Tom McDonald

President of NSI, Tom has been helping small and medium businesses succeed in Connecticut for over 25 years.

Recent Posts

Xerox offers free extended warranties on printers for trying their free eConcierge program

By Tom McDonald | May 20, 2011 9:52:00 AM

Xerox eConcierge is giving extended warranties to users of their eConcierge program. If you haven’t heard of eConcierge we covered it in our previous blog post. It’s a great client for SMB’s who wish to save time and money by using Xerox’s software to monitor all their printers from one location. Xerox makes it simple by informing you whenever your ink is getting low from Xerox and other branded printers. But what makes it truly time saving is the fact that they provide you with a link to the exact ink cartridge you need to replace, no need to search for the model number of the printer or the specific ink cartridge number.

To make this offering even more tempting Xerox is giving its users the ability to extend their printers warranty, for all Xerox printers and multifunction printers. To qualify you only have to download the free eConcierge client for a minimum of 30 days and order 2 ink supplies through the program. After doing this you get a free extended warranty on the device that is good for as long as you continue using eConcierge. Being that you will have to order ink no matter how you look at it and Xerox has made sure to have competitive pricing for their ink, it makes sense for any SMB to get a free extended warranty on their expensive hardware, while at the same time saving time and money utilizing Xerox’s free software. Of course there are no obligations to continue using eConcierge program and you can uninstall it at any point. So check out eConcierge powered by Xerox and see how you can get a free $300 extended warranty for buying products that you use every day.

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4 Benefits to Using a 3rd Party Warranty Program Instead of the Manufacturer's

By Tom McDonald | May 18, 2011 3:07:00 PM

Electronics are an integral part of every business’s life and as we all know they have a habit of breaking from time to time. Many of the components needed in business carry a high price tag and having them break unexpectedly can leave any SMB scrambling to find the funds to replace their equipment. Having them under a warranty program gives owners peace of mind that they won’t be receiving any unexpected costs and can ensure that they can utilize the device until they are ready to upgrade down the road. What many SMB’s choose to use is the manufacture’s warranty program, without realizing the hidden benefits of utilizing a third-party maintenance contract.

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Windows 7 is Over 5 Times More Secure According to New Microsoft Report

By Tom McDonald | May 16, 2011 12:28:00 PM

Microsoft just released its security report and according to the data, Windows 7 is over 5 times more secure than Microsoft’s old operating system, Windows XP. Many people complained heavily about security when using XP and it seems they were right in doing so, although in Microsoft’s defense, XP is almost a decade old at this point and there is only so much you can patch and alter without totally rebuilding the system. This need for a major refresh is seen with even Windows Vista being twice as secure as XP, while Vista had many flaws, its one feature that it always beat XP in was security and Microsoft upped the stakes with Windows 7, making it both less intrusive than Vista and more secure according to the data.

This report is most intriguing for businesses, who have been reluctant to upgrade from XP, with the majority of them skipping Vista completely in their upgrade cycle and many of them holding out from Windows 7 until Microsoft released service pack 1. With XP usage accounting for 2/3 of all PCs before Windows 7 release and now it’s down to a 40% with Windows 7 up to 36% and Vista down to under 8%. This is a clear sign that people are ready to move over from XP, with Windows 7 losing the majority of the bloat from Vista and having very high security standards compared to its former versions.

The biggest thing to note is the benefits to businesses from Windows 7’s enhanced security. Currently virus’s cost people about 50 Billion dollars annually, considering the cost of downtime on top of costs of actually eradicating the virus from the system. This means that a business who upgrades from Windows XP to 7 can hope to see a fifth of the viruses on their network compared to using all XP machines over time. Many business’s argued with Microsoft when Vista first debuted, saying that there was no real benefit from upgrading from XP to Vista and that it cost more to buy hardware capable of running Vista. With Windows 7 needing less requirements and having 5 times better security than XP it is a great time and a money saver for businesses to make the move to Windows 7. With desktop prices so low, the increase of productivity and the increased security make it an ideal time for an upgrade. Even with Windows 8 only a year or two away, as many companies refuse to use a Windows OS without a service pack update, it will be at least a year after its release before it will be suitable for a business environment.

IT Guide for Small Business Owners

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How to choose the best PSU (Power Supply Unit) for the money

By Tom McDonald | May 9, 2011 3:49:00 PM

Buying a power supply can be a daunting task for many PC builders, the prices and rated capabilities range widely and there is little in comparable specifications. To make matters worse the power supply doesn’t affect performance in any direct way. Buying a $200 dollar power supply won’t make your computer run any faster compared to a $50 dollar supply, this leaves people with the unfortunate task of trying to not spend more money than they need to, as this money could be better spent on other components, but at the same time not buying a power supply that will underperform.

Brand is Key

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