Laptop internal fans are not that good, especially as they are never cleaned, cannot get inside the case easily. I have a cooling tray with 2 fans connected by usb to reduce the temperature. But really I dont have that much running.
Dont fancy a water cooled computer tower, although I have seen them never repaired one. For me water and electric dont mix
Same with the newer mini computers in boxes the size of your fist where the whole case is to be the cooler
I’m interested in one of these minis for my next computer purchase. Some of the reviews I’ve seen call out the good or poor cooling on them.
They seem to have some good features. Performance similar to full sized computers. Power consumption of a laptop, since they are using mobile chips. Quiet or silent due to lower power design. Small is good all by itself if the rest of the features are all acceptable.
At one stage I got hold of a apple mini as it was out of update posibility, so put mint on it, ran like a dream.
But after I added screen, keyboard, mouse etc I had not gained that much plus I chose the wrong keyboard layout in error and the @ key drove me crazy, rather than sort it for myself, re installed the system with a correct keyboard layout and sold it.
In 2019 I bought a miniPC from Aliexpress, with i7CPU ,8GB RAM and 256GB SSD ;not the latest model but good enough for any Linux distro . It runs on 12V-DC and is fitted in a enclosure of cooling fins ,hence NO fan .Still happy with this miniPC which happily accepts LM22
Frank in county Wicklow - Ireland
I do not prepare for a power outage, other than having a powerbank. I use laptops, and due to battery, I keep them always on charge (of course only if I find a plug) and when on travels or on situations without plugs, I’m prepared. If you think an UPS is worth it; go for it; but for me price / value is not worth it.
We keep a generator, because we are isolated and tend to get long outages and need to support refrigerators. But generator power is not clean enough for a computer. The best I can do is recharge the phone and tablet.
There are plenty of portable solar power kits made for the RV crowd. Use one to charge a deep cycle battery. Is there an Australian analog to Harbor Freight?