There is a difference between OEM drives and "bare" drives. IBM will not warranty drives sold to OEM, but they will warranty "bare" non-OEM hard drives. OEM vendors agree to handle warranty themselves thats why they're sold for much less, but these vendors will only warranty the drive if it came with their PC. Bare drives are different, they're soppose to be sold to end users and local shops alike, they just dont have the fancy packaging, warranty is the same from IBM.