[conspire] Small, low power ECS systems on sale at newegg at up to 47% off

[Rick Moen]

[redirecting back to Conspire:]

Quoting Leo P (yaconsult at gmail.com):

> I noticed that System76 is reselling the NUC with their own branding and
> ubuntu pre-installed.
> They call it the Meerkat:  https://system76.com/desktops/meerkat with the
> base model at $500 and the top-of-the-line at $1500.

See, I personally think that's just too much money for such a limited
system, and I'd be inclined to homebrew a system based on one of those
mini-ITX boards I've been talking about, maxed out with 32GB of RAM, and
with a really good SSD or two for storage.  I _think_ that would total
in price as less than System76's higher-end Meerkat but I'm very, very
sure it would be a machine with much better, longer, and more
satisfactory useful economic life after purchase.

Natuarlly, part of what you're paying for, when buying from System76, is
their hardware certification for Linux.  For many, that would be money
well spent -- but in my own case, I've done Linux and Solaris hardware
compatability certification for a living (for Cadence Design Systems
from 2005 to 2008), and so I'd rather do my own compatibility checking
and pocket the difference.