OEM Vs Boxed.

  • Thread starter Thread starter sachin
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sachin

Hi all,
I have chosen Intel 915 GAV mobo for my PC that I am building. But I
heard it comes as OEM product and not the boxed one. I read few
discussion regarding OEM vs boxed. I guess, OEM comes without "Intel
Inside" sticker :-) and with less warrenty. I am confused. What do I do
? Any suggestion ?
Is it safe to go for this OEM version. Can you suggest me any boxed
version that comes near to it.
Appritiate any suggestion.

Sachin.
 
A retail (boxed) Intel mobo comes with cables, a shield for
the backplane and the retail version is what a builder of
one computer should buy. If you do buy an OEM (white box)
mobo you will need to obtain cables and any such parts you
need to complete the installation in your computer case.
The warranty on OEM is appropriate for a company such as
Dell that will assemble thousands of computers and provide
their own warranty coverage policy. (I'm sure Dell
discovers dead mobo within moments of building a box and
they are not concerned with or desire a three year Intel
retail warranty.

Homebuilders should buy retail versions, IMHO.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm



| Hi all,
| I have chosen Intel 915 GAV mobo for my PC that I am
building. But I
| heard it comes as OEM product and not the boxed one. I
read few
| discussion regarding OEM vs boxed. I guess, OEM comes
without "Intel
| Inside" sticker :-) and with less warrenty. I am confused.
What do I do
| ? Any suggestion ?
| Is it safe to go for this OEM version. Can you suggest me
any boxed
| version that comes near to it.
| Appritiate any suggestion.
|
| Sachin.
|
 
I agree with Jim Macklin, absolutely buy retail. CPUs also. Hard drives, DVD
writers etc if you don't need all the documentation and know how to install
these, OEM is fine usually since the warranties are the same, I believe.
 
Not sure about current rules but at one time in the recent past Western Digital hard drive warranty was one year retail kits, three years bare OEM, and five years on bare OEM 10000 rpm IDE drives. Best to check current conditions when purchase time comes. Other than that, I agree buy retail. In addition to the points from Sandman and Macklin with retail you stand a much better chance of obtaining drivers when your chosen operating system changes or the original drivers have problems.
 
OEM can have some weird restrictions on warranties. For retail products, you
deal directly with the manufacturer, so no problem, as long as they still
exist. But some oem product has *no* manufacturer warranty, it's all through
the intended oem, so you have no recourse. I've seen plenty of "pulled" hard
drives marked for IBM or Compaq, and they only warranty would be from IBM or
Compaq, not from the drive manufacturer. And IBM/Compaq/whoever isn't going
to warranty a drive you bought separately, you'd have to have the serial
number for the computer it came out of.

Other warranties can require you to return the product to the authorized
distributor, but if you're buying through some reseller, you'll have no idea
who that distributor was, much less the invoice number for the bulk
purchase, or anything else you need to know. And the clock on an oem
warranty can start ticking from the time it leaves the distributor, rather
than when you buy it, so if the part has been on the shelf for a while, the
warranty can be used up before you even get your hands on it.

Some product sold as alleged oem can be bootlegged. There were a bunch of
alleged Adaptec controllers on the market that were inferior knock-offs,
most of which didn't work from the beginning. And with CPUs, there were
plenty of re-marked chips being sold as oem.

First thing about buying oem is that you know who you're buying from. What
support are they going to offer? What's their return policy? Is it a
legitimate company, or some dicey Internet site that may be gone tomorrow?
If the price is too good to be true, it's probably a rip-off. The type of
oem product that's legitimately sold as oem one at a time is going to be
cheaper than retail, but not ridiculously so. Maybe it's worth it to you,
maybe not.

If you're pretty confident you aren't going to need any support, you can
find all the software you need, you can get along with minimal
documentation, and you don't care about the warranty, the oem product can be
a fair deal.
 
sachin said:
Hi all,
I have chosen Intel 915 GAV mobo for my PC that I am building. But I
heard it comes as OEM product and not the boxed one. I read few
discussion regarding OEM vs boxed. I guess, OEM comes without "Intel
Inside" sticker :-) and with less warrenty. I am confused. What do I do
? Any suggestion ?
Is it safe to go for this OEM version. Can you suggest me any boxed
version that comes near to it.
Appritiate any suggestion.

Sachin.
Click to expand...

OEM stand for Original Equipment Manufacturer.

In general terms it means that the seller or distributor of a product
has agreed to assume the role and responsibilities of the manufacturer
with regard to that product, absolving the actual manufacturer of
these.

It is only in the computer area where you find OEM products that bear
the brand name of the original manufacturer (e.g. OEM Software from
Microsoft, OEM motherboards from Intel or hard drives from Western
Digital).

OEM products are commonly encountered in other areas as well, but
usually these have been rebranded with the seller/distributor's brand
name rather than that of the manufacturer. Thus Sears sells a wide
variety of OEM products but always under their Sears brand names; and
you have to check the inside of the actual item or see the parts and
service manuals in order to identify who actually manufactured that
product.

Some computer related OEM items are also done this way, such as
monitors and printers sold by Dell under their brand name.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm
 
Yes ! That was a great deal of information.
Thanks a lot folks.

Sachin.
Click to expand...

What was a great deal of information? Who are you talking to?

Please include relevant text from the post you are answering!
 
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