A CarFax for Used PCs; Hewlett Packard wants to give old laptops new life

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Value of “CarFax for PCs”

  • Many argue the analogy is weak: PCs don’t have accident-equivalent events, major hidden structural damage, or life-threatening failure modes like cars.
  • Used laptops are relatively cheap; a bad $300–$500 purchase is seen as a small risk compared to a car.
  • Existing tools (SMART data, power-on hours in BIOS, refurb dealers’ own testing) already provide sufficient condition checks.
  • A few see some value for corporate leasing/fleet management (e.g., assigning lighter-used machines to demanding users, reusing “light duty” devices), but even they question how much this changes real practices given common 3-year refresh cycles.

Privacy, Telemetry, and Control Concerns

  • Strong worry that firmware-embedded telemetry stored on HP SSDs is an unnecessary privacy risk and expands opaque, closed firmware behavior.
  • Fear that this becomes a pretext to:
    • Lock out third‑party repairs (“log manipulation” as grounds to ban independents).
    • Tie laptops to HP SSDs (Apple-style part pairing).
    • Enable long-lived hardware tracking across OS reinstalls.
  • Several note HP’s existing anti-repair behavior (BIOS locks, difficult serviceability, aggressive printer DRM) and see this as consistent rent-seeking, not sustainability.

Security vs. E‑Waste and SSD Reuse

  • Many enterprises reportedly destroy all storage media on decommission for compliance/insurance reasons.
  • Some argue encryption plus proper wiping is enough; shredding working SSDs is environmentally harmful and wastes scarce resources.
  • Others counter that physical destruction is cheap, eliminates misconfiguration risk, and avoids legal liability if old data ever leaks.
  • Debate over SSD reliability: some say SSDs are often the only part that fails; others report screens, hinges, batteries, and chargers fail more often.

Market Already Functions; HP’s Motives Questioned

  • Refurbishers and eBay sellers already do functional testing; the used laptop market is described as “very healthy.”
  • Several see HP trying to capture/monetize the refurb ecosystem and create a “certified pre-owned” tier under its own control.
  • Skepticism that HP genuinely wants to extend device life: OS obsolescence (e.g., Windows 11 requirements) and HP’s repair-hostile design are seen as bigger barriers than missing telemetry.
  • Some point out the irony that HP hardware is often viewed as low‑durability today, further undermining the premise.