4GB or 8GB RAM for student devices - 4 year refresh

[ewikstromSD]

Would you suggest 4GB or 8GB RAM for a 4-year student device refresh? I'm looking at the Lenovo 500e Gen 4, and for some reason, Trafera is quoting a much higher warranty price for the 8GB model since apparently, it's more complicated and expensive to repair. Our account manager had to get special approval for it. I remember when people bought 2GB models that crashed on certain websites so I want to make sure we are sufficiently future-proofed for the next 4 years but without overspending. As you know, with Chromebooks, once you pick a configuration, there's no going back.

[ddelboccio]

No brainer...........8GB ram has been so much smoother for us than 4GB.

[MattDPenn]

When we start our next student refresh, likely in a year or two, we're planning on going 8 GB. To my thinking there's to much of a risk of the browsers or security extensions getting more demanding in the next 4-6 years to not go with 8 GB models.

ewikstromSD your price jump might be because the model you're looking for is a DDR5 module rather than DDR4 which are the current/past student models. Either way I'd say DDR5 and 8 GB is a win all around.

[MarkLoundy]

Old principle of hardware purchasing: Always buy as much RAM as you can afford.

[ddelboccio]

I'm actually quite surprised vendors are still selling a 4GB RAM model Chromebook for schools.

[ewikstromSD]

Hopefully the manufacturers will phase them out. I guess they’re still trying to cater to budget buyers.