True but if you look online Chrome OS devices are dirt cheap. The major trade off is that storage is limited

I have 3 pi 4s that where maybe 45 dollars each when I bought them, last time unchecked they where 600 dollars. I thought about selling them, but completely forgot if I want a pi again, and go to buy one, by then they might be 400 each.

300 EUR for refurbished devices with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD is very reasonable.

300 EUR is a lot of money depending on who you are

I guess I'll be the devil's advocate today. 😈

I've seen some pretty serious phone "servers".

I personally think that turning a phone into a device that can stay on 24/7 should be easy enough.

Finding software that works on your phone's hardware... that's a whole different beast. 😬

I have two spare 8th gen Intel PCs I saved from the garbage bin, and a old gaming desktop that I now use as the server. So if I need a spare server I'm probably going to use one of those. I can get USB to gpio so been thinking of trying trying that route more considering how often people get rid of old pcs. I have a stack of windows vista-7 era laptops I was going to take apart for scrap too which could be used.

I bought the pis a long time ago, each time a found a project for one I was sad I didn't have one to play with and kept buying more. They aren't really even in use now. Ones built in to my work station and occasionally I boot into it and use raspberry pi imager to flash ubuntu or something on a USB. Its useful to have just ready on occasion. I have a hard time getting rid of them because of use cases like that, and in have a lot of hats/accessories for them like the ai camera. Even though I'm not really going to use them like I used to anymore.

"bypass charging" is becoming a bit more popular now. you see it on some android gaming tablets where it bypasses the battery once a cable is plugged in, which makes sense considering how quickly the battery would run down on those. i think i saw the recent google pixel devices having this feature as well so many it will just be a thing on all phones eventually

it would probably be a great way for people to get their feet wet if they dont have a server, but maybe not a great long term solution due to possible battery issues (unless its a phone that supports bypass charging)

most people have an old phone lying around that could be set up fairly quickly with something like syncthing for some basic file synciing, or run some services using termux along with tailscale or netbird so they can be accessed when away from home. all that would still be a bit of work but it would be a lot less daunting than all the research you have to do when youre getting into self-hosting. server/nas hardware, disks, how you are going to set them up, what OS to install etc etc

If you already make a recycling run to the scrap yard its worth doing. I got 120 bucks last run just off old PCs and it wasn't even that much, you just get more when you separate it. Aluminium cases, ram, motherboard, hard drives, CPUs. The older they are often the more they are worth, and if you are into eBay selling im sure you could make a killing. I heard even DDR 3 is coming back so who knows anymore.

Only thing you shouldn't take is TVs you have to pay to get rid of them. Maybe don't take appliance too. some people do, for example fridges have a few valuable components but I would not reccomend it. You end up with plastics and other junk sometimes and have to pay to get a dump run.

A lot of it only makes sense if you can store a pile until it gets big enough to be worth a trip out.

How much is a Chrome box with those specs?

The only thing that keeps me worried is the battery. I would never leave it plugged in 24/7. It's a fire hazard..

Yeah been using it on my phone, keeping it plugged in wherever possible has definitely extended the battery life

you sure they cost 600 dollars?

https://www.cytron.io/p-raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus?currency=USD&src=raspberrypi

has 1 GB RAM:

Amazon and adafruit lists it for around 120-150 USD now so yes. 200 for one with a case and charger, etc.

I don't know what those services are they look sketch to me so that screen shot means nothing to me. Even if they are legit I doubt they will ship to me. Or if they do ship it me its going to cost 80 dollars and take 3 months.

Theres generally a reason why it's so cheap.