Hi this is a really stupid question but i'm about to buy a dvd burner but can someone tell me the difference between OEM and Retail?
we all gotta start somewhere, so this is really NOT a stupid question.... OEM = original equipment manufacturer this usually implies that it comes as a bare drive only in a plain brown/white cardboard box with nothing else. (some OEM distributions include a software CD ie. nero/roxio, but that really depends on the manufacturer and what they choose to include) it varies from company to company retail is exactly what it is...RETAIL (ie. sold in stores with the fancy packaging with screws, cds, cables, user manual, etc.) retail is naturally more expensive than OEM, but in essence it's the same thing with all the "goodies" included...but, if you already have the ide cables and burning software, getting the OEM version will save you some money~ hope that clarifies for ya...good luck with your dvd burner decision, i would recommend the Benq 1650, it's a quality drive and very inexpensive comparing to other manufacturers~ docTY~
