…Depending on your hardware and media needs, you may still need to enable third-party repositories or install additional codecs after setup. Ubuntu tends to make some of those choices feel more…
…price Your hardware options for IR control You can buy a commercially available IR blaster, like the Seeed Studio XIAO IR Mate , which sells for $10. It is ESPHome-friendly, and you…
…Even within Linux-friendly workflows, some tasks are just more pleasant on more powerful hardware. That doesn’t make the Pi 5 bad, but it does make it a niche choice rather…
…smart home setup to a better dedicated box : a mini PC. Related Cheap mini PCs are the death knell for Raspberry Pis With x86 mini PCs becoming more budget-friendly, I find…
…in a friendly debate about mechanical keyboards. Sign in to your XDA account Every home lab enthusiast reaches a point where ‘functional’ no longer feels ‘optimal,’ and my setup was no exception…
…Putting OrcaSlicer back into a cloud-friendly path changes the feel of the whole setup. It means you can spend more time in the software that gives you better control and less…
…But as a proud member of this community, let me assure you that building a completely local smart home setup has become more beginner-friendly than ever. Deploying Home Assistant, either as…
Ayush Pande May 1, 2026, 1:30 PM EDT Ayush Pande is a PC hardware and gaming writer. When he's not working on a new article, you can find him with…
Rich Edmonds Jun 13, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT Richard is the PC Hardware Lead at XDA and has been covering the technology industry for almost two decades. He's been building…
…He's written for Macworld , Tom's Hardware , groovyPost , The Mac Observer , and more before beginning here at XDA. Sign in to your XDA account A Raspberry Pi can feel almost limitless…