Google gives most Chromebooks an extra year of software support

[PotNoodleTech]

The EOL thing is the main reason I don't recommend Chromebooks for school, who knows what the budget will be like 5 years from now.

 

So what you are saying to your schools is, hey don't use this really useful and cheap device now and for the next 5 years, to give your pupils 1:1 devices for the duration of their secondary school life, because in 5 + years time, once you've possibly left school it may or may not cease to be quite as useful?

 

Your budgeting point is correct, no one knows what the budget will be like in 5+ years time. There's literally no point in worrying that far ahead. You could have no budget, the school could be taken over by a MAT, or even worse, closed, who knows.

 

That long term uncertainty, is terrible a reason to not do something good that will positively affect teaching and learning right here and now.

[localzuk]

So £295 against my £149.

So basically the same as buying Chromebooks every 3 years instead.

 

I've budgeted for replacing ours every 5 years, but we could manage 4 years if we wanted to.

[mavhc]

So what you are saying to your schools is, hey don't use this really useful and cheap device now and for the next 5 years, to give your pupils 1:1 devices for the duration of their secondary school life, because in 5 + years time, once you've possibly left school it may or may not cease to be quite as useful?

 

I've yet to be convinced it's useful and cheaper. Web apps take more cpu than native apps, so need a faster cpu. Also supporting another OS would take more time.

 

I can buy Windows 10 Core i3 computers cheap enough anyway.

 

https://www.aboutchromebooks.com/news/3-reasons-why-a-chromebook-often-costs-more-than-a-nearly-identical-windows-laptop/

 

Am I allowed to buy chromebooks according to the rules of "You can't use that, what if the next person hired can't use it"? They're open source after all.

[Primus]

Have you actually ever used a Chromebook? They run fine with fairly minimal hardware, the issues you're implying don't exist.

 

Support is so easy - we never have any issues with them once they're deployed and deployment is quick and easy too. They basically manage themselves after some initial work on the admin console that's been documented online by lots of other schools who've gone Chromebook already.

[mavhc]

So the javascript runs by magic?

 

Which is this £200 model Chromebook we're comparing to? My 1 year old Core i3s seem to be twice the speed of the 2019 chromebooks that aren't i5/i7, 23705 octane benchmark in Chrome

 

I've set up chromebooks, that's the easy part, now you have to cope with compatibility between 2 OSes

[keyboards]

Have you actually ever used a Chromebook? They run fine with fairly minimal hardware, the issues you're implying don't exist.

 

Support is so easy - we never have any issues with them once they're deployed and deployment is quick and easy too. They basically manage themselves after some initial work on the admin console that's been documented online by lots of other schools who've gone Chromebook already.

 

Agreed, I think they're a dream for IT, I would deploy them as much as possible, all gives the students a chance to buy one home if they want being reasonably cheap. Shame they didn't make the chromebox's cheaper as would love to run an IT room with one of them

 

Also as said you've got licensing replacement in every thing, SLT etc think

 

Windows pc will run for ever from years and years ago

Ipad - apple normally at some point stop updates and the app store, as before we kept getting asked to install apps but the ipad were so old they couldn't be updated or download apps from the app store

[mavhc]

Main cutoff problem is 32bit. I'm running neverware on my Latitude D520, T2400 core 1 duo cpu, 7200 octane, but it's only 32 bit and neverware aren't doing 32bit any more. 2006 era, but not used much so the battery is still fine. Better put linux on it.

 

Win 10 still works on it, but I was testing it to give away.

 

Those celeron chromebooks are only getting 11000 octane

[Primus]

Stop looking at synthetic benchmarks and actually use one. They are brilliant.

[mavhc]

I do use one, that one that gets 7000 octane, it's 13 years old.

[Ditto]

Just wanted to thank the OP for highlighting the useful information. Unfortunately the thread seems to have drifted in a way not so uncommon, so once again to @Arthur, thank you for bringing this positive news to our attention.

