The rise of the refurb.
Year on year as your budget in school shrinks and costs rise, it becomes more difficult to maintain an up to date and reliable estate of IT devices. The subject of device selection has always been quite contentious as many IT providers prefer schools to stay with on site Windows Servers with Windows desktops and laptops in use for teachers and students. Many of these lower cost Windows devices need to be changed every 3 years. Over the last 16 years I have actively encouraged schools to think out of the box and look at alternatives. The most recent alternative ideas are to seriously consider buying refurbished devices rather than new.
Let’s start with Apple’s iPad, a popular choice for many schools who have eventually realised that this device is a fantastic alternative to traditional laptops in many ways. The main point to keep in mind with iPad is the Operating System, iPadOS. iPads are excellent in supporting the latest versions of iPadOS for many years before rendering an iPad useless. For example, the latest Apps for iPad now require a minimum OS version of iPadOS15 or later. This means that the oldest iPad at this time that supports that version is the iPad Air 2 first released in 2014. As you can see, that’s a 10 year old device which is still more than capable of supporting the apps you use in school. The main issues with devices of that age are usually the limited storage of 16gb that many of them had as standard or the batteries are failing too. In reality the longest time I would suggest keeping an iPad in general use would be 6 years in order to support the latest iPad OS version. You can keep them another year or two longer if the budget is so bad. Hopefully from this introductory explanation you will see where I am heading. This year there are many 32gb 8th Generation iPads coming available from ex lease / rental programmes in schools etc. The cost to buy these complete with a case and a warranty can be anywhere around £120 +VAT per device, it’s best to shop around various refurbished resellers. This is less than half the cost of a new iPad. The 8th generation iPad should be capable of running the latest version of iPad OS for at least another 3 years. At these lower prices it shows how quickly you could head towards a 1:1 roll out.
The next selection is Chromebooks. New Chromebooks vary on price but on average with a new Google Management licence assigned come in at around £275+VAT each. Google has had an amazing option available for free for sometime now called Google Flex. This is a simple upgrade option for old Windows or Mac computers (Desktop or Laptop) which converts them into a Chromebook. All you need to buy is the management licence which retails at £30+VAT from Google or in many cases can be bought for less than this from resellers. As an example of this one of the school we took on in the last 12 months had 180 Windows laptops that they couldn't afford to replace. We converted them all to Google Flex and 180 licences were supplied at a discounted price. The best part of this option is that when these older devices fail, each licence can be removed and re-used on another Google Flex device or a new Chromebook. This means that the upfront outlay for the licences would last at least 5 years or more. If you need to refresh the laptops then there are fantastic refurb offers available on Windows laptops which can come in around half the cost of a new Chromebook.
The final selection I would like to discuss are the teacher devices. I work with schools who have had Macbooks for teachers which are now 10 years old and are now being updated with the latest MacBook Air models. The 10 year old Macboks will be converted to Google Flex and put to use for a few more years. If a MacBook for teachers isn’t an option then the best way to have high performance laptops for staff that will last for up to 4 years is to consider refurbished units.
There are many refurbished partners who can supply 3 year devices that have been refurbished to a high standard. They look like new when they are shipped out. Various return to base warranty options are available with these laptops too. These are devices that when new would be over £1,000 each. The refurb prices are in the £400 - £500 +VAT price range. The performance of these devices is excellent and reduces the frustrations that many teachers have with the laptops provided at this price range.
There are many more reasons for considering refurbished devices. The main one is the reduction in waste. I have been an advocate for upcycling for many years. It’s only when devices have reached the point that they can’t be used effectively that they need to be sent collected by one of the many IT recycling companies for free (subject to a minimum number of devices).
If you need any more information, please feel free to contact me directly.
Nigel Milligan
IT Director.
