alt Hacker News"CarFax for used PCs" is a silly analogy; a used machine can quickly be assessed for its current condition, and a log of past repairs isn't really relevant, particularly when most repairs these days are just replacing the entire motherboard.
Old laptops are not particularly valuable because (a) they might be a lot slower than a new, base-model laptop at a quite affordable price, and (b) much of modern electronics has a design life of 3-5 years, and a used laptop will generally be at the end of that design life. Nobody really likes laptops which have random components fail and need replaced.
With that said, we happily use used laptops, some much older than 5 years. HP supplying a "Carfax" would have zero utility to us.
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Yeah, with used vehicles there's a lot more at stake. Mainly: potential safety concerns and they can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Neither of those are true with used laptops, and in cases where it may be they're not putting used equipment into service. HP has invented a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
I have used laptops for much longer too, and for a lot of tasks performance does not matter.
Desktops tend to be better when older though.
There are already dealer who sell second hand machines in reasonably dependable condition.
HP seems to be aiming to control (note the bits about preventing unauthorised access) rather than facilitating the market.
Carfax for Cars is also a bit of a joke. It is designed for people who don't know anything about cars and/or are too intimidated by the process to get a proper inspection done. So the analogy holds for laptops. This is for low-knowledge people who want some nebulous/vague reassurance that a particular laptop is still "good" even though used.
This is pretty clearly just an attempt to look like they are doing something about a perceived problem without actually doing something about it.