# Dell OptiPlex Micro 9 Hacker News commenters recommended Dell OptiPlex Micro and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Tiny, low-power desktop PC that people use as a quiet home server and experimenting box, sold cheaply in bulk. The one caveat raised is the lack of GPIO pins. ## Why people recommend it - Low power and quiet operation (2 comments): "much more stable, quite low power, and can also use it as a true node" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48997555)) "Tiny unit, low power usable, never even heard the fan switch on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48729108)) - Inexpensive, available in bulk (2 comments): "I lucked out, a charity in the UK (Bernados) has an ebay account and they had a huge joblot of about 200 brand new DELL Optiplex 3050 Micros" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48488122)) "shocked it's $100 USD now!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48676890)) ## What people warn about - No GPIO pins (1 comments): "the thing I didn't expect to miss was GPIO" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49921009)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple Mac mini](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mac-mini.md): 390 recommend - [NVIDIA DGX Spark](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-dgx-spark.md): 170 recommend - [AMD Strix Halo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amd-strix-halo.md): 130 recommend - [Framework Desktop](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-desktop.md): 93 recommend - [Intel NUC](https://hackerapproved.com/p/intel-nuc.md): 42 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dell+OptiPlex+Micro+desktop+mini+PC&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/optiplex-micro-form-factor/spd/optiplex-7050-micro-desktop) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Dell OptiPlex Micro", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dell-optiplex-micro/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).