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I used to think you should never buy OEM parts (for your car, your computer, etc). I thought the aftermarket could even provide superior versions of parts, or

by beefman 17y ago

I used to think you should never buy OEM parts (for your car, your computer, etc). I thought the aftermarket could even provide superior versions of parts, or at least, the same thing for less money. Then I got a job in hardware engineering. Now I _always_ buy the OEM part. Some examples: * Remanufactured toner cartridges -- much more likely to contain toxic substances that can vaporize into the air when printing. And have fun guessing whether they stated the page counts accurately. * Seagate HDDs vs. Apple HDDs -- same drive, right? Wrong. Apple writes custom firmware, based on extensive testing. You may recall the data loss issue that came out last year with these (Barracuda 7200.11) drives... but not with the Apple firmware. * No-name Chinese Li-ion batteries. Tested them myself, and they outright lie about the mAh. They're also almost certainly less safe. * Got Bosch platinum plugs for my VR6 Jetta. Better than stock, right? Wrong. Finally found a mechanic that truly understands the VR6, and the stock plugs (NGK) were chosen for a reason. Other examples abound. It isn't worth your time trying to outsmart the engineers that made your device by going with a part made by someone with no accountability (no brand to protect, no phone number you can call, etc).

froo 17y ago
"Now I _always_ buy the OEM part. Some examples:" I thought I would provide another example as this was one of those things that always amused me. Back when my brother was alive, he was a Porsche enthusiast, he owned several at the same time (4) and his first love was his 944 that he raced. Anyway, the door handles on a 944 are the same as a standard VW part, with one slight difference. One has "PORSCHE" etched into the plastic while the other didn't. A luxury that increased the cost of the part by nearly 15 times. The funny thing was that with the 944 series, there were many non porsche parts used in the production of the car. The body was made by Audi (which we learnt one summer while stripping all of the noice cancelling rubber off the body... not a fun job)

by beefman 17y ago

froo 17y ago

"Now I _always_ buy the OEM part. Some examples:" I thought I would provide another example as this was one of those things that always amused me. Back when my brother was alive, he was a Porsche enthusiast, he owned several at the same time (4) and his first love was his 944 that he raced. Anyway, the door handles on a 944 are the same as a standard VW part, with one slight difference. One has "PORSCHE" etched into the plastic while the other didn't. A luxury that increased the cost of the part by nearly 15 times. The funny thing was that with the 944 series, there were many non porsche parts used in the production of the car. The body was made by Audi (which we learnt one summer while stripping all of the noice cancelling rubber off the body... not a fun job)