> And mechanically reliable.

What moving parts do competitors have to be less mechanically reliable?

In fact, a NUC or used laptop would be even more reliable since you can replace NVME storage and RAM sticks. If your RPI ram goes bad you're shit out of luck.

>RPi will still have lower power consumption and is far more compact.

Not that big of on an issue in most home user cases as a home server, emulator or PC replacement. For industrial users where space, power usage and heat is limited, definitely.

>I'm in the market to replace my aging Intel NUCs, but RPi is still cheaper.

Cheaper if you ignore much lower performance and versatility vs a X86_X64 NUC as a home server.

It feels like you think that the parent hasn't really considered their options and don't know what they really want.

> Not that big of on an issue in most home user cases as a home server

I don't know what "most home users" want, but I can understand wanting something more compact and efficient (also easier to keep cool in tighter or closed spaces), even at home.

> Cheaper if you ignore much lower performance and versatility vs a X86_X64 NUC as a home server.

Or maybe they noticed they don't need all the performance and versatility. Been there. It's plenty versatile and can run everything I need.