How to Save Money on Windows 7 the Legit Way

Posted on February 15th, 2010. Written by Rico.

We’ve received no official word from Microsoft about the pricing of Windows 7, so I guess we’ll have to help ourselves out here. So just how do you save on Windows 7 the legit way?

windows-7-box-art Get an OEM version. Windows 7 comes in many editions, and each edition has an OEM version, which are cheaper than their “normal” counterparts. They’re designed for PC manufacturers to pre-install on each new PC they sell.

What do you sacrifice for the cheaper price of an OEM version? They don’t come with customer support, can only be used to do clean installs of Windows 7 (no upgrading possible in other words) and are tied to your motherboard. This means that, for all intents and purposes, an OEM copy is locked to the PC it’s first installed in, and cannot be used on another computer.

Microsoft Philippines doesn’t officially support retailers offering OEM copies of Windows 7 locally. I don’t even know if anyone sells them, so hit the comments if you’ve got some finds to share.

My friend Josh recently saw Windows 7 Home Basic priced at P5,800 from Accent Micro in Megamall. Prices were P8,000 for Home Premium, P11,999 for Professional, and P12,999 for Ultimate. Compare that with the official launch prices: P7,000, P9,500, P15,500, and P16,500 respectively. Home Basic might be the way to go, and check out a readers revelation of Windows 7 Professional priced at P7,200.

Josh was unsure though if Accent Micro’s stock are OEM versions, and given MS Philippines’ unofficial stance on OEM, I’ll have to visit the store and see for myself.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Tips & Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Rico

Rico Mossesgeld is the founding editor of Technograph. Learn more about him at rico.mossesgeld.com/about.

Josh

It was P5,600 at Accent Micro, I think.

P4,750 yung cheapest OEM that I’ve seen na Win7Basic sa Greenhills.

Ended up buying a 1TB external HD with the money I had instead. :D

It’d be nice if they’d drop either Home Premium or even Home Basic to under 4k. :)
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Zeke

Even it will cost 1 PHP , I ain’t gonna buy this crappy OS, likewise why i’m gonna buy unsecured and unstabled OS while I can get the better ones for free!
alexhates

I am a Windows 7 SP from one of the major BPOs here in the country and we were given retail copies of Windows 7 Professional (with product keys). Most of us don’t need ‘em because we prefer “other” OS. Hit me up if you want copies, I know some teammates who might want to sell it for way lower than retail prices. :)
ardjay

alex do you still have that windows 7 professional?email me im intersted ok thanks