what does oem mean?

[smp]

Okay!!! Somebody please clear up what OEM means.. please please please!!! I heard that it's factory rejected stuff..like stuff that hasn't passed the manufacturers quality control... but I'm not too sure.. I dont' think it is.. I also heard that it's just brown boxed stuff with no manuals and such.. that is shipped to the retailers for use in the systems that they put together.. someone please clear this one up for me.. thanks.

 

[Clocker]

OEM Stands For Original Equipment Manufacturer. It is not a reject. However OEMs ususlaly do not have retail warranties. And comes in less spectacular packaging thats about it.

For support and warranty go retail. To save a buck or two and if you think it is really wotrth than go OEM dude.

 

[John]

Clocker, I agree with a few points you made, but i thought I might add my .02 cents.

OEM is designed for system builders that buy in bulk, and do not need the fancy boxes and manuals. Typically OEM products carry the same warranty as the retail counterpart (except cpu's and maybe a couple of other items). It is the same quality control.

 

[smp]

Okay.. so with an oem part.. would I still get manufacturers warantee??? Is there such a thing? .. oh.. and thanks for answering dude...

 

[John]

Yes, you get a mfg's warranty. Typically on an OEM cpu you only get 30~90 days on Intel, and 1 year on AMD.

 

[Vrangel]

nm

 

[pm]

I agree with what everyone wrote except the warranty. In some cases, OEM parts (like HD's, video cards, CPU's) have much more limited warranties than retail parts. The serial numbers will tell the manufacturer that it's an OEM part when you call for service and they will tell you to contact the company that sold you the part instead of them. If you don't get support from the reseller, then it's back to the manufacturer for another round. Usually you can get it resolved, but it's a much bigger hassle than if you have a retail part.

If the price difference is negligible then always buy retail. If it's substantial, then you should be safe with OEM parts.

Occassionally (very rarely), an OEM part may not have a feature (like TV out) that a retail part will. Sometimes they use slower memory on OEM parts, etc. So read up to be sure that there's no difference. I've seen this mostly on OEM video cards.

 

[John]

pm, your description of OEM is more along the lines of OEM vendors (Dell, Compaq, Gateway) when referring to the warranty. I was referring to OEM sold in retail stores (B&M), and on the internet (buy.com, mwave, onvia, etc).

For example if you purchase a HDD or video card and need support, you call the mfg, not the "storefront".