Cheap Chromebooks.... Why Do They All Say Refurbished?

[Murphy Slaw]

I'd like to buy some underprivileged kids cheap Chromebooks for doing homework, with all of the schools closed.

It beats using their phones, couldn't they use the phone for a hot spot and then have a real keyboard?

I admit, I'm an Apple guy so don't know much about them, but can't afford to buy a bunch of Macbooks….

But, when I research online why are they ALL refurbished? Are they that crappy they are returned a LOT?

And where are the $ 100.00 ones ?

[CoffeeFan]

If something is refurbished it doesn't neccessarily mean it's crappy. If a retailer has a return and it ends up going back to the vendor (say, in this case, Microsoft), the vendor refurbishes it so it can be sold with a warranty.

I've bought refurbished camera gear for years and have never had a single problem. The stuff works how it's supposed to, there's a nominal warranty if it doesn't, and I save a trunk load of cash...

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

I'd like to buy some underprivileged kids cheap Chromebooks for doing homework, with all of the schools closed.

It beats using their phones, couldn't they use the phone for a hot spot and then have a real keyboard?

I admit, I'm an Apple guy so don't know much about them, but can't afford to buy a bunch of Macbooks….

But, when I research online why are they ALL refurbished? Are they that crappy they are returned a LOT?

And where are the $ 100.00 ones ?

Our kids' school district and some in the area plus cellular carriers all had efforts for the upcoming distance learning that will start. Even if this is not something like that searching out those plans should help you know what could be good choices.

Over time I've seen districts settle on particular models. If you can find a make and model that an institution or enterprise settled on you probably have more safety in making a good choice. It might be an obsolete model now but for example I recall seeing reps from one of our vendors at work and the kids' school units the same HP model for a while. That would tell me a model where you could get power supplies and it would not be too cheap in the quality sense.

You can also get refurbished business grade laptops with easy to use Linux distribution at low costs.

[BenBreeg]

My daughter was saving for a MB Air but we realized a Chromebook is a much wiser purchase, it is what they use in her school district. I don't know about $100 but there are a lot of Best Chromebooks under $500 lists out there and you can land them for under $250. This is an example:

https://www.technobezz.com/best/top-...romebooks-500/

Certainly not the only list though.

I wouldn't avoid refurbs either.

[Dirk Hofman]

Great to hear you're looking to help, and that's a perfect thing to donate!