catty

I can self host what I want on a pi zero. But, I do have some 30 years of experience so can probably do things some won't understand / bother with.

I'm sure silicon valley are stepping on each other, vying to get their hands on these super cheap laptops for their 24/7 AI training.

It's even worth pointing out you can disable various parts of the pi so it uses / needs even less juice.

Pi’s are ARM-based, which still to this day limits the scope of their applicability.

Untrue.

Also, you should absolutely inspect a laptop before buying. Many, if not most, of old laptops will run just fine for the next few years.

Until the battery needs replacing, costing more than a pi, one key on the keyboard dies, etc.

Please be specific rather than referring to 'raspberry pis' together. Different models have way different characteristics.

This is generally not true. A small server running on an old pi when idling will have hardly any draw. It will cost literally pennies to run for the whole year.

But... that's so uncool...

That's only start up cost. What about ongoing 24/7 costs after 2 years?

ODroids don't meet European legal hazard levels on poisonous fumes. I bought one back in the day and they explained they won't apply for the test because of "the cost"... not that it uses cheap solder that don't meet lead limits.

I dislike posts like this. Technology moves quickly. PIs are great for hobby electronics where you need a little computer. Want a cheap computer to run a few things 24/7 and know what you're doing? Pi it is. You don't need to run containers on a pi because you have the skills to install the dependencies manually. They cost pennies to run 24/7.

I think of pis as beefed-up calculators. I have made lots of money using a pi zero running code I needed to run 24/7. Code I developed myself.

Having an old laptop with outdated parts taking up lots of space, weighing a lot, and having components like fans, keyboard, and mousepad most-likely soon dying and needing replacing is an additional concern you don't want.

Someone below saying use an old laptop if you're living with parents and don't pay the electricity bill is a bit lame. Do your part for the world. Someone will be paying for it.

Ultimately, use what you want but if you're just starting with servers, use a virtual machine on your computer and log in to it. You can dick about with it as much as you want, and reset back to a working state in seconds.