3 ms·

Similarly, I saw some youtube videos just the other day talking about intel's (newish?) N100 chip. You can pick up a small mini pc for under $150 new, runs wind

Similarly, I saw some youtube videos just the other day talking about intel's (newish?) N100 chip. You can pick up a small mini pc for under $150 new, runs windows or linux, and is on-par speed-wise with the 8500 iirc. Plenty fast for small server use cases, although you do give up the raw GPIO pins. Also of note, it's x86, which has me interested as a field-portable ham radio computer. Most software runs on rpi (my current setup), but x86 is universally supported by stuff. Just need to figure out the monitor situation.... maybe vnc from an ipad? :)

woleium 3y ago
you can get a usb powered hdmi portable 10 inch monitor on aliexpress for less than $100
mortos 3y ago
I got an N100 fanless computer for about $100, with the right Aliexpress deals. With 4x i266-v (2.5GbE). Just needed RAM and M.2. The total power draw is also quite low, I've seen people measure 7w total from the wall. At about $.32/kWh, this is saving me a lot over an eBay computer. The CPU is enough for my needs, currently running Proxmox with OPNsense. And x86 was a major draw for me over the RPi.
bee_rider 3y ago
I did a portable NUC for a while, just powered off some no-name li-ion backup battery (a slightly bigger one because you need the 12-20v out). There are plenty of decent portable monitors out there. I ended up with an MSI one, but I think any laptop brand can make a monitor (I also had some no-name one which had a nicer resolution but ended up breaking pretty quickly). Anyway, I eventually concluded that I was wasting time re-inventing the laptop. It was nice to be able to put the unnecessary extra stuff, like the monitor and battery away, when using it in desktop mode (saving desk space). And the ability to pick a proper keyboard is nice. But buying part-by-part has some downsides. You pay extra because this is all niche stuff, it doesn’t slip as nicely into a backpack (otoh if I only needed to bring the NUC somewhere, it could fit in my cargo shorts or bike under-saddle bag which was neat). And random integration things—you need to bring all the right cables, the battery probably doesn’t talk to your OS so you have to check it manually. I also did SSH and VNC from an iPad, it works fine, you’ll probably want a keyboard and end up with something like a laptop, but extra latency and your SSH/VNC client will waste some pixels. I also did SSH and VNC from my iPhone, got a little stand and everything. That combo actually got interested questions in a coffee shop, so nerdy niche computing mission accomplished, haha! So, I hate to ask the boring question because it was a really fun project and I got years of use out of it, but: Why not a laptop?
- cschneid 3y ago
  The best solution would probably be one of those micro "laptops" like a GPD Pocket. I think it has the ports needed... a few usbs really. My current setup is VNC from ipad to the rpi for ham radio stuff. It works well enough, with the ipad being keyboard & screen in a small space. And lets me take an ipad with me for other uses. But the rpi4 is so darn slow at a full desktop experience, especially when then feeding it over a network connection.

woleium 3y ago

you can get a usb powered hdmi portable 10 inch monitor on aliexpress for less than $100

mortos 3y ago

I got an N100 fanless computer for about $100, with the right Aliexpress deals. With 4x i266-v (2.5GbE). Just needed RAM and M.2. The total power draw is also quite low, I've seen people measure 7w total from the wall. At about $.32/kWh, this is saving me a lot over an eBay computer. The CPU is enough for my needs, currently running Proxmox with OPNsense. And x86 was a major draw for me over the RPi.

bee_rider 3y ago

I did a portable NUC for a while, just powered off some no-name li-ion backup battery (a slightly bigger one because you need the 12-20v out). There are plenty of decent portable monitors out there. I ended up with an MSI one, but I think any laptop brand can make a monitor (I also had some no-name one which had a nicer resolution but ended up breaking pretty quickly). Anyway, I eventually concluded that I was wasting time re-inventing the laptop. It was nice to be able to put the unnecessary extra stuff, like the monitor and battery away, when using it in desktop mode (saving desk space). And the ability to pick a proper keyboard is nice. But buying part-by-part has some downsides. You pay extra because this is all niche stuff, it doesn’t slip as nicely into a backpack (otoh if I only needed to bring the NUC somewhere, it could fit in my cargo shorts or bike under-saddle bag which was neat). And random integration things—you need to bring all the right cables, the battery probably doesn’t talk to your OS so you have to check it manually. I also did SSH and VNC from an iPad, it works fine, you’ll probably want a keyboard and end up with something like a laptop, but extra latency and your SSH/VNC client will waste some pixels. I also did SSH and VNC from my iPhone, got a little stand and everything. That combo actually got interested questions in a coffee shop, so nerdy niche computing mission accomplished, haha! So, I hate to ask the boring question because it was a really fun project and I got years of use out of it, but: Why not a laptop?

cschneid 3y ago
The best solution would probably be one of those micro "laptops" like a GPD Pocket. I think it has the ports needed... a few usbs really. My current setup is VNC from ipad to the rpi for ham radio stuff. It works well enough, with the ipad being keyboard & screen in a small space. And lets me take an ipad with me for other uses. But the rpi4 is so darn slow at a full desktop experience, especially when then feeding it over a network connection.