![]() To get a Chromebook that you know will get longer term support, you should first look at our list on the second page of this article and determine just how “fresh” you want it. We found many used Chromebooks for sale with less than two years of OS support left. We know it’s hard times for Chromebook buyers, but $300 would mean just 18 months of updates before being pushed overboard by Google. The high price is likely due to parents and even school districts rushing out to buy any Chromebook to prepare for remote learning. Many Chromebooks with expiration dates of June 2022 can still be found in online stores.įor example, we found the Acer Chromebook 14 CB3-431-C99D selling for $300 or more. We did spot-checks of older models and found that generally it’s pretty hard to buy a very old (five years or older) Chromebook. What you will find, however, are a lot of used Chromebooks we’d consider to be on the “close to spoiling” list being sold. The unstated mess in all this is that you can still buy many Chromebooks that are nearing the end of their lives. Nearly expired Chromebooks are still being sold The original Google Pixel Chromebook is still a very capable laptop, but because it’s last OS update was in 2018, it can’t even watch movies on Netflix anymore. As time goes on, you can bet more Chromebooks on the list will also be abandoned. If you’re on an older version, you can’t use GeForce Now, full stop. ![]() Meanwhile, Nvidia’s nifty GeForce Now game streaming service requires ChromeOS 77 and up, which was released late last year. Eat your heart out, because you can still watch Netflix or Disney+ on a 2013-era Windows PC or MacBook. For a typical consumer who isn’t going to open the laptop up, unlock the OS write protect, and install CloudReady, the only way to watch a Netflix movie is to buy a new Chromebook. For example, on the original $1,300 Google Chromebook Pixel (which expired in 2018), the version of Chrome it runs will no longer let you watch Netflix. An unsupported browser means you get left behind by websites, too. Apple’s OSX has 2,212 listed vulnerabilities from 1999 until today and Microsoft Windows has 6,814 since 1999. In 10 years, only 55 security exploits have been documented for ChromeOS. ![]() But to be fair, Chromebooks are still one of the most secure consumer laptops around, and you could argue that an expired Chromebook might even be more secure than updated Windows or MacOS laptops. All computers are under constant attack and updating it is the first line of defense. With an expired Chromebook, you lose that defense.įor people used to Windows and MacOS, that could be enough to make you think an expired Chromebook should be crossed off the list. The most important reason to keep your PC, Mac or Chromebook updated today is security. Intel even recently issued a security update for PCs running Windows 7, 8 and 10, so you do get some support. That’s different from Microsoft, which updated Windows 7 on its last day. Once a Chromebook expires, you no longer get updates. Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming game service has come to Chromebooks but it requires version 77 and up of ChromeOS, which abandoned Chromebooks may not have. Google later changed it to 6.5 years, and now it’s 8 years. Google’s End of Life Policy (as it was called before the less terminal-sounding “Auto Update Policy”) first offered 5 years of OS and security updates. Laptops for a comprehensive discussion of the differences between the two, as well as buying recommendations.) (See our article comparing Chromebooks vs. With an “expired Windows 7 laptop,” for example, you can simply buy Windows 10 and keep using the laptop rather than buying a new one. With a Chromebook there is no option to buy an updated version of ChromeOS-the only answer to continue getting updates from Google is to buy a new one. What’s a bit different with Chromebooks is that the hardware itself expires. Since Chromebooks are essentially low-cost hardware running a very lightweight Linux operating system as a vessel for the Chrome browser, few expected them to expire. The concept of an expired computer itself isn’t new, but Chrome OS has taken heat for years over it. 2020, here’s how many ChromeOS devices are about to expire and when.
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