> I started looking at the various offerings, and being a nerd of a frugal nature, decided to only look at the best HW bang for the buck, completely ignoring th

> I started looking at the various offerings, and being a nerd of a frugal nature, decided to only look at the best HW bang for the buck, completely ignoring the SW aspects. I think this is a very important point that people tend to overlook. One that I've definitely stated to appreciate in recent years. For a similar example, sometimes people talk about the cost of ownership of a PC. Whenever you bring that up, someone will mention how it's really cheap to build your own PC. And although they're technically correct, since it's really cheap to build your own PC, it usually means you're left on your own for maintaining it as well. I can't shake the feeling that this case is similar. Although I certainly enjoy tinkering with stuff, I think there's a strong argument to be made for things that "just work", or things that can be easily hacked. I have a hard time imagining that the real cost of ownership of this device for the owner ended up being higher than if they had purchased a more open device. With all of that being said, I found this to be a very interesting read, and I'm thankful that the author took the time to write up their experience.