wrote:
While I know that 'OEM' means ink as supplied by the printer
manufacturer to most people in this newsgroup might I point out that
it means something quite different in the 'computer spares' context in
the UK at least.

What OEM means to me is "as supplied *to* an Original Equipment
Manufacturer". In other words it's a computer part (or whatever) in a
bulk/minimal format with no retail packaging etc. If you look through
the computer suppliers here you'll find quite a lot of "OEM" parts and
they are significantly *cheaper* than the alternative (sometimes
described as "Retail packed") parts.

An OEM optical drive (for example) will come in a plain bag with no
extras like software on CD or instructions whereas a "retail" one will
have a pretty box, CDs of software, etc.

So to a UK person buying computer supplies "OEM" tends to mean
cheaper, without frills, not what it seems to mean here.

--
Chris Green

Chris
Interestingly the very first time I heard the term was many years ago when I
worked for IBM (the first time of two occasions). They were just beginning to
be hurt by people making IBM compatible products. They called these suppliers
OEM (Other Equipment Manufacturers). How the world changes!
Tony