Technology

Laptops are better, because they have an integrated uninterruptible power supply, but worse because most can't fit two hard drives internally. Less of a problem, now that most have USB3. Just run external RAID if you have to.

Arguably, a serious home server will need a UPS anyway to keep the modem and router online, but a UPS for just the NAS is still better than no UPS at all. Also, only a small UPS is needed for the modem and router. A full desktop UPS is much larger.

My old PC and laptop are too loud to use for anything really. It‘s unfortunate but the noise is too much.

Why would I throw it away, when I can give it to someone who needs it more, or sell it? Using it as a NAS will use up more power than just buying a mini PC and using that. I calculated the costs and the energy savings would pay for one in two years. My NUC uses 6-7W idle.
I'd use an old PC as a NAS but turned it on only on demand, when it was needed. Which does hurt its convenience factor a little.
Note: talking about desktops.

I see what you mean, and I have that (old PC with a bunch of 2.5" HDDs formatted as ZFS).

For me power consumption is more important than performance, so I'm looking for a lower power solution for photo sharing, music collection and backups.

Don't throw away your old PC

Literally first-world problems, right? There's absolutely no need to tell that to someone that don't live on a rich country. Old gear always finds some use or is sold/donated away.

I've got a Lenovo sitting by the TV, quietly running Jellyfin along with ESde. Might not run Win11 but it works fine for what I use it for.

I don't know why yall are being so NASty.... seriously what's a NAS?