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Comment by knaik94 | Hacker News Reader

I wish more companies took this approach. A current Amazon listing has the Pi 4 4gb for 170$ usd and Ebay similarly has 120$ for an open box. I've seen the 8gb ram frequently listed for over 200$. I recognize the shortage of new Pis but, at those prices, I don't understand the demand. I just found a used, tested, ebay listing for a Intel NUC Micro PC i5-7260U 2.2Ghz 8GB RAM 250GB SSD with Windows 10 for 160$. That's not a cherry picked example, similar specs are available across multiple listings at the same price +- 20$.

Are there situations outside a power draw limits where choosing a Pi makes more sense than a used NUC or business mini PC at a comparable price?

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Yes. Anytime you want something to be replicable. If I am making a custom case, connector, or other piece of hardware, I want a standard part. A $170 RPi won't be $170 forever, but I know I'll be able to buy it approximately forever (or a compatible successor).

I want mounting holes, ports, and similar to be in the same place.

When I was first doing contract engineering work straight out of school, my time was worth $125/hour. Last time I was doing it, it was worth $350/hour. With inflation, I'd guess it's higher now, but I don't know.

A $170 part for prototyping is okay. An extra 5 hours dealing with compatibility or form factor issues is not.

The main benefit of the Raspberry Pi in my opinion is the support. The documentation for the device is spectacular, and the community support is extremely good. Now, I don't feel this warrants paying $170 for the device, but when they are available at MSRP, this is quite the deal.

The ecosystem of GPIO hats for various hardware that can be controlled by a raspberry pi. It’s why you see many other SBCs include the 40 pin header connectors, and often even mechanical hole placement to help with mounting…, they are trying to pick up some small parts of this market.

I hear you. I deal with ARM SBCs all day long but for my home server box I picked up a used Optiplex 7100 (3.2Ghz Xeon) for $40. They're everywhere.

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