They do ok but an old IBM laptop probably has more power and flexibility for a similar price

Yes. They’re fun, it’s a good learning experience, go for it.

I don’t see why not, but you can probably find a old Mac mini or intel machine and get more power for your buck

I’ve heard they’re berry good

I would recommend against it from my hamfisted attempts at it. I/o is a real bottleneck on those.

I've got one myself running a node using #umbrel and I've got no complaints. But, yes, can probably find an old Intel machine for cheaper and faster speed. Lil Pi is ultra small and cute though, so it's got that going for it

Or old mini computers with decentish cores, like i5 4th gen. Dirt cheap, especially if you get them used with no hard drives.

They aren't bad for learning and playing around. I ran a node on a Raspberry Pi 4 for about 3 years before upgrading to a used laptop for my current node.

If you're running a pruned node then it's fine. If you intend to run a full node with the whole blockchain history then don't do it. I will take months to process the full blockchain (from my own experience).

I really like my Start9 server one.

Buy an old laptop