Small, Cheap, Linux Computer

[Pito Salas]

Looking for leads. I want to find a cheap ($500 or less) Linux computer, sort of like a Mac mini in appearance and size. I want it to be a portable “remote” computer for my robot for when I am going to a meeting or a demo. I think it should have an ARM processor (but I can’t say why) and 16G of memory and a small SSD. Wifi, bluetooth of course.

Suggestions?

Best,

Pito

Boston Robot Hackers &&
Comp. Sci Faculty, Brandeis University (Emeritus)

[Stephen Williams]

MinisForum is one line of products to consider.  They seem different from most other vendors.  They have a range of products, trying all kinds of combinations, generally for small-footprint computers.

Their main strategy seems to be to build small, power efficient 'desktop' computers using laptop chipsets.

Here is a refurbished page: https://refurbished.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-790s7-795s7-refurbished

ARM processors generally can be very powerful while using far less power.  Chipsets like those from Qualcomm, based on all of their developments for mobile devices, can also rapidly modulate their power hundreds or thousands of times per second to be extremely efficient.

Qualcomm now has desktop processors.  I don't know if any of them are in that price range, but they are interesting, like this:

https://videocardz.com/newz/qualcomm-developed-super-thin-fanless-mini-pcs-with-snapdragon-x2-elite-series

Alternately, old Apple hardware is resold a lot.  Often it is overpriced, but not always.  For travel where I don't want to take my big MacBook Pro, I bought a used / refurbished 13" MacBook with 1TB of SSD for about $350.  Should be fine to run Linux on a MacMini.

These are interesting:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZN9Z6TK/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_0

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DLBTPDCS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1

sdw

--

Stephen D. Williams Founder: VolksDroid, Blue Scholar Foundation 650-450-8649 | fax:703-995-0407 | s...@lg.net | https://VolksDroid.org | https://BlueScholar.org | https://sdw.st/in

[Pito Salas]

Stephen

Thanks… I am a Mac guy. But won’t a Mac mini be hard to reformat to run Linux?

Best,

Pito

Boston Robot Hackers &&
Comp. Sci Faculty, Brandeis University (Emeritus)

[Stephen Williams]

I see a lot of references that indicate that Ubuntu, Monjaro, and Mint Linux distributions install easily.  I would wonder about peripherals on a MacBook Pro, but on a Mac Mini, everything should be supported.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9qBJa8IUZU

https://medium.com/@woodywang2013/linux-on-an-old-mac-mini-f8cb63b7657f

https://talk.tidbits.com/t/install-linux-on-2018-mac-mini/25414/4

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=422324

I usually use Ubuntu for all of my systems, Rocky9.5+ for work.  But Mint has been around, people like it:

https://linuxmint.com/

sdw

[Chris Albertson]

On Oct 19, 2025, at 7:42 PM, Pito Salas <pito...@gmail.com> wrote:

Stephen

Thanks… I am a Mac guy. But won’t a Mac mini be hard to reformat to run Linux?

I run Ubuntu on a virtual machine on a M2 Mac Pro.   The VM outperforms a Rapbery Pi 4.  But you need to have enough RAM and that is rare on an older Mac.

[Thomas Messerschmidt]

I thought a small, cheap Linux computer was called a Raspberry Pi. 😆

Thomas Messerschmidt

-  

Need something prototyped, built or coded? I’ve been building prototypes for companies for 15 years. I am now incorporating generative AI into products.

Contact me directly or through LinkedIn:   

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ai-robotics/

On Oct 19, 2025, at 8:17 PM, 'Stephen Williams' via HomeBrew Robotics Club <hbrob...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HomeBrew Robotics Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hbrobotics+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/65587a05-3518-44dc-923a-f615167f3be8%40lig.net.

[Stephen Williams]

That is in the "even smaller" category!

Bought Raspberry Pi 500 computers + monitors for granddaughters.  Also managed to snag one Pi 500+: 16GB RAM, NVMe M.2 with 256GB, and LED keyboard.

Stephen

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/E2CAF648-2157-4010-8093-ECCE853D747F%40gmail.com.

[Alan Timm]

So depending on your definition of cheap and small.  And if your workload includes running local models.

Isn't this adorable?  I use the Orin NX version in my Alfie.

https://www.seeedstudio.com/reComputer-Mini-J3011-p-6356.html

[Pito Salas]

Lenovo Thinkpad T480: It seems that Thinkpad T480s are a popular refurbished laptop people use for Linux. Here’s a really great guide on how to interpret the specs and know what you are buying.

