Don't laugh at me, but....

[edwelly]

Don't laugh at me, but what is the difference between OEM, white box and retail.
(ok, you can laugh a little http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif)
---edwelly

[SPEEDO]

Also there should be a difference in price OEM being cheaper.
Warranties also differ, Thus the diff. in price!!

SPEEDO

[surrealchereal]

Thank you Speedo! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
I was hopeing (argh! SP I couldn't decide if it's hopping or hoping )to see that. Here, we have stores that sell both OEM and retail packages.
The warranty difference? One has a warranty and one doesn't.. worth the extra cost to me, oh and if it's a mobo you get a great little cheesy approved fan http://www.sysopt.com/forum/biggrin.gif

[thekingofpain]

Sometimes the components used are different---retail Prophet MX-- 5.5ns mem, some OEM or "whitebox" versions of the same card used 6ns mem but were cheaper to purchase...

[Buji]

Right on about the warranty. OEM CPU=30 days or whatever the vendor will offer and no HSF, Retail = HSF and 3 year warranty.

[Graham]

Titter,

Usually the OEM version has none of the frills, no bundled software, no instructions, no flashy box etc., just the hardware itself.

/titter

G http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[awforrest]

When a product is sold as OEM, say a hard drive, that's all you get, a hard drive in an anti-static bag. When the same thing is sold retail you get installation software, mounting rails, etc., not to mention a really colorful box and of course a much higher price. White box I think is the same as OEM.

Hope that helps.

[Ironforge]

Also.. typically OEM products only come with the bare card/drive and the software..

White Box versions are typically OEM but sometimes they might include a cable or other item.. you just have to check what the white box comes with..

Most of the time it is same as OEM but sometimes they still bundle some items with white box.. (but not as much as retail box)