Just beware of their reclamation policy:

https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/FreeTier/freetier_topic-Always_Free_Resources.htm#compute__idleinstances

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I appreciate the info, but I am not a patient man. :)

Where on earth are you buying HP Mini machines for so cheap? Even the older gen seem to be 5 times as expensive as your estimate.