Buying guide for laptop or mini PC as I don't own inverter/UPS

Buying Advice Laptop Buying Tips
1

Hey guys,

I’m planning to set up an Immich server at home for photo/video backup and I’m stuck deciding between going with a refurbished laptop or one of the newer Intel N100 mini PCs (12th/13th gen).

A bit about my situation:

  • I’m in Bangalore

  • Don’t have a UPS/inverter (and don’t plan on getting one until at least Feb 2026), so assume we’ll have the usual power cuts here

  • Budget isn’t fixed, but I don’t want to overspend either

What I’ve been thinking:

  • Refurb laptop: built‑in battery would handle short power cuts, already has screen/keyboard, but the hardware might be old and not very power efficient

    • Looking at 6th gen i5 or i3 processor, have budget around 20-25K

  • Intel N100 box: newer, power efficient, small, but no battery backup so every cut = shutdown

    • New N100 with 16GB DDR5 and 512 SSD costs around 22K

So which route makes more sense in Bangalore conditions? Has anyone here used either setup for a home server? Any pros/cons I might be missing (noise, storage upgrades, thermals, reliability, etc.)?

2

A power backup is a must if you care about your data or else be ready to face that someday you might loose all your photos just because sudden powercut.

3

Running a recently manufactured laptop 24*7 I would doubt its life even within 2-3 years warranty period let alone 3-4 years old out of warranty laptop.

4

Running a recently manufactured laptop 24*7 I would doubt its life even within 2-3 years warranty period let alone 3-4 years old out of warranty laptop.

Hmmm Correct. This was the main reason I tagged “Laptop Buying Tips” and wanted comments from laptop users

5

Go with ups+N100 combo, that will be better in the long term.

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