My house has frequent power blips, where the power flickers off and back on again within a few seconds, after which I have to reset my router. I'm also running my ISP-supplied router, which is kind of a no-no in techie circles, so I'm debating picking up either a laptop or mini PC so I can install an open source router OS and take back some control over my own network infrastructure.

Can someone help me weigh the pros and cons of laptop vs mini PC + UPS? This project will start out as just a network router but might grow into other boxes for various things. I already have another old/jank laptop serving as my POC media streaming box, and I enjoy the fact that I don't have to also restart that mf'er every time the power flickers.

I feel like the main selling points of laptops are that they are low powered by design (for always-on use cases), and they come w/ built-in batteries (to get through those power blips). I also appreciate that they come with a built-in keyboard and screen, so I can log in and troubleshoot without having to ssh in. The only downside I can think of is that most laptops are not very upgradable, although I've read/seen good things about the old Lenovo Thinkpad business grade laptops as far as durability and upgradability.

Anything else I'm not considering? Thanks in advance.