alt Hacker NewsCan a N100-class minipc” be installed inside of a wall with a touchscreen and serve as a PoE powered Home Assistant interface? Can it be used to build a portable battery powered smartphone like PC (Compute Module 5)?
Raspberry Pi’s biggest strength is its form factor and low power draw.
Replies
timschmidt • today at 6:56 AM
> Can a N100-class minipc” be installed inside of a wall with a touchscreen and serve as a PoE powered Home Assistant interface?
Yes. Generally only requiring a $10 PoE splitter like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/134500605396
Some N100 class machines draw more power, but many don't, and there are more capable PoE splitters for a few dollars extra.
Use a USB touchscreen.
To drive a touchscreen and serve as a Home Assistant interface you need neither a Pi nor an N100-class mini PC. That's the job of an ESP32. 20 bucks... for a pack of 5.
(plus the screen. And ethernet / PoE variants are rare, and not as cheap, so if that's a hard requirement, maybe not for your specific use case)