Intel Warranty

I understand that Intel SSDs have a 3 year warranty, but does that apply to OEM units as well? Or will we have to deal with through the OEM?

If that's the case, would that imply that OEM Intel SSDs (i.e. pulls from new systems) are being sold without a warranty?

 

If you buy one from Intel, then it's their warranty - you've only bought a drive.

If you buy, say, a HP computer with one in, then the computer is the product, and can be thought of as a 'black box' in this instance - so if anything went wrong with the (Intel SSD|Samsung RAM|AMD graphics|anything else) contained within it, HP are who you speak to, and who provide your warranty.

(note: I believe some countries' laws may require you to go through the reseller or retailer, not straight to the manufacturer, but the above applies exactly the same save for the extra layer/middleman being added)

 

dtwn - I really do understand your problem. In Poland also Intell SSDs are available both : OEM (cardboard regulrar box) and Retail (blue, Intel-branded box). There is difference in price and no one mention in shops that "it will be much harder to get warranty with those OEM ones" ! This thing is "ho hush..." kind'a approach. So ssssssss is not right as OEM SSDs are normally sold as a part.

 

Retail Boxed intel is 3 years and Intel does warranty service during the warranty time....OEM manufacturers and resellers is typically 3 years from intel and they do there own warranty service, costs them nothing.

Intel® High Performance Solid State Drive — Warranty FAQ

Channel Partners Warranty-Lenovo,Dell,Acer,HP,Clevo, Sony,Frys,Newegg,ect

http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/CS-030159.htm

Now you know and got a free bargining chip in case oems or resellers warranty is less than 3 years,,,, use it wisely,in case you'd like to know what it is called,,its called manufacturers warranty passed thru to consumer ,This is a business strategy to attract oems,resellers and consumers,Expect a small shipping cost to send a defective ssd back to oem for replacement or to Intel Distributor supplying the resellers or too Intel,hopefully quality control has caught all defects and returns are not necessary.,,,,,,lol


Cheers
3Fees

 

I'm still a little confused.....

I purchased an intel oem ssd 320 from Buy.com. So in this case, I should have 3 year warranty through buy.com? Or intel? Neither?

Thanks!

 

I would assume you would deal directly with Intel.

 

^^yeah.

What would Buy.com do in that case? They will contact intel on your behalf and intel will take care of it. Logically you should be directly contacting intel in the case of a failure.


--

 

I'm afraid Intel will not cover any part of the warranty on OEM products. That's the evidence I'm finding through online searches and others' experience with intel when it comes to items classified as oem.

I guess there is a reason why it's a bit cheaper for OEM ssds, but not cheap enough that I'm willing to be stuck with a brick and nobody to pick up the warranty claim if this ssd happens to fail within the next 3 years. I'm returning it as soon as it's delivered.

 

No, you do not deal with Intel for OEM SSDs. OEM SSDs (those sold in the plain cardboard box, as opposed to retail packaging) are sold with the retailer's RMA warranty, which is usually something like 30 days DOA refund/exchange. So yes, they are sold without warranty from Intel, although you aren't necessarily SOL if you get a DOA drive--you're covered by Buy.com's policy.

 

Intel changed there warranty policy wording on oems since my post of 3/15/2011, there wording is entirely different,They are not covering there oem ssd's for 3 years anymore. Seagate and Western Digital has 3 year warranty's on there oem drives,,this may change too.



Cheers
3Fees

 

Heh, well, that blows. And after I bought a 120 X25M too.

 

There's OEM and then there's "bare drive". OEM will be through the company where you bought the product, bare drive through the manufacturer.

 

Intel OEM SSD's Warranty just updated again , this time with a date of update today 4/2/2011:


Intel sells solid-state drives through wholesale channels such as Lenovo*, Hewlett-Packard*, Dell*, Gateway*, etc… or resellers. The wholesale channels are often referred to as original equipment manufactures (OEMs).


Reseller solid-state drives are sold in multi-packs of individual boxes and typically carry a three year warranty directly from Intel.





Wholesale solid-state drives are not sold in individual boxes and are typically pre-installed by an OEM or reseller. Intel ships the solid-state drives to OEMs in multi-pack boxes so we refer to these types of solid-state drives as OEM solid-state drives.

Intel does not provide direct warranty support for wholesale solid-state drives. If your solid-state drive was sold through an OEM or reseller, you must contact your OEM or reseller for warranty support. See also: Additional information on Intel's warranty policies

If you are not sure who to contact, find the solid-state drive markings and contact Intel.


This applies to: Intel® X18-M Solid State Drive, 160GB SATA II 1.8in, MLC, High Performance
Intel® X18-M Solid State Drive, 80GB SATA II 1.8in, MLC, High Performance
Intel® X25-E Solid State Drive, 32GB SATA II 2.5in, SLC, High Performance
Intel® X25-E Solid State Drive, 64GB SATA II 2.5in, SLC, High Performance
Intel® X25-M Solid State Drive, 160GB SATA II 2.5in, MLC, High Performance
Intel® X25-M Solid State Drive, 80GB SATA II 2.5in, MLC, High Performance







Solution ID: CS-030159
Date Created: 30-Jan-2009
Last Modified: 02-Apr-2010

Intel® High Performance Solid State Drive — Identify an Intel® High-Performance SATA Solid-State Drive

Cheers
3Fees