Kinmon
09-09-1999, 05:34 PM
I'm wondering what's the difference between OEM products and Retail Box products. I know that OEM is cheaper, but does that mean the components are different? Does it affect the speeds or something else?
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Mbarb
09-09-1999, 06:20 PM
I'll take a stab at this. OEM products are what computer manufactures buy. They come without a box, sometimes do not come with all the "free" software that a retail box product come with, and do not always carry the same warranty. Because of all the things I mentioned above they are lower in price. I buy OEM products when I'm building a system but I always make sure of what I'm getting before I order. I'm sure others on the forum can add more information to this...
dawgtuff
09-09-1999, 06:22 PM
I all depends on what kind of hardware your buying.But,generally OEM comes with just enough software to get it it running.Retail comes with better software.What are you looking to buy?
Dominus
09-09-1999, 06:38 PM
Could someone tell me what it stands for?
Joel Kleppinger
09-09-1999, 06:45 PM
OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer, i.e. Dell, Gateway, etc.
You also have to be careful about spec leniencies. For instance, it's quite common with OEM graphics cards to have slower RAMDACs than their retail equivalents. I bought a Matrox Millenium OEM a while back, and it had a 175 MHz RAMDAC vs. the 220 MHz RAMDAC of the retail Millenium. Many other graphics cards manufacturers do this.
You also have to be careful about spec leniencies. For instance, it's quite common with OEM graphics cards to have slower RAMDACs than their retail equivalents. I bought a Matrox Millenium OEM a while back, and it had a 175 MHz RAMDAC vs. the 220 MHz RAMDAC of the retail Millenium. Many other graphics cards manufacturers do this.
Bleeding Edge
09-09-1999, 07:08 PM
One online reseller describes it like this:
The term "Original Equipment Manufacturer" is actually a misnomer. With the OEM version of a product, it is not the "original" manufacturer of the product who is selling the product, but rather a Value Added Reseller (VAR). The product from the "original" manufacturer, packaged in their box, is usually called the retail version. With an OEM version, a VAR has purchased a large volume of the product for one of several reasons: the product may be adapted and "rebranded" for the special needs of the VAR or the product is to be included in a package assembled by the VAR. The warranty of both products is usually the same.
The term "Original Equipment Manufacturer" is actually a misnomer. With the OEM version of a product, it is not the "original" manufacturer of the product who is selling the product, but rather a Value Added Reseller (VAR). The product from the "original" manufacturer, packaged in their box, is usually called the retail version. With an OEM version, a VAR has purchased a large volume of the product for one of several reasons: the product may be adapted and "rebranded" for the special needs of the VAR or the product is to be included in a package assembled by the VAR. The warranty of both products is usually the same.
U-96
09-10-1999, 04:46 AM
Sometimes it really is "what you get is what you asked for".
When I bought my components (all perfectly good stuff), the floppy drive, cd, memory and hard drive were delivered simply as that.
No box. No software. No manuals. Just lots of foam and polystyrene chips.
Most of that isn't a problem, but the hard drive would have been if I didn't have access to another computer so I can get online help either from the manufacturer (for example, Seagate have their formatting software available on-line) or from sites like Sysopt.
If you don't know how to fit/install something, it may be worth looking around the manufacturer's support site BEFORE you order, on the offchance that software/drivers/manuals don't come with your hardware.
It is ofter easier than chasing your reseller for a spare CDROM or instruction booklet.
U-96
When I bought my components (all perfectly good stuff), the floppy drive, cd, memory and hard drive were delivered simply as that.
No box. No software. No manuals. Just lots of foam and polystyrene chips.
Most of that isn't a problem, but the hard drive would have been if I didn't have access to another computer so I can get online help either from the manufacturer (for example, Seagate have their formatting software available on-line) or from sites like Sysopt.
If you don't know how to fit/install something, it may be worth looking around the manufacturer's support site BEFORE you order, on the offchance that software/drivers/manuals don't come with your hardware.
It is ofter easier than chasing your reseller for a spare CDROM or instruction booklet.
U-96
welsh wizard
09-10-1999, 05:02 AM
Hi Kinmon,
Some thing not mentioned yet, be carefull with oem's if it's software it's only legal to manufacturers to bundle with a new sytem,
if you search through the post of the last 30 days you'l see this subject answered in detail maybe some one out there has the referrence and can post the link.WW.
Some thing not mentioned yet, be carefull with oem's if it's software it's only legal to manufacturers to bundle with a new sytem,
if you search through the post of the last 30 days you'l see this subject answered in detail maybe some one out there has the referrence and can post the link.WW.
Jin Vitas
09-10-1999, 11:15 AM
OEM hardware products are somewhat.. less powerful than RETAIL.. reason.. OEM manufactures modify the product.. ie. take things out to make it cheaper.. (like a celeron)..
Jin-Vitas
Jin-Vitas
SysOpt.com
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