From: tnp@invalid.invalid   
      
   On 02/10/2025 14:32, Daniel James wrote:   
   > On 02/10/2025 11:12, The Natural Philosopher wrote:   
   >> ... here a pi 500+ at £192 is well above a decent equivalent   
   >> performance refurbished desktop.   
   >   
   > Comparisons of that sort are always difficult.   
   >   
   > To start with: comparing a new Pi 500+ with a refurbished desktop isn't   
   > fair. One is new the other isn't.   
   >   
   > What do you mean by 'equivalent performance'? Most PCs spend most of   
   > their time idle. For some uses performance matters, for others it   
   > doesn't. I have used a Pi 5 quite a bit, and I find it is sufficiently   
   > responsive that I don't notice any sluggishness compared with my (much   
   > more powerful) desktop PC.   
   >   
   Well in my case when I need performance it's about watching hi res   
   videos, playing the occasional video game, running a 3D slicer and   
   editing videos.   
      
   And sadly running a windows VM.   
      
   > The Pi uses less power than a PC -- especially when that PC is a   
   > refurbished older model -- which is reason in itself to prefer it.   
   >   
   > The Pi 500+ has nice mechanical keyboard. My PC also has a nice   
   > mechanical keyboard, but that keyboard cost 2/3 of the price of a Pi   
   > 500+ all on its own. A refurb PC that you buy for the cost of a new Pi   
   > 500+ probably won't come with a keyboard at all.   
   >   
   > For some of us the mere fact that the Pi doesn't use a boring old x86-64   
   > CPU is reason enough to prefer it over a similarly priced used PC. For   
   > some of us GPIO access is important.   
   >   
   I accept that, but sadly I couldn't justify replacing a desktop that   
   does extremely well   
      
   > The cheapest refurb desktop I can find on Tier1 online, today, is a Dell   
   > Optiplex Micro at £299 when spec'd with the same RAM and SSD as the Pi   
   > 500+. About 50% more than the Pi 500+. That's a 6-core i5, so definitely   
   > more powerful than the Pi. At that price it comes with Windows 10 (or   
   > 11) Home so you'd probably want to spend another £20 for the Pro   
   > version. It doesn't come with any application software, but Firefox,   
   > LibreOffice, Etc. are as free for Windows as they are for the Pi. You do   
   > get an audio jack, which the Pi lacks, and can expand the RAM.   
   >   
   I'd install linux anyway   
      
      
   > It's hard to say which is the better value. So much depends on what you   
   > want to do with it.   
   >   
      
      
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   --   
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)