Raspberry Pi - Desktop Replacement

[Easy-X]

If you've not been following this scene recently, here's the current state of play:

Latest model "Raspberry Pi 5" is now back to relatively normal availability. The version 5 is interesting as it's the first Pi to feature a PCI Express channel. Main use: NVMe flash drives.

I've just got this case today:

Argon NEO 5 M.2 NVME Case for Raspberry Pi 5

Very compact and self-contained. Features a slot on the bottom for your drive and the case forms part of the heat-sink system along with a built-in fan.

So Pi + case + SSD, add a cheap monitor/keyboard/mouse or reuse some old kit and now, now I reckon you have a solid "desktop replacement" for your older or less technical relatives.

The 4GB Pi is good for a little light surfing and emails. 8GB if you need to do a bit more, e.g. LibreOffice.
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[that_impulse_guy]

disclaimer: i bought one of the first 10k pi 2b's. Ive been in the ecosystems since day 1

My take on it is, and still is: once you add all the supporting stuffs and total it up price wise, for a desktop replacement, there are better and cheaper desktop replacements around (on s/h/ market). But if you really do want to bolt something to a vesa mount and the size interests you, then it can probably bat average with other options.
If you really want Arm on Linux, ...theres other options too.
If you want a low powered doodah...other options.

But the ecosystem in place for a learner is unbeatable, and thats worth some £ to somebody.

If you want a portable doodah to take on e.g the tube so you have same pc at home and at work and a laptop doesnt do it for you, then its pretty good.
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[WD Forte]

I dunno
Not knocking them,if you like them, that's fine.
I've got and briefly played with the old 4GB one I have but
never fell in love with them
It feels like I have to buy in to an ecosystem I dont like that much.
Why cant they just stick a SATA port on so we can use old/small/cheap SSDs?
HDMI ? what if I wanna use an old vga monitor?

I'm not an expert programmer but I've had more fun with the various Arduinos
I have than Pi's
I'm aware the Pi is a SOC computer with some IO and the duinos are just micro-controllers
but if I want a small PC I'd probably buy a tiny form factor Lenovo like the M93
and run winders or linux on it

I had a Commell 12v powered mini ITX PC for a while that was fun.
it was low spec but ran the CNC machine vi parallel port and design software
on win 7/32 just fine until I eventually upgraded it all and now run it from
a bigger/better mini ITX on win 10 and USB.

I find it a bit like the PC/MAC Apple/Android thing
they all have their good and bad points but it comes down to what
you like to use what suits you best.
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[P.]

A pi to me is just a stupidly lightweight server type item I can throw in a case and load up various little Linux light apps and let it control bits of the house.

I'd never consider it for any other use other than routine automation or bit of network fiddling.

[Easy-X]

Previously we were using Windows micro-servers - NUC type stuff - but Windows is such a fucking pain in the arse to support (before even getting to the actual workload) we've switched to Docker containers on Linux.

The Pi just presents (outside of a global pandemic) a consistent supply of a known quantity. Other manufacturers' products are very short lifetime in comparison.
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[P.]

If my stuff supported docker/k8s id use that but currently a no go.

Linux is just easier for general items, I still like windows for usage and windows servers for endpoint management but yeah, everything else...