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Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

arstechnica.com

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Re: Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

#31

Post by matheusmoreira »

chasil wrote: post #18

Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices. I foolishly purchased my parents a "reconditioned" Google Chromebook from Lenovo. The device was covered in black plastic sheets to conceal scratches and markings on the casing. When we activated the device, it was out of support. I gave them a fresh HP Chromebook to replace it. Avoid "reconditioned" Chromebooks.

> Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices.

I'd like that but it appears this software could damage devices if not properly implemented.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35603573

I wonder what's the best way to mitigate these risks.

Re: Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

#32

Post by jeffbee »

TOMDM wrote: post #21
rolph wrote: post #11

Schools bought millions of Chromebooks in 2020 — and three years later, they’re starting to break https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/21/23691840/us-pirg-educatio...

I may be out of touch, but do people really expect a $200 laptop to last more than a few years?

In daily use by children! Both of these articles, by the same author, fail to engage with the economic design point of the Chromebook. Only the most bozotic k-12 IT department is scrounging keyboards on eBay. The normal people bought their Chromebooks from CDW with 4-years repair or replace contracts, and they don’t care where the parts come from. And nobody wants to be upgrading machines piecemeal the way the author suggests. Absolutely nobody. You upgrade by replacing fleets.

Re: Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

#34

Post by carlivar »

TOMDM wrote: post #21
rolph wrote: post #11

Schools bought millions of Chromebooks in 2020 — and three years later, they’re starting to break https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/21/23691840/us-pirg-educatio...

I may be out of touch, but do people really expect a $200 laptop to last more than a few years?

I would expect companies that might say they care about things like climate change to understand the benefits of repairability towards that end.

Re: Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

#35

Post by _cenw »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #31
chasil wrote: post #18

Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices. I foolishly purchased my parents a "reconditioned" Google Chromebook from Lenovo. The device was covered in black plastic sheets to conceal scratches and markings on the casing. When we activated the device, it was out of support. I gave them a fresh HP Chromebook to replace it. Avoid "reconditioned" Chromebooks.

> Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices. I'd like that but it appears this software could damage devices if not properly implemented. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35603573 I wonder what's the best way to mitigate these risks.

And also, it doesn't change that in the case of ARM Chromebooks, they run one hard branched Linux tree from 5+ years ago (more if you're dealing with Mediatek) and nothing else.

Re: Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

#37

Post by Saris »

TOMDM wrote: post #21
rolph wrote: post #11

Schools bought millions of Chromebooks in 2020 — and three years later, they’re starting to break https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/21/23691840/us-pirg-educatio...

I may be out of touch, but do people really expect a $200 laptop to last more than a few years?

Well, like the article says the biggest issue is it's difficult to even get parts to repair them, I imagine most hardware used in schools will need some repairs in a few years, so having access to parts is important.

Re: Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

#38

Post by dazc »

carlivar wrote: post #29
dazc wrote: post #24

I have two Chromebooks, both over 8 years old. The eldest, an ASUS, I gave to my dad and he uses it everyday. Aside from the odd security issue (he'll install any extension he's told to) it works just as well as it when it was new. The other, a Toshiba, I've dragged around the world with me, has had one repair, a battery replacement, and, again, works fine. Chromebooks are cheap but reliable devices that ought not to…

So you have a data point of 2 Chromebooks versus the school I.T. admins in the article that manage thousands, and you think your sample size wins? How about the pointless bezel changes illustrated in the article? Drop your Chromebooks on the floor to crack the bezel, try to replace them, and get back to us for further data in your sample.

Obviously, I'm not a school admin but I would wager replacing a fleet of cheap Chromebooks with Macbooks (or any big brand Windows machines) would not work out cheaper, or less burdensome, or anywhere close.

Re: Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

#39

Post by qbasic_forever »

chasil wrote: post #18

Google should really be forced to unlock the firmware on all of their abandoned devices. I foolishly purchased my parents a "reconditioned" Google Chromebook from Lenovo. The device was covered in black plastic sheets to conceal scratches and markings on the casing. When we activated the device, it was out of support. I gave them a fresh HP Chromebook to replace it. Avoid "reconditioned" Chromebooks.

They are generally unlocked, you can easily get into developer mode and flash a new coreboot bios on most of them: https://mrchromebox.tech/#fwscript Once flashed they can boot right into Linux natively and are a regular old EFI booting laptop. You will never be able to run ChromeOS on it again though (and could perhaps permanently brick or destroy the device) so it's not something Google is going to tell people to do.

Re: Design quirks, limited parts, and other ways Chromebooks frustrate repairs

#40

Post by Retric »

dazc wrote: post #38
carlivar wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you have a data point of 2 Chromebooks versus the school I.T. admins in the article that manage thousands, and you think your sample size wins? How about the pointless bezel changes illustrated in the article? Drop your Chromebooks on the floor to crack the bezel, try to replace them, and get back to us for further data in your sample.

Obviously, I'm not a school admin but I would wager replacing a fleet of cheap Chromebooks with Macbooks (or any big brand Windows machines) would not work out cheaper, or less burdensome, or anywhere close.

The issue is they where marketed and sold for an environment where they don’t work.
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