If you want a Pi (or alike) for specific reasons, go for it! But, if you are looking for cheap and relatively low-power compute, I strongly recommend looking a

If you want a Pi (or alike) for specific reasons, go for it! But, if you are looking for cheap and relatively low-power compute, I strongly recommend looking at used ultra small form factor PCs. You can get much more computational power and expansion, often for cheaper than a Pi. And eBay is riddled with these things, unlike recent Pi availability. https://www.ebay.com/sch/171957/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%28lenovo+tiny%2C+hp+mini%2C+dell+micro%29+-laptop+-atom&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=15 https://www.ebay.com/sch/171957/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%28len... The pricing gets even better if you want to buy them in a lot.