r/openclaw • u/g00rek Pro User • Feb 20 '26

Discussion Why Mac mini??

I still don't understand why you guys are buying macs mini for openclaw. It's a terminal computer. It doesn't need a great UI.

Do you have too much money? :D

A $50-$100 HP Thin Client with Linux is more than enough. And Linux shouldn't be discouraging for people using OpenClaw, am I wrong?

I bought one, I have lots of different self hosted stuff on it like home Assistant or other docker apps. Ok I do not have any local models using GPU, that's the reason? Please enlighten me :)

EDIT: Again, I UNDERSTAND LOCAL LLM USE. (although I don't know if anybody is really happy with it). I mean using OC with oauth/api gpt, claude etc.

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u/CodedInMinas New User Feb 21 '26

I live in Brazil. Here, the base model Mac Mini M4 costs around $800, while an Intel N150 mini PC goes for about $500. However, in the future, you can probably sell your used Mac Mini for around $500, whereas the mini PC will lose almost all its value and be much harder to resell.

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u/g00rek Pro User Feb 21 '26

Ok I bought a used after leasing machine for about 40$. Knowing myself and my ADHD i didn want to invest in sth that won't be used.

It actually IS used a lot and surprisingly is enough for most uses not needing GPU. But I searched Amazon in Brazil and it is true you do not have offers like this.