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I'm using a Lenovo ThinkCentre M715Q (Ryzen 5 PRO 3,2 GHz, SSD 256 GB, RAM 8 GB). Bought it "used" for 180 EUR last year, though it was in almost perfect condition.

Pretty happy with it so far. Runs a few cron jobs to generate some static sites, a local WordPress instance and pi-hole.

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> https://www.tomsguide.com/us/lenovo-thinkcentre-m710q-tiny,r...

> ($449 to start; $729 as tested)

So you bought it used for about one fourth the price. A pi 5 for one fourth its current price also sounds like a great value.

I don’t get this argument. If the goal is “buy the most power for a given budget”, how is “but you bought used!” a gotcha? As long as there are no used RasPis with better performance for the price, the used PC is still the better choice.

There are no "gotchas" and I am trying to have a discussion not an argument. The point is that for evaluating a product people have different goals and thus get different value propositions. In particular, I think a pi is a fine product if you value stuff being new and well supported (this also applies in the comparison with other, more powerful SBCs for the same price). If you don't, that is perfectly fine.

In the same vein, why do you prefer or not prefer your mini pc over some random, new n100 mini pc? I would argue that neither is strictly better and that reducing matters to "X is bad, period" is oversimplifying.

Sorry for that, you’re right. For some applications, the RasPi is a good choice. I was just trying to make the point that for private use where price is important and other factors are secondary, a refurbished thin client is probably better than a Pi.

And I prefer a refurbished thin client over a new n100 because for my application, the thin client I need is much cheaper than any n100 PC I could find.

Buy a Pi if you want a Pi. I was just answering a very simple question. Not arguing for either side.

The parent comment already mentioned the (to me) most important point:

> x86 means you can install whatever you want

That's at least twice as expensive as a new Pi.

Not really, a Pi with 8GB RAM, case and Power Supply would be around $110 or so, right? With storage even more. And the mentioned PC is probably almost twice as fast as a Pi.

With the PSU and a micro SD its about 90 EUR from The Pi Hut. A case isn't necessary but can be got for a tenner.

Got a link? The starter set with 32GB SD card and 8GB RAM is £112… so you still have to get an SSD and SATA hat, or the hat this post is about. Then you’re at atleast £125, and your performance will be much lower than the mentioned PC.

    8gb pi 5 £76.80
    27W PSU £11.60
    case? - £9.60
    SATA hat - £29.00
    256GB SSD - £24 (reputable brand)

Total is £151,or roughly €181

Does it have noisy fans?

It does have fans that I only ever heard spin up during a reboot. I assume you would hear them if the machine is under continuous load, mine isn't). The small dimensions allow you to stow it away pretty easily.

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