emco compact 55 mill. Just starting

Afternoon internet.
I have just bought this and now have the fun task of retrofitting. I'm wondering what hardware you guys would use. obviously due to the 3 phase steppers ill be using most of the original gear.
Main issue is I'm in UK and don't want to wait for a mesa card from America nor pay £300 quid for one. unless its worth it.
I see a few control board options

Option 1 EC500 remora about £100pros 24V card logic I/O easy. Cons pure china lottery
option 2 MESA 7I76EU about £300 Pro; proven card, known to work, can copy what people have done before. cons price / waiting time.
option 3 Parallel port Pro, cheap crappy board will get going quickest, cons bulky tower pc, will never be happy.

Control computer
Pi 5, from what I've read with ethernet connections theses are good. Pro small, Con dunno if still buggy
any core i5 pc Pro already have, can slice on fusion on same machine, could even set laptop up if it worked (power management fun). con bulky 

 Just wondering if I have missed anything or forgot, I did have a look for a guide to begin with but most just say MESA card