Bitcoin had gone up ... and so had the price of the mini PC.
So I ordered the Raspberry Pi. It even comes with same-day delivery.
I've been in the process of upgrading my Raspberry Pi 4B's accessories -- first an HDMI switch and USB switch so that I don't have to manually mess around with various things to switch between my "daily driver" mini PC and the Pi.
Yesterday, a second HDMI switch and cables arrived so that I can use it in dual monitor mode just as easily. Unfortunately, I ordered an incorrect cable (mini-HDMI to HDMI instead of the needed micro-HDMI to HDMI). Fortunately, when I decided to return it, Amazon gave me a "no-return refund and credited my account. Which means I was able to order the correct cable (for an additional 50 cents) and I have a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable on hand in case I ever have a device that needs one.
Also yesterday, a 128Gb USB solid state drive arrived. I burned a Raspberry Pi OS disk image to it, and the Raspberry Pi 4B now boots much faster, opens apps much faster, and runs certain things (loading cached images, etc.) much faster than from SD card. It should last longer too.
Of course, the switches, cables, and SSD will work just as well with the Pi 5 as with the Pi 4B. I'll just move them over and be off to the races. The Pi 4B will either get gifted to my son (who already has my old Pi 3) or put away for future use as a media streaming box or whatever.
It's possible that I'll end up using the Pi 5 as my "daily driver," at least for a little while, but even if I don't I'll have it set up for work so that I have a 16Gb backup rig instead of an 8Gb backup rig for emergencies. It's probably not quite as fast as the Chinese mini PC, but it should at least be close, with a lower power draw. I'll probably get a new 32Gb "daily driver" at some point in the future, but I don't need that as much as I want the Pi.
In certain respects, the Pi is to a Chinese PC as the MGB is to the Mazda Miata -- not as much horsepower, but way more cool. In other respects, the British computer excels the British sports cars. It's cheaper and far more solid and reliable. Anyone who's ever had an MG or Triumph (I had the former via an ex-wife, and my brother had the latter) can give you plenty of horror stories on the weird malfunctions and the expensive fixes to what should be cheap problems. This will be my third Pi and the first two have never failed me in any way.
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