Pi 500+: I thought of that option too. It’s really cool and neat. For those, as well as the small “Mac mini” form factor options (that I was looking for), but in a totally practical sense, a laptop makes more sense, I think, because I don’t have to necessarily worry about a display, keyboard, and mouse.

Best,

Pito

Boston Robot Hackers && 

Comp. Sci Faculty, Brandeis University (Emeritus)

On Oct 20, 2025, at 3:26 AM, 'Stephen Williams' via HomeBrew Robotics Club <hbrob...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

That is in the "even smaller" category!
Bought Raspberry Pi 500 computers + monitors for granddaughters.  Also managed to snag one Pi 500+: 16GB RAM, NVMe M.2 with 256GB, and LED keyboard.

Stephen
On 10/19/25 10:18 PM, Thomas Messerschmidt wrote:

I thought a small, cheap Linux computer was called a Raspberry Pi. 😆


Thomas Messerschmidt

-  

Need something prototyped, built or coded? I’ve been building prototypes for companies for 15 years. I am now incorporating generative AI into products.

Contact me directly or through LinkedIn:   

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ai-robotics/ [linkedin.com]

On Oct 19, 2025, at 8:17 PM, 'Stephen Williams' via HomeBrew Robotics Club <hbrob...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

 I see a lot of references that indicate that Ubuntu, Monjaro, and Mint Linux distributions install easily.  I would wonder about peripherals on a MacBook Pro, but on a Mac Mini, everything should be supported.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9qBJa8IUZU [youtube.com]
https://medium.com/@woodywang2013/linux-on-an-old-mac-mini-f8cb63b7657f [medium.com]
https://talk.tidbits.com/t/install-linux-on-2018-mac-mini/25414/4 [talk.tidbits.com]
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=422324 [forums.linuxmint.com]

I usually use Ubuntu for all of my systems, Rocky9.5+ for work.  But Mint has been around, people like it:

https://linuxmint.com/ [linuxmint.com]

sdw
On 10/19/25 7:42 PM, Pito Salas wrote:

Stephen

Thanks… I am a Mac guy. But won’t a Mac mini be hard to reformat to run Linux?

Best,

Pito

Boston Robot Hackers &&
Comp. Sci Faculty, Brandeis University (Emeritus)

On Oct 19, 2025, at 9:54 PM, Stephen Williams <s...@lig.net> wrote:

MinisForum is one line of products to consider. They seem different from most other vendors. They have a range of products, trying all kinds of combinations, generally for small-footprint computers.
Their main strategy seems to be to build small, power efficient 'desktop' computers using laptop chipsets.

Here is a refurbished page: https://refurbished.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-790s7-795s7-refurbished [refurbished.minisforum.com]

ARM processors generally can be very powerful while using far less power. Chipsets like those from Qualcomm, based on all of their developments for mobile devices, can also rapidly modulate their power hundreds or thousands of times per second to be extremely efficient.
Qualcomm now has desktop processors. I don't know if any of them are in that price range, but they are interesting, like this:

https://videocardz.com/newz/qualcomm-developed-super-thin-fanless-mini-pcs-with-snapdragon-x2-elite-series [videocardz.com]

Alternately, old Apple hardware is resold a lot. Often it is overpriced, but not always. For travel where I don't want to take my big MacBook Pro, I bought a used / refurbished 13" MacBook with 1TB of SSD for about $350. Should be fine to run Linux on a MacMini.
These are interesting:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZN9Z6TK/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_0 [amazon.com]
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DLBTPDCS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1 [amazon.com]

sdw
On 10/19/25 5:56 PM, Pito Salas wrote:

Looking for leads. I want to find a cheap ($500 or less) Linux computer, sort of like a Mac mini in appearance and size. I want it to be a portable “remote” computer for my robot for when I am going to a meeting or a demo. I think it should have an ARM processor (but I can’t say why) and 16G of memory and a small SSD. Wifi, bluetooth of course.

Suggestions?

Best,

Pito

Boston Robot Hackers &&
Comp. Sci Faculty, Brandeis University (Emeritus)

--

Stephen D. Williams

Founder: VolksDroid, Blue Scholar Foundation 650-450-8649 | fax:703-995-0407 | s...@lg.net | https://VolksDroid.org [volksdroid.org] | https://BlueScholar.org [bluescholar.org] | https://sdw.st/in [sdw.st]

--

Stephen D. Williams
Founder: VolksDroid, Blue Scholar Foundation 650-450-8649 | fax:703-995-0407 | s...@lg.net | https://VolksDroid.org [volksdroid.org] | https://BlueScholar.org [bluescholar.org] | https://sdw.st/in [sdw.st] --

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HomeBrew Robotics Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hbrobotics+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/65587a05-3518-44dc-923a-f615167f3be8%40lig.net [groups.google.com].

