Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Chromebooks are cheaper than their Windows counterparts, but a new report highlights the difficulty in locating and purchasing their components.
- Google’s eight-year automatic update warranty for Chromebooks starts running from the day of approval, not purchase, which means buyers are left with shorter update windows.
- This also affects the resale value.
According to a new report, “Chromebook Churn,” by the Education Fund of the American Public Interest Research Group (via the edge), schools that bought Chromebooks in bulk in 2020 when the pandemic hit are now seeing those laptops begin to fall apart. This is a small problem in and of itself, but the bigger problem is that these Chromebooks are relatively harder to upgrade and fix when compared to their Windows counterpart.
According to the report, parts for screens, hinges, and keyboards are difficult to locate and purchase for budget Chromebooks. It is reported that school administrations have resorted to purchasing additional laptops only to harvest their components!
The report also highlights how the Chromebook’s automatic update guarantee works against buyers for fine print. Google currently guarantees eight years of automatic updates for Chromebooks released in 2020 and later, but that duration counts from when the laptop is certified by Google. The report states that when the Chromebook for US school students is deployed, it has already spent two to three years ensuring that the software is up-to-date. However, Google keeps a full list of Automatic Update (AUE) expiration dates online and advises everyone to check them before buying a Chromebook.
Furthermore, the report states that the program’s shortest expiration date practically makes it electronic waste. Although Chromebooks technically continue to work after the update warranty expires, students can’t use them because these expired laptops often can’t access secure websites like those used for exams. Also, shorter expiration dates make Chromebooks difficult to resell.
If you’re looking to buy a Chromebook for yourself or to spread out to a group of students at a school, it’s definitely important that you consider your laptop repairable. Claimed parts availability differs from actual stock positions, and hopefully, Google will push manufacturers to provide components more cheaply and easily.