Comment by justsomehnguy
17 days ago
> I don't see the appeal of using these mini-PCs.
Suprise - you are not the ones who do.
> Using an old second hand power supply is enough to turn me away.
> And the PI has many advantages. Power supply dies? I can order a new one in literally seconds'.
This is a quite a stupid argument.
a) it's totally the same for any other PC: you just order another 'in literally seconds'
b) if you don't like a second hand PSU then order a new one in the first place
> And meanwhile I wait for it to arrive I can use a spare notebook charger or whatever
... just like you can have a compatible charger for a mini-PC ?[0]
> For a home server I would recommend something beefier, an old desktop will be superior to any mini-pc and the Pi
For most of the people there is no need in 'beefier', 32Gb RAM, 256-1024Gb SATA/NVMe is all they need.
> The point of a Pi for me is more that you can have it where you need it. Attached to your TV or whatever.
Anyone can have mini-PC where they need it. It's because they are mini, not a desktop ones.
[0] by the way, most of the time those mini-PCs have a notebook style external PSUs (not some anemic square brick of 15W) and they are quite rare to break
The argument was that you already have a PSU at home. Or in my small town I can get one in 15 minutes, or order it and have it delivered tomorrow.
On the contrary, the notebook style external PSUs are more likely to break and much harder to find replacements to. When it has happened to me the best source to buy has been to order it from another country.