I posted an update to my original posting a year ago talking about alternatives to RPi. In summary:
To me, the HP thin clients (HP T520, HP T620, HP T630) still all represent a good value in this hobby considering the current status of RaspPi in the marketplace. Whichever one you can find (complete) at the best price will still run circles around the RaspPi in performance, at the cost of power use (8-9 watts) and size (bigger) - up to the individual to decide which of those (and any other perceived factors) are worth it.
It’s still ‘fun’ for me and a good distraction from things.