What does "retail version" mean?

[kongkong]

I bought a Viper770(regular) yesterday, thought I was going to have some full version games. No, no... there is only a trial version of "need for speed". Is this a retail version or not? There is not even the DVD player software as described in their website.

It is such a big box, with space enough to put ten cards inside.

I feel cheated. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

[Wiz]

welcome to the wonderful world of packaging. Make a bigger package, poeple pay more. Think about it, chips com ein this big bad, but the top 30% of the bag is air, and you pay for it. i doubt it is the retail version of NFS, so there is an extra $30.

[commodsquad]

where did you buy it? did the deal seem like a real bargain? and was it plain boxed when you got it? cuz it sounds like you got yourself an OEM version there since it came with little or no frills....retail would have came in a box with all the nice fancy eye catching graphics and OEM usually comes in a plain box with no advertising eyecandy and extras like fullversion software...one other thing to consider, did it look like it was already opened before and either resealed or just closed with no effort to conceal the fact that it was already opened? cus it could have been also put out for resale from being a return and someone else may have kept the extras that were supposed to have been included....hope that helps......

[This message has been edited by commodsquad (edited 12-28-1999).]

[LED]

Retail versions usually have some software and the drivers included and sometimes longer warranty's along with better or improved chipsets

[Axel]

The box is the company's bill-board - also - the larger your box, the more of the shelf you take up and the less room there is for other company's products.

I hate marketing, but it's something we got ourselves into in out capitalistic society.... I typically do my selecting off places like this "word of mouth" or through consumer reports magazine which I've gotten since the mid 1980's and trust with any purchase over $500.00

[kongkong]

I bought it from a local computer show, it was really a bargain, almost the lowest price I could find on Pricewatch or Ibuyer. $103. But it does like a "retail version", that kind of box comes with a lot of graphics, charts outside the box..., and 1 CD for Drivers, 1 for a trial version game, a manual less than 10 pages, a couple of jumpers. It is not a "white box" one, I have bought a couple of "white box" stuff before.

But for this Viper770, I thought I should have more a trial version stuff.

Is there anyone else had bought this card's retail version? Do you have more than 2 CDs than I have?

[This message has been edited by kongkong (edited 12-28-1999).]