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HomeBrew Robotics Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hbrobotics+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/E2CAF648-2157-4010-8093-ECCE853D747F%40gmail.com [groups.google.com].

--

Stephen D. Williams
Founder: VolksDroid, Blue Scholar Foundation 650-450-8649 | fax:703-995-0407 | s...@lg.net | https://VolksDroid.org [volksdroid.org] | https://BlueScholar.org [bluescholar.org] | https://sdw.st/in [sdw.st]

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HomeBrew Robotics Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hbrobotics+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/0835bffc-beee-493a-8d2e-b5e1b4f062c1%40lig.net [groups.google.com].

[Chris Albertson]

While the 16GB Pi is in the < $500 budget,  I think a used Mac Mini with M2 processor and 16GB RAM might also fall under $500.   Asahi Linux would install and run on it.  M2 mini with 16GB are a little bit rare but they exist and sell for about $500

A single M2 core is about 3X faster than a single Pi5 core and the fastest M2 has 24 cores but is over budget.     The best spec’d M2 that is still in budget would be a 16GB M2 Pro mini for about $500 used.

The M2 is the newest mac that can run Linux directly because the people doing the work have not yet finished reverse engineering the M3/M4/M5.   But you can always run Linux in a virtual machine.  You would need more RAM, if the VM needs 16GB the physical machine should be 24GB.   From experience, I can say that Linux in a VM in a M2 runs circles around a real Pi4.  It is quite a lot faster.

On Oct 20, 2025, at 8:06 AM, Alan Timm <gest...@gmail.com> wrote:

So depending on your definition of cheap and small.  And if your workload includes running local models.

Isn't this adorable?  I use the Orin NX version in my Alfie.

https://www.seeedstudio.com/reComputer-Mini-J3011-p-6356.html

<recomputer_mini_optional_accessories_2.jpg>

On Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 5:57:11 PM UTC-7 Pito Salas wrote:

Looking for leads. I want to find a cheap ($500 or less) Linux computer, sort of like a Mac mini in appearance and size. I want it to be a portable “remote” computer for my robot for when I am going to a meeting or a demo. I think it should have an ARM processor (but I can’t say why) and 16G of memory and a small SSD. Wifi, bluetooth of course.

Suggestions?

Best,

Pito

Boston Robot Hackers &&
Comp. Sci Faculty, Brandeis University (Emeritus)

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HomeBrew Robotics Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hbrobotics+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/a3bc6dc5-973d-47a7-9fda-16df61c017a8n%40googlegroups.com.
<recomputer_mini_optional_accessories_2.jpg>

[Thomas Messerschmidt]

I paid about $47 for my last Pi 3b. 

Thomas Messerschmidt

-  

Need something prototyped, built or coded? I’ve been building prototypes for companies for 15 years. I am now incorporating generative AI into products.

Contact me directly or through LinkedIn:   

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ai-robotics/

On Oct 20, 2025, at 10:14 AM, Chris Albertson <alberts...@gmail.com> wrote:

While the 16GB Pi is in the < $500 budget,  I think a used Mac Mini with M2 processor and 16GB RAM might also fall under $500.   Asahi Linux would install and run on it.  M2 mini with 16GB are a little bit rare but they exist and sell for about $500

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/95F95043-58DA-4AB8-A096-E7C8E8E28357%40gmail.com.

[Michael Wimble]

Might not be useful to you, but I am of the age that I try not to buy things twice anymore. Which means that I run Linux in basically two ways:

I have a desktop which is a mirror of my on-robot system. It’s an AMD7900 24-thread system with 64GB of memory in an ITX-mini format and uses high-speed NVME disks, which is about 7” square. I can run Gazebo, rviz2, and all my software at the same time and the load on the system barely moves. I got tired of having to try to split my runs between multiple computers, with lags in rviz2, lags in Gazebo, clock latency, and so on. It just kept adding to my frustration about where the next hair-pulling incident would occur, and I’m running out of hair.

