Okay, so I’ve got this Acer 513 Chromebook, yeah? I needed to find out when this thing was made. Sounds simple, right? But it turned out to be a bit of a wild goose chase. Let me tell you all about it.
First thing I did, naturally, was flip the Chromebook over. There’s always that sticker on the bottom of laptops with all sorts of info, you know? I figured the manufacture date would be right there. And yeah, there was a sticker, with the serial number and some other stuff. But guess what? No manufacture date! Seriously, who does that?
So, plan B. I started looking up stuff online. There were some suggestions about checking the computer’s BIOS. Seemed a bit complicated for me, I just wanted a date, not to dive into the computer’s guts. Also checked the serial number format online. I found somewhere that said the 4th, 5th digit is the production year or something. I tried to use this method, but to no avail.
Then, another bright idea popped into my head. I remembered something about Chromebooks having an “Auto Update Expiration” date. Maybe that could give me a clue? I went digging in the settings.
- I clicked on the battery icon on the bottom right.
- Then I clicked that little gear icon for settings.
- There’s an “About Chrome OS” option there, I clicked that.
- And boom! There it was, the “Auto Update Expiration” date.
Now, I know this AUE date isn’t the manufacture date, but it’s something. From what I understand, this date is usually a few years after the device was made. So at least I have a ballpark figure now. I even found a site on Google’s support page about their Auto Update Policy. After looking it up, it confirmed that the AUE is at least 5 years after the release. And by looking up the release date of my Chromebook which is January 22, 2021, I can probably say that my device was produced in 2020 or 2021.
My Little Adventure
It wasn’t the most straightforward process, I gotta admit. But hey, I learned something new, right? It’s kind of funny how something as simple as a date can send you on a little adventure through your computer’s settings and the vast expanse of the internet. And you know what? I’m kind of glad I didn’t find it on that bottom sticker. This was way more interesting.