the different aspects of a decision. You set up your criteria, in this case

1. Wait for Vista to come out and get my new PC with it pre-loaded, and

2. Get my PC now with a coupon for FREE or discounted Vista and install it later.

Then, under each, put two columns: Pro’s and Con’s. Then list the reasons for and against each. Here is my list:

Wait for Vista to come out to get my new PC
Pros	Cons
Machine arrives working perfectly, don’t have to worry about drivers and all for the upgrade No OS install to run (upgrade) My PC company supports Vista, since they shipped it By waiting, I’ll get newer PC technology (maybe) than now	Don’t have a speedy new machine now I’m not going to need the “upgrade” to Vista anyway, and don’t plan to get it Vista isn’t “tested” in the field yet, I’ll wait for SP1

Get my new PC now!
Pros	Cons
Get my new machine right now, whoo-hoo! Get Vista for free anyway with coupon Machine will work perfectly with “seasoned” OS (XP) I want to play the cool games now! Not February I’m not upgrading to Vista anyway or I am looking forward to Vista – and I’m an enthusiast and will set up a dual boot first The upgrade will be painless anyway	Vista upgrade may not work with all components My PC company won’t support it (Velocity Micro will!)

Hmmmm…

If I weren’t an enthusiast who loves setting up new OSs and all, I might opt to wait. But I am, so I’m not waiting for a new machine – and you know what? Most of Velocity Micro’s customers are enthusiasts, too. They are looking forward to Vista (hey, cool new toys!) and they want a killer rig today. So they’ll buy their new Velocity Micro today, get a free/discounted upgrade to Vista and enjoy it today.

So, what’s the answer? If you can’t wait for a new machine, get it today and upgrade to Vista. If you can wait, then do. Cheers!

[11.02.2006 @ 10:15 AM]  [Digg it]