By making the two systems nearly identical, except for the housing, and my choosing a high-performance system with only a 60-watt CPU requirement, it checked all the boxes. I can run for hours on my robot with a battery and, if I’m not doing AI training with an old NVIDIA card (where I need to use a floor fan to force air into the box), my ITX-mini desktop is small and quiet.

But, I do a lot of development in Linux away from the robot. For that, I use my various Macs. On my Mac, with Parallels, I can run Winders and Linux. Nowadays, I use Widers only if I absolutely have to, which means I use it to run Ionic’s Motion Studio when I need to recalibrate the PID values for my RoboClaw, or do a firmware update. I used to work at Microsoft for a couple of years and really, really want to avoid using their OS for reasons probably not obvious, so I’ve started rewriting Motion Studio as my own program to run under Linux. But Parallels is a dog-send on the Mac. I can run several instances of Linux and Winders at the same time as my Mac OS, with no loss in performance that affects me that I can tell.

And, I recently began the process of using the ROS 2 to WebSocket package and writing my own reduced rviz2 that works in the browser. It’s early days, but I demonstrated displaying the map with costmap overlays in real time, so I might later do all my monitoring and control on my iPad using Safari.

It’s not a $500 solution, but my ITX form factor on the robot costs somewhere north of $700. Of course, I have to provide battery-to 12/5/3.3 volts to power the system, but I need those supplies for the robot anyway, so I just needed beefier brick converters. Building the desktop box added a couple of hundred dollars to the cost. But it’s not one of those cute-to-die for smaller form factors. I’ve looked for them but haven’t found one with an AMD7900 and 64GB of RAM.

But at least I don’t worry about performance anymore. My headaches are elsewhere now. And I get to keep some of my hair.

[Michael Wimble]

Oh, by the way, I own one of those cute-to-die-for NVIDIA boxes. I asked AI about how it would work as a replacement for my AMD chip. It said the AI would be wonderful, But, and I believe this, the scalar CPUs are ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE SLOWER. I plan on running most of my AI on the Raspberry Pi AI Hat or in the OAK-D camera. I just need simple (I hope) object recognition and scene segmentation. I definitely cannot afford to loose orders of magnitude of performance for my scalar processing needs.

[Steve " 'dillo" Okay]

This is a bit over your budget, but I've been happy with this recently:

https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/pocket-reform

I've got it running Ubuntu 24, ROS Jazzy and Foxglove. 

It doesn't come with built-in WiFi by default(That's an optional module), but it's super-tiny, can boot off an NVME or SD and has almost instant power-on/off. 

(Which is one of those things that sounds like a trivial "nice-to-have" until you actually experience it and then you wonder how you ever got along without it). 

HTH, 

'dillo

On Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 5:57:11 PM UTC-7 Pito Salas wrote:

[Nathan Lewis]

If you want a Mac mini like machine that isn’t a Mac mini, do NOT buy an ARM based machine. The experience is terrible. 

I’d highly suggest checking out the AMD based mini-PCs, minisforum does a pretty good job with theirs. Their UM870 series offers a Ryzen 8745H (8-cores) with 32 GB of DDR5 for just under $500. Linux runs great on them with no surprises.

The AMD laptop chips aren’t far behind their desktop counterparts, single core performance is almost identical, but multi-core throughput is generally less just due to the constrained power and thermal footprint. Case in point, the Ryzen 9 7945HX (16-core) pulls 55W but offers 80% of the performance of my 250W Ryzen 9 7950X desktop. I’d say 80% of the perf at 20% of the power draw is pretty remarkable 🤣.

Also, even for the Mac, while Asahi on Apple Silicon is in remarkably good shape for a reverse engineering project, it’s still missing some important parts like hardware video encode/decode support and power management, both of which result in substantially higher power draw than under macOS. Many users are seeing ~6-7 hours of battery life on a machine that would’ve otherwise lasted multiple days.

- Nathan 

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "HomeBrew Robotics Club" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hbrobotics+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hbrobotics/dea85739-d229-4397-9f22-050ec05f0d38n%40googlegroups.com.

[A J]

Depending on AI and networking demands, the AI370 has a good GPU and 80 TOPS.

Some refurbished models are in the range, and newer X-Mas models could put pressure.

https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/laptop/ryzen/ai-300-series/amd-ryzen-ai-9-hx-370.html

On Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 5:57:11 PM UTC-7 Pito Salas wrote:

[Pito Salas]

Thanks everyone for the robust discussion. My decision (awaiting your comments :) is this one:

[Pito Salas]

Whoops. Wrong attachment…