I’m considering chucking the RPI in the bin and buying a mini pc, putting Ubuntu on it and installing KStars/EKOS myself. It will be a much more powerful machine with decent wifi.
Not really. I have a mini-PC (2 years old by now, though) and I have several Pi4s. The mini-PC works OK, but it has only 4 GB. Overall, the Pi4s are the better performers. Faster and use less power.
Except for that wifi problem I have no issue with them. And at <$90 for the 8GB version including an excellent heat sink with fan, I am a big fan of the Pi4 (pun fully intended).
The one I’m looking at is from ASUS. It has a core i7, 16gb RAM and 802.11ac wifi. Can’t see how this can be worse than the RPI. Yes it’s more expensive (AUD400) but ‘should’’ perform better than the PI?
That is definitely a powerful machine! It will draw quite a bit more juice than the Pi4, though, I would imagine, so if you are running on battery that is something to consider. Other than that, I am sure you are going to be very happy with it. And installing Kstars and Ubuntu on it would be a breeze as well.
The Pi4 is a great computer! Don't ditch it. Use it as a server, for instance. I am using an older Pi3 as a 4096 bit encrypted VPN server that allows me full access to my home network from anywhere.