I’m beginning to think to stop using Pis and instead get an old PC - I don’t use the GPIO pins at all, and I can get one of these for $289 AUD - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/255608574938
That’s 32GB RAM and a 1TB disk.
An 8GB Pi is selling for $279.
Yeah, was about to say the same… $300 for a Pi, no way I’m paying that.
I would also suggest looking at some Pi clones on eBay/AliExpress, like BananaPi. They’re fairly cheap for the performance they offer. Though, yes, having 8GB of RAM on a small thing like that costs a lot, no doubt there.
I got an IndieDroid Nova for less than 279. RK3588S with 16GB RAM in the same Pi form factor. It’s crazy powerful compared to a Pi 4. The graphics drivers aren’t entirely there yet unfortunately, but with the Ubuntu image the graphics are at least partially functional (enough to play SuperTuxKart) and for non-GPU things the 8 core RK3588S CPU blows the Pi 4 away. Also comes with 64GB EMMC storage (still has microSD support as well) and a nice heatsink with fan.