Hi,
I know a company here in Japan that sells second-hand computers, cleaned, repaired, and with a 3 years warranty. Lots of the usual suspects (HP, Dell, Lenovo), from entry level office desktops to higher end Xeon workstations/servers. Prices vary, obviously.
As you know, these computers often do not use standard off-the-shelf parts, which can be a problem if the motherboard or PSU fails.
What’s your opinion about these computers? Is it worth the pain buying one (for a Linux or BSD based torrenting/seedbox machine, or build a NAS) or should I rather go another route – either build a PC with standard parts or buy a brand new cheap mini PC?
Thanks!
Second-hand hardware gets cheaper with time. Repair worker’s labor doesn’t. So there is price point below which complete replacement is cheaper than repair.
labour price for homelab = 0$ :)
agreed for anything else then homelab
That, methinks, is a common misconception. Every human action has a cost. At the very least, by doing something, you are prevented from doing something else (this is called “opportunity cost”).