Considering the release of devices like Radxa’s Rock 5B, featuring the RK3588 SoC, might this be an opportunity for brands to capture market share, or mind share, from Raspberry Pi? If devices like the Rock 5B have superior performance and features with excellent energy efficiency, they just might.
In this latest installment in what has become an ongoing quest to find inexpensive Raspberry Pi alternatives I address the question, “Do inexpensive i3 desktops make good homelab systems in 2022?” Specifically, we’re looking at systems featuring chips from Intel’s 6th gen and 4th gen lineups – the i3-6100T, i3-4160 and i3-4160T.
Like many technology enthusiasts, you might be looking for an inexpensive Raspberry Pi alternative – due to shortages and scalper like pricing from third party sellers. If that’s you, allow me to introduce you to the Inovato Quadra – the “ready to run” alternative that’s only $29 USD!
Ultimately, only you will know what your project’s needs are when choosing a compute device. However, if your use case for the Raspberry Pi is running homelab or computational tasks, or even using it as a desktop computer, and you don’t require any of the unique characteristics of the Pi, then you’re probably better off buying an inexpensive used mini PC when comparing a mini PC vs Raspberry Pi.
