OEM? wha...???

so if im building a computer, i can use stuff labeled OEM, right?

 

Yes.

 

leet - thx

 

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacture. In other words, a part that a company does not make themselves, but use to build a PC (or whatever) with their name on it.

 

You'll find that OEM is basically the same as "retail", except you usually don't get any fancy packaging or manuals etc to save on cost.

 

also, most oem warranties aren't as good as retail.

 

Not true.

Most OEM comes with the exact same warranty as retail.

The only exception I'm aware of are some CPU's.

 

you know what...you must be right...i must be wrong. my oem cpu had a 90 day warranty, a retail cpu is at least a year. i shouldn't have said most. i should have excluded everything but cpu's.

 

OEM CPU warranties vary greatly, it all depends on the retailer, I"ve seen some with as little as 15 days up to a few years for a few bucks more.
Those warranties are usually honored by the retailer.
Most Boxed Retail CPU's have 3 yr manufactures warranty.

 

OEM OSes, such as Windows XP, have zero warranty. Keep that mind as well.