Buying hard drives, OEM v Retail?

[Guest]

Hey, I was just wondering if there is a whole lot of difference between the OEM and Retail hard drives that are on the market right now. I know that with CPUs, sometimes you can get ripped off with OEM, so I was wondering if this is also the case with hard drives? I am looking into getting an IBM 75GXP 7200 RPM 45 GB one, and the price difference between OEM an Retail is on the upwards of $20, a significant amount. Can anyone provide any insight as to this type of situation currently? Thanks.

 

[Arrow]

Basically you don't get the nice box and manual with an OEM drive.

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048</A></b>

 

[blah]

that's why they are cheaper also... hehe

Post, we'll do the search...

 

[kep55]

I've bought both, and if you know what you're doing and brown box (OEM) will do just fine. I know the Western Digitals I've bought include a manual and EZ-Drive software in case your BIOS won't support big drives.

 

[winglesslight]

for hard disks get retail with 3years warranty.
hd could fail after 1 year. Hd is the component which most needs warranty I think.
I had maxtor hd failed after 1 year.
for cpu, if it works at first, it works forever.
How did you get ripped off with OEM CPU?

 

[Arrow]

I believe you get 3 years warranty with OEM IBM HDDs. Not sure about other brands. Retailers in my area say they will cover first year, and IBM will cover the next 2 years.

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048</A></b>

 

[Guest]

correct

***check the jumpers 1st then check em again***

 

[peteb]

Oh yeah - you sometimes miss out on some goodies.

Maxtor OEM comes with a disk drive. Just that, no manual, jumper, screws, cable...

I bought an IBM retail and it had all the bits. If you have a small workshop of goodies at home already - save yourself the cash - otherwise check with the retailer/vendor on package contents so you're not dissapointed.

-Your Comany Names Could Be Here-
e-mail for application details.

 

[hammerhead]

As far as warranty is concerned, I believe all manufacturers offer three years now (certainly true for Quantum, Maxtor, IBM).

It does not matter whether the product was sold to you as OEM or retail. I've returned drives to Quantum and Maxtor, they neither knew nor asked whether the drive was sold as OEM.

Quantum and Maxtor both allow you to check whether your product is under warranty on-line (either by serial number or part number).

There is a lot of nonsense spouted about OEM products being inferior, they are not.

Some OEM drives even come with a little manual inside the antistatic wrapping, for those that need them.

Just remember, a manufacturers warranty covers a product irrespective of how you purchased it.

 

[Crashman]

I don't know about the warrantee situation right NOW, but there is only one company that would not replace a hard drive for me because it was OEM; Quantum. IBM, Maxtor, Western Digital, and Seagate have never given me a problem

Suicide is painless...........

 

[phsstpok]

Things may have changed in the OEM market (due to competition) but about a 4 months ago I read a note in MaximumPC Magazine regarding drive warranties. At the time Maxtor was supplying 3 year warranty on all drives, including OEM drives (if you complained enough). Western digital I think was the same. However, IBM was providing <b>no warranty service/replacement on OEM drives</b>, claiming the vendor or VAR has obtained drives at low price with the proviso that they warranty the drives, themselves. Service was provided only for IBM retail drives.

 

[Guest]

Well, I haven't... at least yet, lol. I read that some OEM chips are usually just the rejects of the retail form. Also, if a retail version of a chip is advertised as having a copper core, but you but the OEM version, there's a good possibility that you could get just an aluminum core, things like that.

 

[hammerhead]

This does not ring true.

Even if you have a warranty with the vendor. They, in turn, are warranted by the manufacturer. When you return a product to the vendor, they return it to the manufacturer.

Some manufacturers do not like dealing with end users directly, they try to force the end user to deal with the vendor.

They will still deal with the customer directly if the product was OEM or retail.

If you have problems just say the vendor went out of business. Works for me!