Except it's not. When you add in even 100w for a laptop, then plug in 10 BFL singles, suddenly that laptop only uses an extra 10w per single. There's no point to have 10 different hard drives, 10 wifi modules, etc. all of that can be taken care of with 1 mini computer (~$150 for a new one, running at ~50w with either windows or Linux).
Also, of you've only got 1 unit, run it off a RPi, and that only consumes, what, 10w or something rediculus? You could probably find a way to mount the Pi inside the jalapeño, and cut a hole out the back for Ethernet & additional power cord. Would certainly be an interesting project.
This is true, except I think the laptop and RPi power consumption numbers you're using are too high.
The currently unused netbook that I'm planning to use with my Single uses 12W at max draw, and under 8W when the screen is off, which will be most of the time, and a RPi uses about 2.1W under CPU load.
Fantastic.
I really hope you receive your single or whatever product(s) BFL sends you for ordering a now cancelled single SC before your netbook turns to dust. They don't even have a projected shipping date 6 months after their first projected shipping date lie. You're likely to receive these product(s) after Avalon batches 2 & 3 ship and ASICMiner deploys another 50Th+ if you ever receive them. With the power consumption increasing 5-6x on BFLs line of fail you're unlikely to ever get your investment back, much less profit. The appropriate response when you're screwed over by a hardware vendor ignoring FTC prompt delivery regulations is to request a refund and take your business elsewhere.