Hi there. I’ve been looking to get something to run locally as I currently use a dedi machine I’m renting from Hetzner.
I’ve been looking at Raspberry Pi, mainly model 4 and while research those I got introduced to Orange Pi as well as ZimaBoard.
I realized the “best” option usually comes down to personal needs, tho I’m curious to which would be the better purchase in terms of “bang for your buck”.
The main stuff I would be running are Plex or Jellyfin servers as well as NextCloud for family photos and a shared calendar. I love tinkering so I like the idea of having enough resources to run additional services without going down on efficiency.
My budget is around 180-200$.
I’ve seen posts where people often mention a mini PC or similar would be a great option tho I’m looking for something smaller and the less noise the better as I may end up showing the thing in a drawer or closet in my bedroom.
The Zimaboard is way overpriced, for a way underpowered CPU. Unless you specifically have a need to use its PCIe slot for something, I see no reason for it.
As others have noted, an ultra small form factor PC, the likes of Dell/HP/Lenovo sell is always a better value option.
I have a high priority of the unit I choose to go with not emitting a ton of noise where the passive cooling for the ZimaBoard is perfect for that. I see the reasons for people mentioning Mini PCs tho I’m hesitant as the whirling may be too much to have stored in the bedroom as I also have no other place to hide it