6 Pop Songs Great for Audio Demos
Worst DIY Installs Ever Part 7
10 Must-Have Products for Your Next Install
6 Amazing High-End Home Theaters
Print
Email
Comments (0)
Share
S1Digital Promises Free Media Center Upgrades to Windows 7
Media Center maker S1Digital hopes the promotion for a free upgrade (ending March 31, 2009) will quell consumer concerns about buying Vista today.
With the launch of Windows 7 still about a year away, at least one Media Center vendor is already "future-proofing" its PCs with promises of upgrades.
S1Digital is running a promotion for a free upgrade to Win 7 for customers who purchase an S1Digital Media Center between Jan. 20 and March 31, 2009.
"We’re implementing this program so that customers who may feel that they want to wait until Windows 7 is released don’t have to wait," says S1Digital CEO Paul Heitlinger. "They can use Media Center now and then be guaranteed to get Windows 7 when it’s released too."
Heitlinger says he hasn't heard of other companies guaranteeing free upgrades to Win 7, and that's the way he likes it.
Learn more about Media Center at Media Center University, exclusively at the Electronic House Expo, March 11-15, 2009 in Orlando, Fla. The complete agenda will be posted shortly at EHXweb.com. Please email Julie Jacobson to be added to the mailing list. Media Center University is sponsored by the Media Center Integrator Alliance (MCIA)."S1Digital is generally at the forefront of new features and technology as they become available, and this is in line with the sort of image we want to promote of the company," he says.
Because many of S1Digital's customers are professional integrators and techies, they are already familiar with Win 7, so the offer is a significant selling point, according to Heitlinger.
For the others, he says, S1Digital is raising awareness about the new Windows operating system. So even though they may not know exactly what Windows 7 brings, they'll still get "peace of mind that any system they buy is going to be upgradeable in the future."
S1Digital will pay for the cost of the new Win 7 license and the labor costs involved in installing the new OS.
But … to take advantage of the offer, owners must pay for shipping their PCs to and from S1Digital. And the other big caveat is this: Win 7 will be installed only on a clean system, meaning the owners need to back up their data before shipping it to S1Digital because the unit will be wiped clean.
My suggestion? Since PC cleansing is one of the scariest things among users, S1Digital (and others who follow suit) should offer to take care of that process, and charge a reasonable amount for doing so – reasonable, that is, to the service provider.
S1Digital is running a promotion for a free upgrade to Win 7 for customers who purchase an S1Digital Media Center between Jan. 20 and March 31, 2009.
"We’re implementing this program so that customers who may feel that they want to wait until Windows 7 is released don’t have to wait," says S1Digital CEO Paul Heitlinger. "They can use Media Center now and then be guaranteed to get Windows 7 when it’s released too."
Heitlinger says he hasn't heard of other companies guaranteeing free upgrades to Win 7, and that's the way he likes it.
Learn more about Media Center at Media Center University, exclusively at the Electronic House Expo, March 11-15, 2009 in Orlando, Fla. The complete agenda will be posted shortly at EHXweb.com. Please email Julie Jacobson to be added to the mailing list. Media Center University is sponsored by the Media Center Integrator Alliance (MCIA).
Because many of S1Digital's customers are professional integrators and techies, they are already familiar with Win 7, so the offer is a significant selling point, according to Heitlinger.
For the others, he says, S1Digital is raising awareness about the new Windows operating system. So even though they may not know exactly what Windows 7 brings, they'll still get "peace of mind that any system they buy is going to be upgradeable in the future."
S1Digital will pay for the cost of the new Win 7 license and the labor costs involved in installing the new OS.
But … to take advantage of the offer, owners must pay for shipping their PCs to and from S1Digital. And the other big caveat is this: Win 7 will be installed only on a clean system, meaning the owners need to back up their data before shipping it to S1Digital because the unit will be wiped clean.
My suggestion? Since PC cleansing is one of the scariest things among users, S1Digital (and others who follow suit) should offer to take care of that process, and charge a reasonable amount for doing so – reasonable, that is, to the service provider.
Subscribe to the CE Pro Newsletter
Read more Media Center stories
VidaBox Combines Control, Multiroom Audio, Windows MediaKinect Hacker Unwittingly Spoofs Windows Media Center
Niveus Drops Media Center PCs to Focus on OEM Software
Lifeware Pulls out of AVAD, Sells Direct to Dealer
Meet Meridian’s Sooloos Control 15, Media Source 600
More in Media Center
About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
Post a comment