[mark_l_watson]

I agree with you, the Pi's community and ecosystem are very good. I question also why I would care about saving a little money on a one-off personal project, but the author's advice to use a $5 device would be good if you wanted to make many smart devices.

Off topic, but when a consulting customer gave me a Pi 3 as a going away gift when I was working onsite, I set it up when I got home and used it as my work system for 2 or 3 days. A bit slow but it was fun!