this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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[–] fatalError@lemmy.sdf.org 22 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

You can get thin clients for much less than that... Better performance if needed, similar power efficiency for similar loads, they sometimes bring storage, power supply and ram and you don't generate more e-waste as these are already being thrown out by many big companies every few years.

The only reason to go for the PI is if you really need the GPIO, the tiny form-factor and even then there are cheaper alternatives with similar or better spevs.

[–] bioemerl@kbin.social 17 points 11 months ago (3 children)

It's all about the idle power and software support.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 9 points 11 months ago

🌈 The software support! 🌈

Anything that runs on an SBC has a Pi image. Download, write, go. And Pi OS (Debian) for anything else. Or Ubuntu LTS.

[–] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 4 points 11 months ago

Thin clients are just regular x86 boxes, they're miles ahead of every SBC. The only downsides for consumers are slightly bulkier sizes, slightly higher power draw and of course the gpio/Hat ecosystem is not available, but I would argue that for most people that's not really relevant.

[–] somenonewho@feddit.de 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah. As someone running a NAS/Jellyfin server of a SBC/USB SSD I would love to pick up an x86 sffpc too properly put everything inside but idle power and quiet aren't easily beat.

Software support olinwouldnt really agree since x86 gives a lot more options than ARM

[–] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 4 points 11 months ago

My RPi 3b pulls 5W, while my thin clients draw about 6-7W on idle, one of them doesn't even have a fan, the other one could easily be modded to lose the fan.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.de 8 points 11 months ago (2 children)

You can get thin clients for much less than that…

Interesting, do you have examples?

[–] briongloid@aussie.zone 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

You can buy 7th Gen Intel 4-core with 16GB DDR4 & 128GB SSD for cheaper than a Raspberry Pi 4.

I have both a Pi4 & a ThinkCentre which is significantly more powerful, doesn't take up much more space.

[–] atocci@kbin.social 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't know, I think that might be overstating it a bit. Even the highest cost 8GB Pi 4 model tops out at $75 without accessories but I can only find 2 listings on Ebay at the moment for MFF PCs that can beat that price, also without accessories.

[–] upstream@beehaw.org 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

eBay is not where we buy new hardware.

Pi has been ridiculously expensive and hard to get from 2020 to 2023, and we’ve had applications where we’ve been deploying them.

Think we’ve seen cost up to $200 for a complete kit.

You need power, SD-card, a case, and depending on application also a micro HDMI adapter. It all adds up.

Slight difference if you are just upgrading in place, but comparing the unit price of a bare Pi to a computer with everything that you need is not apples to apples.

[–] atocci@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Wait where are you getting these things new for that price? I'm interested, but the lowest I can find is this. I brought up ebay because it was lowest price I could find, but if they're even cheaper new, I could use one.

[–] upstream@beehaw.org 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

No idea where the other guy is getting his Lenovos. We’ve been buying Pi’s because of form factor and GPIO.

We had a fair share of those Lenovos in the office when I started (I think they were around $500 in our config back then), but they’ve all been replaced with laptops now.

In my department we run around with $3000 MacBook Pros, so not very budget minded at all.

[–] ripcord@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago

Interesting, do you have links?

[–] fatalError@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 11 months ago

Not sure where you're from. But here is a random one from ebay . You will find many like it. I got this model with 4gb ram, 256 ssd and power supply for ~80€ on europe, much less then I could pay for any PI4 at the time that came with no case, no psu, no ssd. It idles around 3-4w headless with no peripherals running home assistant. There are other models too ofc. Just have a look around used hardware stores if you have them around your area.

[–] DopamineDaydreams@kbin.social 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Uhuh, for work we love raspberry PIs as they're small enough to stick behind a wall mounted TV and good enough to run our display apps. All for the low price of £80~. I'd love it if you have viable alternatives.

[–] fatalError@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 11 months ago

When I was looking for a pi4 I stumbled upon orange pi, rock pi, banana pi and libre computer. They have models both cheaper and more expensive than the rpi. All depends on the specs you need.

[–] null@slrpnk.net 2 points 11 months ago
  • x86 compatibility if you go for the thin client over a pi
[–] greyscale@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Unobtainable and will be mostly sold to run advertising displays and business epos systems. Miss me with that shit.

[–] ripcord@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago
[–] realharo@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

Most places have preorders open, shipping in October, also Pi 4s are now back in stock in most shops.

[–] algorithmae@lemmy.one 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The whole reason RaPi got so big was its price point, because it offered so much capability that was essentially disposable in case the worst happened to your project. As long as it costs more than $35 I will not be interested.

[–] realharo@lemm.ee 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You can always get the Pi Zero 2 W, which is still more capable than the orignal Pi was, and costs even less, even after all these years.

Or the 1 GB version of the Pi 4. For many projects, even that is overkill. Not everyone needs the stuff Pi 5 brings, like dual 4k60 monitors or the PCIe slot.

Just buy whatever your use case requires. The "zero" line has kind of filled that very low cost niche for now.

[–] dave@feddit.uk 5 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I’m going to get back to watching that later.

[–] wagoner@infosec.pub 27 points 11 months ago

I appreciate you letting all of us know. I hope all is well with you and your family, and I look forward to your feedback when you return.

[–] Luke_Fartnocker@lemm.ee 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Do you know when that will be?

[–] FaceDeer@kbin.social 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's been two hours now, I'm starting to get worried.

[–] Luke_Fartnocker@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't think he's coming back, just like my dad.

[–] dave@feddit.uk 1 points 11 months ago

Just going for cigarettes…

[–] gentooer@programming.dev 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 11 months ago

Stop attacking me!

[–] ripcord@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago

What'd you have for lunch?

[–] bunnyfc@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

They can keep their overpriced surveillance ware and sell it to some police departments.

[–] Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Could you elaborate on the surveillance part?

[–] nyan@lemmy.cafe 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Probably riffing on the fact that the Pi people hired (some time ago) an ex-cop who had used their devices in surveillance.

[–] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 3 points 11 months ago

Yeah but that rockchip stuff looks like fire

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Why did OP shout EVERYTHING? The original title doesn't have that clickbait formatting.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.de 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Do you have an anti clickbait addon or something? For me it looks like this:

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ah, yes. That's it. I have the dearrow extension running. I apologize for my snark and direct it to the true OP from youtube.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.de 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

No worries, maybe I should install that addon too ^^

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 6 points 11 months ago

It can really slow down pages loading on youtube, but it's worth it for me. This is what I show, it de-clickbaits the title and changes the clickbait thumbnail.