Single-board computers sound exciting when you try to step into the world of home labbing. They seem like a good idea because you get a tiny computer that can surprisingly run real apps for an astonishingly low price. It's one of the reasons I also got into the world of single-board computers like Raspberry Pi and Radxa. I even have many of them lying around, either serving a single purpose or running a couple of tools.

But that's the limit of most cheap SBCs, and you start questioning your investment in the ecosystem. An old laptop is a great starting point that most of us overlook when starting self-hosting. The laptop seems big and boring, but you miss out on a lot if you immediately jump the SBC route.

Old doesn’t equate to powerless

Laptops are capable of many things

The main issue behind ignoring an old laptop is that it cannot run a shiny, new mainstream OS, and demanding apps and games. It's the core aspect for any user who upgrades to a new machine. But with self-hosting, if an SBC seems capable of running the tool, there’s a high chance your old x86 laptop can run it even better.

I say this with absolute confidence because I think of the tools and apps that you could once run on your laptop. The whole point of self-hosting is to combine a lightweight frontend, possibly a web portal, with backend software for interaction. A Raspberry Pi, even the latest model with 4GB of RAM, can lag behind an older Intel dual-core or quad-core laptop processor with the same amount of RAM.

The sheer difference in raw power becomes hard to ignore in workloads that require CPU power. Nextcloud and Home Assistant are two common examples of self-hosted tools that need more CPU power as your file and customization demands grow. They can work on a Pi, and the latest one might run it well, but not exceedingly better than an old laptop.

You’ll notice the difference when you start running multiple containers concurrently, each working in the background while serving a few users. Laptop CPUs are better for single-threaded workloads than most Arm-based SBCs because they offer higher clock speeds. Even the old laptop CPU can run a full GUI operating system and apps, so running self-hosted tools isn’t something you need to think about.

If you are worried about system resources, you can pick a headless setup or a CLI-based distro like Ubuntu Server to conserve power and memory for apps. Most Raspberry Pi distros use a customized version of Debian with a lightweight desktop environment to achieve the same.

The entry barrier is surprisingly low

SBCs aren’t as cheap as you think

An old laptop is practically free because you already paid for it and got your use out of it. If you or someone else in your family upgraded to a new machine, an old, spare laptop is probably the best way to start your self-hosting journey. Another good thing about it is that you are already familiar with the hardware and how it works.

On the other hand, a single-board computer like a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 will start at $50. Inflated pricing is affecting SBC enthusiasts, and since the price is comparatively similar to a mini PC or an old laptop, it doesn't make sense to invest in powerful Raspberry Pi models now. If you go with the cheaper options like the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, you can build basic, single-use-case projects.

There's also an accessories issue with the Raspberry Pi because you need USB hubs, memory cards or SSD, a dedicated power adapter, and cases that can jack up the price. It even skips core hardware components, like the NVMe slot, by default on the Raspberry Pi 5. So you need to spend $20 or more on an NVMe HAT that can add the slot to the Pi before buying an SSD.

Setting up a headless SBC can be more complex than setting up a minimal OS on a laptop with a screen. I faced such problems in my early college days, when I had a laptop, but setting up a headless Pi was challenging as I was starting out.

Laptops offer better connectivity

Room for upgrades and a mini UPS

A laptop has a built-in battery, and unless it's a super old, dead battery, it can keep your self-hosted tools accessible for a little longer. While a Pi Zero 2W can run off a basic power bank, the better hardware models need power banks that support 25W or above charging. It's an additional accessory that you need to buy for each Pi if you have power problems.

A moderately good laptop battery can last an hour or two on a single charge, and since you don't need to interact with the screen or the OS constantly, the battery life is enough to save your progress and download essential files.

One thing I absolutely love about old laptops is the prospect of upgrading. I started with a thirteen-year-old laptop with barely 4GB of memory, and that can run eight essential Docker containers without a problem. When my memory demands grew, I added an 8GB DDR3 stick to boost the total memory. Sadly, the same thing isn't possible with a Raspberry Pi. You can upgrade the storage, and that's about it. They are small computing devices and don't support memory or other upgrades.

If your current Raspberry Pi lacks enough memory to run your favorite tools, you'll have to buy another one. The same goes for connectivity options, because a laptop has almost every port you need by default. Raspberry Pi ports either need an adapter like mini HDMI to HDMI, or you must sacrifice a USB port to add faster Ethernet or other capabilities into the mix.

Old laptops are a great stepping stone.

Buying an SBC just to run some self-hosted tools is a big mistake if you already have an old laptop lying around. It doesn't have the excessive power draw of a desktop and can run at 10-15W at idle. Just install a minimal Ubuntu distribution, and you can build or run most self-hosted projects with ease. A Raspberry Pi shines in projects that need embedded devices or running a select few tools. But it cannot match the power, connectivity, or upgrade options of a laptop. Don't hastily buy a Raspberry Pi; rather, focus on repurposing what you already have.