[mavhc]

Threads by their very nature weave about. They're not called iron bars after all. You pick a topic for discussion, and the discussion just continues in the way that people interested want it to

[Ditto]

Its possible to neverware the "expired chromebooks" to make them continue working from what i understand

 

Yes. Courtesy of our own Edugeeker, @rogerdnixon - https://wpsit.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-to-beat-chromeos-eol-and-carry-on.html

[Ditto]

Threads and weave - very good, I like it! I just wish I could reply equally humorously, but darn it, I can't think of anything witty. Such a shame @mikeprice is heading to the Maldives (well not for him of course), but I'm sure he could help me out.

[rogerdnixon]

This is great news. However, older Haswell based devices are now not getting updates - so 1st gen Chromeboxes and popular models like the Acer C720. Now, this does not mean they stop working - they just stop getting the latest and greatest features (like virtual desktops in ChromeOS 78). If you do want to pop another OS on them at this point I've got a few updates to the quoted blog post (as the John Lewis BIOS is no longer supported):

https://wpsit.blogspot.com/2019/08/haswell-chromeos-devices-go-eol-asus.html

&

- an Acer C720 running Cloudready.

[PotNoodleTech]

Yes. Courtesy of our own Edugeeker, @rogerdnixon - https://wpsit.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-to-beat-chromeos-eol-and-carry-on.html

 

Guys you do realise that the Chromebooks will continue to function perfectly fine after the EOL date, they just won't ever download a newer chrome O/S update.

 

People are talking as if they're going to explode, or suddenly turn off never to be usable again.

 

I've got an old Samsung chromebook at home that reached EOL - still working fine.

[mavhc]

But they're not getting security patches. Wonder how much that is a problem though, given the OS's extra security

[siuko]

It's also worth knowing that you can do a recovery on a chromebook and it will have the latest version of the OS on it

 

As long as they are enrolled they will just pick up the policies again after you re-enroll

 

It isn't the most practical (especially if you have a lot of chromebooks) as you have to manually recover each chromebook - but it only takes about 5 minutes

 

You then have the newest OS version (should provide a little extra longevity)

[jthompson]

Presumably there's a risk that a device beyond it's EOL could end up incompatible with newer G Suite APIs, at which point stuff could begin to not work.

 

Also, are browser updates and OS updates separate things on Chrome device? If the browser stops getting updates, that's perhaps more a more immediate concern.

[mavhc]

Problem is without support it's only useful for home use, can't say "These chromebooks are secure until some random date when a security hole is found and not patched" for work.

 

AIUI the OS and Browser are updated together

[Primus]

As previously said, you can get a decent Chromebook for less than £150, it'll last you at least 6 years. It will work out cheaper than an equivalent Windows device.

[mavhc]

Which model is that?

[Primus]

HP 11A G6 EE - Jun 2026

[mavhc]

Well, that is twice as fast as my 13 year old computer at running ChromeOS. Does the 16GB storage affect how many people can login?

 

They are £198 ex vat on hp's page, so with the, what, £20 management cost, that's £218. Then standard £50 HP discount down to £170ish for 11" 768p, 4GB RAM, 16GB storage, A4 cpu. Vs £260 for core i3 128GB ssd 8GB ram, 13" 760p Win 10 Pro HP laptops, with hdmi and vga out

 

I do wish all laptops had usb-c charging though, if it's on a £150 laptop there's no excuse that it costs too much.

[Primus]

I'm telling you I got it for less than £150 - including the management licence it was £154! That wasn't buying hundreds either!

 

The 16Gb causes no problems at all, it manages the storage and very little is stored on the device in any case.

 

All new Chromebooks have to have USB-C charging - it's a Google requirement for certification.

[Ditto]

I'm telling you I got it for less than £150 - including the management licence it was £154! That wasn't buying hundreds either!

The 16Gb causes no problems at all, it manages the storage and very little is stored on the device in any case.

All new Chromebooks have to have USB-C charging - it's a Google requirement for certification.

Do you know if that is with VAT? If you are an academy and claim the VAT back, effectively that figure drops even lower.

Edited November 6, 2019 by Ditto