X800 not boxed

  • Thread starter Thread starter Remo-Shiva
  • Start date Start date
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Remo-Shiva

Hi all,

After months of waiting I finally got my X800 XT PE through this morning and
was quite surprised to find that it was not in an official box, didn't come
with a manual or a driver cd, it did come with all the cabling though. I was
wondering if this could mean I might not have got the card I paid for, like
it could be the X800 pro or something, it is an ATI built card and the
sticker on it says its a X800 XT PE, maybe I'm woried over nothing. I sent
the people I bought if from an e-mail to see whether it will affect my
warantee if something goes wrong, like they could turn round and say it
wasn't boxed and stuff so no replacement, I'm still waiting for a reply.

BTW, I live in UK and got the card from www.lowestonweb.co.uk for £320,
their site says they are getting another 35 on the 31st.

RespeK
Shiva
 
Likely an OEM package to keep costs as low as possible. Although I've never
heard of any OEM high perfromance video card coming without driver disks.
 
It sounds like you've been sold an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturor) version, which is what the
computer builders get (in your case, Evesham, which is an OEM, and who http://www.lowestonweb.com
really are).

There are two types of OEM package - those that are the actually the same as boxed cards but without
the box, and those that not only have no box, but also have serial numbers that mark them as OEM
cards so the manufacturor could tell it was an OEM if you ever sent it back on warranty.

You usually buy an OEM because it is cheaper than the boxed version, especially if you are not
interested in the gimmicks (flashy box, crap games bundle, etc) but in your case, you dont seem to
have got it any cheaper (see for example http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X800_XT.html). That
would suggest to me that it actually is a full retail card, just without the packaging, but even
then, you havent got a particulalry good deal. If all you're losing is a box and a useless CD, then
Id take it on the chin, but YMMV

If the card also has *an OEM serial*, then its a different matter. Cards actually marked as OEMs are
usually not supplied with the normal level of support because they are usually covered as part of
the system the OEM put it in (typically a complete PC), which means your card may be unsupported by
ATI. If you have a card *with an OEM serial*, Id send it back if the card was not advertised as an
OEM on the basis that it isnt the product you asked for (full retail, with full warranty), and that
you have actually paid a full retail price.

HTH

S
 
Remo-Shiva said:
Hi all,

After months of waiting I finally got my X800 XT PE through this morning and
was quite surprised to find that it was not in an official box, didn't come
with a manual or a driver cd, it did come with all the cabling though. I was
wondering if this could mean I might not have got the card I paid for, like
it could be the X800 pro or something, it is an ATI built card and the
sticker on it says its a X800 XT PE, maybe I'm woried over nothing. I sent
the people I bought if from an e-mail to see whether it will affect my
warantee if something goes wrong, like they could turn round and say it
wasn't boxed and stuff so no replacement, I'm still waiting for a reply.

BTW, I live in UK and got the card from www.lowestonweb.co.uk for £320,
their site says they are getting another 35 on the 31st.

RespeK
Shiva
Click to expand...
Its listed as a Evesham X800 ..... there is no such brand
so clearly its just an OEM version. From Komplett you could get a Sapphire
X800 with box etc for £10 more
so that isnt a great price for OEM.
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=301009&cks=SER
 
Remo-Shiva said:
Hi all,

After months of waiting I finally got my X800 XT PE through this morning and
was quite surprised to find that it was not in an official box, didn't come
with a manual or a driver cd, it did come with all the cabling though. I was
wondering if this could mean I might not have got the card I paid for, like
it could be the X800 pro or something, it is an ATI built card and the
sticker on it says its a X800 XT PE, maybe I'm woried over nothing. I sent
the people I bought if from an e-mail to see whether it will affect my
warantee if something goes wrong, like they could turn round and say it
wasn't boxed and stuff so no replacement, I'm still waiting for a reply.

BTW, I live in UK and got the card from www.lowestonweb.co.uk for £320,
their site says they are getting another 35 on the 31st.

RespeK
Shiva
Click to expand...
I checked the website that you referred to for the product and it lists
under the specs page for "What's in the Box"
RADEON X800 XT PLATINUM EDITION graphics card
Setup CD
Composite and S-video cables
HDTV out cable
DVI to VGA Adapter
Manuals
Since you don't seem to have got all of these (and didn't get the box
either) I'd be inclined to send it back for a full refund claiming it wasn't
as advertised. Although its not stated, its looks like it is an OEM card to
me.

Paul
 
Cheers for your feedback guys, I really don't care whether it comes with
box, manuals and cds, as all I have to do is download the driver from ATI,
so if lowestonweb tell me it doesn't affect any of my statutory rights, then
I think I'll keep it. BTW how can you find out whether the serial is OEM?
and are OEM cards exactly the same as normal cards?

Cheers
Shiva
 
Remo-Shiva said:
Cheers for your feedback guys, I really don't care whether it comes
with box, manuals and cds, as all I have to do is download the driver
from ATI, so if lowestonweb tell me it doesn't affect any of my
statutory rights, then I think I'll keep it. BTW how can you find out
whether the serial is OEM? and are OEM cards exactly the same as
normal cards?

Cheers
Shiva
Click to expand...

Your card seems to be specced the same as full retail, so assuming they are not lying, you should be
okay (sometimes you find that OEM cards are cheaper - usually slower memory - because the final PC
will be advertised as simply having an XXX graphics card in it rather than 'cut down and crappy OEM
XXX card', but I know of no such model for your card so you should be fine)
The best way to tell if your serial is an OEM is simply to enter the serial into a search engine and
see what other vendors are describing the card corresponding to that serial as. Tip - Bulk sellers
tend to be much more honest about what they are really selling because they are dealing with other
companies, so looking at what product description they use should give you a good clue.

Also, you may get lucky and see a link come up to the manufacturor (dont be surprised if it is not
ATI - my sapphire 9800 pro has an ATI logo on it ;). That should give you definitive info on what
your 'Evesham X800' really is!


HTH


S
 
If your card has a part number starting with 102 try going to this page
http://www.ati.com/products/ and then click on the "Product Identification"
link - that'll bring up a bunch of info about how you can ID it. OEM cards
wont get the same warranty as retail and the warranty won't be honoured by
ATI but by the vendor. Retail products are generally worth more - something
to bear in mind when it comes time to sell it. Retails products are certain
to work with ATIs software (such as Multi Media Centre) where-as many of the
powered by ATI 3rd party products wont - Eazyshare for example requires
built by ATI Radeon based products to function and the literature says it
won't work with powered by products. Often OEM products are downgraded or
slower running versions of retail products.

Paul
 
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