OEM Hardware

[nweissma]

I suspect that this question is at best tangentially related to this forum but I can't find a better fit.

Can anyone comment about purchasing OEM components (notably hdd's) versus the retail version? Some of the answers that I have received from cs's are unforgivably ignorant.

[oz]

I buy OEM hard disks all the time and they work fine. I really don't need the cardboard box, manual, or drive cables.

[nweissma]

Thank You, ozar. i asked Seagate cs and she advised me to "steer clear" of oem components because the firmware has been altered by the oem and it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to locate the firmware that i will need. what has been your experience with repair/rma -- i understand that an rma requires you to deal directly with the oem who imposed the firmware? I also understand that the warranty may be significantly decremented by the amount of time that the component was in the possession of the oem.

i will read the "New Members README." Previous README's and rtfm's were unintelligible -- the authors belonged in a straight jacket! and most of the authors knew no more than i did -- so i developed the habit of spitting and cursing and just walking away. the ones that you are suggesting look digestible. (still, where does one go for questions? eg, what exactly is .iso/"image" -- in technical terms, how does it differ from a simple burn? and what is meant by a "bootable disk" and why can't the .iso disk be bootable prior to burning the image?)

[oz]

I generally use the Western Digital Caviar Blacks and haven't had any firmware issues with them. They come with a 5-year warranty:

WD Caviar Black 640 GB SATA Hard Drives ( WD6401AALS )

I never use Seagate so can't speak on them one way or the other.

[Rubberman]

I'm not sure I understand what you specifically mean by OEM discs. However, purchasing bare drives are generally a safe bet, provided they are certified direct from the manufacturer, such as seagate, western-digital, et al. Myself, I get bare Seagate drives from buy.com all the time (good prices, fast & free delivery) and pay under $100 USD for a 1TB disc. Right now, they are about $90 for 1TB and $130 for a 1.5TB drive, including shipping.

[sascorud]

I accept: purchasing bare drives are generally a safe bet, provided they are certified direct from the manufacturer, such as seagate, western-digital, et al. Myself, I get bare Seagate drives from buy.com all the time (good prices, fast & free delivery) and pay under $100 USD for a 1TB disc. Right now, they are about $90 for 1TB and $130 for a 1.5TB drive, including shipping.