[tsak]

Can you spec a N100 system with 8GB of RAM and at least 32 GB of (slow) SSD and land around the £100 / $120 price point of a Raspberry Pi 500 with 27W power adapter?

Not to mention the GPIO header.

[magicalhippo]

This[1] semi-random example comes with 16GB RAM and 512GB of SSD for $130 + $10 shipping. Here's[2] another form factor with similar specs for $140 with free shipping.

That said, I'm sure the included RAM + SSD isn't the greatest. The ones I got in my case (different model and store) has been working fine so far, but it's a bit of gamble.

[1]: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807325349169.html

[2]: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805048559264.html

[Citizen_Lame]

Yes you can mate. In fact less then a £100 for n100, 256GB SSD, 16GB RAM, just look it up on AliExpress. You have promos on hotukdeals all the time.

[akho]

The other replies have covered your first paragraph. This is easy.

For tasks requiring GPIO, a Zero is usually more than enough, in my experience.

[mciancia]

Yes

N100 with 8gb ram and 256gb ssd is around 130eur on AliExpress

[esskay]

As others pointed out, yes you can. But you can get even better specs and at a lower price on eBay. Any of the Lenovo or Dell mini pc's are cheaper (around £50-£70 depending on the model) on eBay and SIGNIFICANTLY more useful.

For people buying these as a computer the power difference isn't something that even enters their mind. How many average people do you see debating one tv over another because it uses 5w more power?

[smileybarry]

But that's comparing apples (new computer, whether N100 mini PC or RPi 400/500) to oranges (used/refurbished office mini PCs).