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Comment by desikoder | Hacker News Reader

At this point, I would much rather use any x86 based laptop instead. Their price-to-performance ratio's have significantly increased since the first RPI was introduced and for a 100$, you get a much better package. So, unless the ARM ecosystem grows to allow for pluggable, extensible and better performing solutions than the latest entry-level celeron or ryzen based systems, I am no longer investing into it.

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For certain applications, the form factor and power usage are both relevant. So if you really need a small low power computer at that price point, you don't have a ton of options (although there's always the RockPro64 [0]).

Once any of those requirements is loosened the other options start to look way better. So if you want a low power ARM computer and aren't concerned with the size as much, you can always get an old used Chromebook instead - which is well worth the money, but only IF you need any of the extra stuff it comes with (monitor/keyboard/mouse/battery/storage/camera/etc etc...). If you just want raw compute, then you can just buy an old x86 box like you say, but that will cost you in power and size.

I think some people just like to tinker on these little gizmos specifically, though. You read blog posts about running Kubernetes on Pis, and the immediate question is "why would you do that rather than just virtualizing stuff on an old x86 box?" The answer is really just "well, it's fun to work with little computers" which is presumably a factor for a lot of people.

[0] https://store.pine64.org/?product=rockpro64-4gb-single-board...

Can you recommend any specific laptops at around that price point that have superior performance? Would these be new or used? And any idea how their power consumption compares to a Raspberry Pi?

Ya, I'm really confused. Does the poster want a $75 laptop? That's called a smartphone, and last I looked the operating system and specs are pretty terrible.

You can definitely get OK used laptops for $75, that's why I asked that particular clarifying question. I'm wondering if they have any specific models or deals in mind, ideally with a link to an online retailer.

Thinkpad X230 can be picked up for around $100. I use one as my daily driver, another $70 or so picks you up an SSD and a 16GB ram kit.

Think that'd make a better server than a Raspberry Pi 4 for the price? It's nice that it includes a built-in battery backup, plus screen/mouse/keyboard for initial setup and later debugging. On the down side, it takes up more space.

They said x86, so definitely not a smartphone.

I do find that RPI life comes with a lot of add-on costs. Battery pack, input devices, display, SSD, etc. It does start to add up if you aren't using the RPI in headless mode anchored to a power cable.

However, if price is the #1 concern, it's tough to beat the RPI. I checked Amazon and the cheapest 8GB RAM laptop was $239. Or maybe a used one on eBay for ~$175.

But overall this announcement is very impressive. I foresee the SBC "arms race" heating up. I bought a Jetson Nano thinking it was overkill, but it seems the bar keeps going up...

Of course those cheap laptops come with cases, keyboards, screens and other things.

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