End of life policy for Chromebooks

ruralrelic
ruralrelic Posts: 4 Newbie
edited 12 April 2018 at 10:42AM in Techie Stuff
Your Chromebook (device) will cease to function properly five years from the date of manufacture.
For further information search Chromebook end of life policy

It is underhand that manufacturers and retailers do not advise you that chrome devices have just a 5-year lifespan, and that is from the date of manufacture not the date you purchased the item.

We have several chromebooks in our family, the oldest is a Samsung purchased in March 2012. Last few days we received notices from Google re end of life policy, and now to all intense and purposes that chromebook has died!

Retailers should be obligated to inform perspective customers of the Google end of life policy for Chromebooks
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Comments

  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344
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    It's not an 'end of life', it's an 'end of auto updates' policy. And it's now 6.5 years. Your Chromebook will carry on working even after this. Read this

    https://chromeunboxed.com/googles-end-of-life-policy-for-chromebooks-gets-updated/
  • Many thanks for your reply and link.
    Yes, I do understand this clarification.
    However, the Chromebook in question has always functioned without fault.
    Following the 'end of updates' notice from Google , it ceased to function, even after a power wash to restore the original factory settings.
    My post is therefore just my observation, the notice arrived from Google and the Chromebook has now ceased to function..
  • stragglebod
    stragglebod Posts: 1,324
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    ruralrelic wrote: »
    Following the 'end of updates' notice from Google , it ceased to function, even after a power wash to restore the original factory settings.
    No, following whatever it was that caused it to stop functioning, it ceased to function.

    Your observation is simply wrong.
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863
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    No, following whatever it was that caused it to stop functioning, it ceased to function.

    Your observation is simply wrong.

    No .. OP's observation is merely a comment based on their experience. Perhaps the Chromebook failing was coincidental with the EOL notice, but perhaps it wasn't - none of us here can know for sure. None of this makes the OP's observation wrong.
  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344
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    DoaM wrote: »
    No .. OP's observation is merely a comment based on their experience. Perhaps the Chromebook failing was coincidental with the EOL notice, but perhaps it wasn't - none of us here can know for sure. None of this makes the OP's observation wrong.

    Are you suggesting that Google are including something in their notices that causes a Chromebook to stop working? Seems a bit far fetched to me.
  • Thank you DoaM for your correct and reasoned reply.

    Response to 'agrinnall,
    'No, I am not suggesting anything of the kind, merely making an observation that may be of interest to other Chromebook users.
    As suggested it may be a coincidence that this particular Chromebook has ceased to function after receiving the Google policy notice

    My main point is that it would be appropriate to be informed of the .'end of updates' policy at the time of purchase, and certainly for prospective purchasers to know this policy will be introduced by Google on a set date from the time of manufacture, not purchase ( In my case 5 years).
  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344
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    ruralrelic wrote: »

    Response to 'agrinnall,
    'No, I am not suggesting anything of the kind, merely making an observation that may be of interest to other Chromebook users.
    As suggested it may be a coincidence that this particular Chromebook has ceased to function after receiving the Google policy notice

    I never said that you did, it was in response to DoaM's post.
    My main point is that it would be appropriate to be informed of the .'end of updates' policy at the time of purchase, and certainly for prospective purchasers to know this policy will be introduced by Google on a set date from the time of manufacture, not purchase ( In my case 5 years).

    Perhaps Google didn't know 5 years ago when they would cease to issue updates. As far as I'm aware Microsoft didn't tell users of their Operating Systems (up to Win 10) when they will stop updating them at the time the OS was released, only at a later date.
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863
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    agrinnall wrote: »
    Are you suggesting that Google are including something in their notices that causes a Chromebook to stop working? Seems a bit far fetched to me.

    No I'm not suggesting that they ARE doing this. I'm also not suggesting that they AREN'T doing this ... none of us can know for sure.

    Wasn't that clear from my previous post?
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863
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    agrinnall wrote: »
    As far as I'm aware Microsoft didn't tell users of their Operating Systems (up to Win 10) when they will stop updating them at the time the OS was released, only at a later date.

    MS have well-published support cycles and the information comes out quite quickly after the OS version has its full release. In OP's case the model of Chromebook was already well-established (months or even years prior to OP's purchase, not days or weeks) so why wasn't the EOL support notified much earlier? That's OP's complaint.
  • maisie_cat
    maisie_cat Posts: 2,059
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    agrinnall wrote: »
    Are you suggesting that Google are including something in their notices that causes a Chromebook to stop working? Seems a bit far fetched to me.

    I'm not the paranoid type, but it would not surprise me in the least. Building products with a long repairable lifespan is not in the interests of a non social business.
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