Low power consumption on the cheap?

[hardwarefanatic2000]

I've been seeing videos of people using thin clients to do all kinds of stuff lately.


I have a two starter projects in mind:

1) toy linux web server
2) toy webcam systems throughout home

I would like to use something that is very low power for the webcam project at least. So I am thinking a Rasberri Pi. I have one already and they typically go for $35 or less?

I want to do this as cheaply as possible but also understand that electricity will add up.

So I'm considering:

1) Rasberry Pi's ~1watt? $35
2) Thin Clients $$? ~20 watts
3) EEE PC (I have one of these, still works great) + other laptops? ~20 watts



I plan to buy on ebay so I would be looking for cheapest with the most performance in the most efficient form possible + also alternatives to low power consumption cheaper than rasberry pi?



example videos:




I am looking for really cheap stuff but want to get ideas from other people on what they've found worked for them. I know I could go newer but probably won't unless there is a really compelling argument



EDIT: I am not sure of the relative processing power of a Rasberry Pi 3 vs an EEE PC 900 so that might be fun to know.

Thanks