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Comment by aappleby | Hacker News Reader

It's a computer. It does computer things.

Also it has easily-accesible GPIO and other interfaces like I2C, SPI, UART, etcetera.

I think GPs point is if you need more horsepower you might as well get a used small form factor, and if you care about the GPIO and other interfaces you might as well get a PI 3 or 4. I get what you're saying it's a computer it could do all sorts of stuff.

I think the stronger argument/usecase is it's a drop-in replacement for the pi4. So if you're already dedicated to that form factor...

pi5 number go up

Used == a whole different ball of wax.

For anyone building a little homelab or whatever, especially in the US where triple the (low) power consumption from 3 to 9W+ isn't a big deal, a used SFF/mini PC is a better value proposition. Especially if you want to add storage, 2.5 Gbps networking, etc.

But for people integrating a computer into a larger project (robotics, automation, controls, etc.), or buying a little 'IoT' device to tinker with, buying used gear that is often much larger and usually requires a large external power brick might be a turn-off.

A new x86 mini pc is cost competitive with the pi 5, and is markedly faster, with all long-supported hardware and software.

And generally cheaper too if you factor in the case, SSD, SSD HAT, power adapter, HDMI converters.

You can get an intel N100 box with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD for just over $100 now. Faster and cheaper than a comparable Pi 5. Uses a bit more power though.

> Uses a bit more power though.

Educated guess: Could add as much as $10 a year if its running continuously.

We really need to collectively stop comparing the prices of new things to those of used things as if they are equivalent.

Doing so is absolutely disingenuous.

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