OEM or Retail?

[mattkorz]

I'm looking to get a good SATA HD, but the choices are flooded with OEM hd's. What exactly do they mean, OEM, and are they the better choice as compared to buying a Retail drive?

 

[N3051M]

OEM HDDs mean you get the Drive "as is". Thats 1 HDD, maybe a antistatic bag or clamshell, no cables no cds no manuals nothing but the hdd.. Its cheaper than buying a boxed retail HDD.. Then if you don't have any spare cables just purchase them for a few dollars each..

 

[tipstir]

OEM =original equipment manufacturer

OEM is what DELL and all the rest of them put into your PC. Today you can buy the same stuff they put in. I buy DVDRW for the PC that way. Cheaper to buy, but you don't get a box (depends who you get it from), no screws, no CD (depends on where you get it from)

Buying a HD, just be careful where you buy a OEM from and don't get factory rebuilt an etc..

I buy HDs Retail/Office Supply/Warehouse Clubs and prices have come down, call me old fashion...

 

[Samstoned]

if you buy oem from online vender the warrenty is limited
I don't think retail stores sell oem
you can still Do RMA mostly through the vender you bought from
watch out they sell older models that are dated and it can be harder to RMA
oem drives warranties start at 3 months or about and most go to 3 years depending on manuf. of drive
most retail are 5 yrs again depends on make manuf.
don't know what the other user meant by as is
last oem drive I bought from newegg came with cable and setup CD
3 year warranty
I have bought a lot of low end maxtors and they did not come with anything else
and warranty was only 1 yr

thats my story and I'm stick'n to it

 

[N3051M]

i ment 'as is' being device itself with no accessories or cables etc... the 3 tech shops i go to when i get an OEM HDD, for instance the segate 200gb sata its just the HDD in an antistatic bag and thats it. Still has the full 5 yr warranty like any seagate does. Same story with a WD HDD and that still has 3yr warranty as per standard.. and again same when i bought an OEM DVD drive..

I havn't heard much of refurb'd drives sold in shops and never got one, except from the exchange i got when i RMA'd one of my seagates.. but i do agree, those might be abit harder to RMA if they go bad..

thats my story and i'm stickin to it hehe...