Jon Jones
Note, there are 3 components of this REVISED review. The 1st regarding the product, the 2nd regarding the vendor. And the third comprising my experiences of both after the unit failed within the warranty period, and the vendors attempts to avoid honoring their supposed warranty. ----- TL,DR: DO NOT BUY FROM THIS VENDOR. With a very low effort refurb process there appears to be a higher than average number of purchased units quickly failing, and the vendor fails to honor the warranty by providing false or misleading correspondence to warranty inquiries. ----- 1.) I admit I wasnt expecting much as far as the Chromebook itself. I was specifically looking for a decent, stable, used/refurb older Chromebook, modestly priced unit to use for testing, debugging, and experimentation in an educational environment. It is not my primary machine, so I didnt need it to be super snappy. This model is particularity geared towards the school/student market, so I figured it would be reliably sturdy. I was pleased to find that this unit was extremely clean, well functioning, and very speedy and responsive even beyond my basic needs. The only drawback of using an older refurb unit is battery performance. This one doesnt last very long, or hold a charge well. But Im pretty proficient with this tech, and already knew that this battery design is only optimally rated for an approximate 18 month window, after which a steady decline in battery performance should be expected. Its just part of the territory. Replacing these batteries is not very complicated. Anyone considering a refurbished model that has more than a couple of years under it should consider doing the same. This unit (true to the model line in general) has sturdy, solid feel, a responsive and snappy keyboard, a clear bright screen, and nice audio. 2.) As far as the vendor, I initially could not have been more satisfied. Not only was the price lower than I expected to have to pay for a modest refurb unit, but shipping was almost immediate, and FAST! I expected a 2-day shipment via Amazon Prime, but my delivery arrived less than 23 hours after placing the order. I dont live in an area where faster than 2-day service is typically an option, so this was an especially great surprise. -------- HOWEVER....... 3.) After less than two months of very sparse and careful use (a combined use of under 3 hours) the unit simply died, no longer booting up. After ensuring the battery was fully charged I applied the 3-key reset method (esc-refresh-pwr) and the screen flickered the "Chrome OS is missing...." message before pixelating into random lines and colors, quickly seizing up. Repeated attempts produced the same results. Being proficient with this tech (I am a Chromebook administrator on a school site) it was quickly evident the unit was suffering logic board failure. Presuming that any tech support will still want to go through all the paces, I still proceeded with an attempt to freshly install Chrome OS, but it continued to freeze, flicker and pixelate upon any attempt to boot up. A call into Amazons tech support to isolate symptoms confirmed my diagnosis of logic board failure. This is despite having very light use of this unit for less than a total of 3 hours since purchase. I was not worried as the unit has died well within the vendors 90-day warranty, and after having been so thoroughly surprised by their very speedy purchase fulfillment, I fully expected them to honor that warranty. However the several communications I have had with this vendor have produced confusing responses with no indication thus far that they will honor the warranty and replace the unit or refund the purchase. I initially notified the vendor regarding the failure of the unit, and hoped to elicit information about their warranty coverage. I also attached the transcript of the chat with Amazons tech support identifying logic board failure. Their response was the following: "Your message has been assigned to me, and I am reviewing it as a high priority. I will follow up with you very soon. Blazing Prices is committed to your satisfaction, and I will make every effort to resolve your concern as quickly as possible. Thanks for choosing Blazing Prices!" Have a great day! Thank you, Blazing Prizes" That is all good and well, but I took note that their response did not include an actual service representatives name to correspond with the noted "me" in their response. An actual contact person is usually identified in context of following a ticket through a tech support chain. This was an early indicator of a pat automated response. Two days later I received a followup email that appeared similarly automated, but with the additional note that I should contact the manufacturer for warranty assistance, stating that the manufacturer has been notified of my query and that they stand ready to assist me. Now, at this point I knew that the response was laughably suspect. Not only did they not provide any identifying contact information about whom (or how) to contact "the manufacturer", but I knew for a fact that this manufacturer (Dell in this case) was absolutely not poised to offer warranty assistance for a 3+ year old 2nd-hand low-end Chromebook. In short, Blazing Prices outright lied. I responded to their email about "the manufacturer" to see what they would say if I I asked for more information about following up with the manufacturer. I received the above-mentioned automated reply. I knew by then that I would get nowhere with the vendor. Still, I have continued to follow up with additional queries in the weeks following. As I post this I still have a few days left within the 90-day warranty period. But each response from the vendor has likewise mirrored the previously noted automated response. They are not necessarily a scammer. They sold me a product at what on the surface should have been a very competitive price. If it continued to function at least beyond the warranty period the vendor would have met their obligation decently. However it is clear by my experience, as well as those of other reviewers, that this vendor has falsified some of the claims on the product page. They certainly are not able to account for the integrity of the product - and in such cases that is what gives a supposed 90-day warranty its value - but this vendor also has shown no indication that they will honor that warranty - so having added it to the product listing constitutes fraud. I already have a tech support ticket in to Amazon regarding this purchase, and am following up with them regarding Blazing Prices fraudulence in skirting their warranty obligation. Do not purchase from this vendor.