What is the draw of the Steam machine though? They say the price is comparable to similarly specced PC. So why not just buy/build any mini PC? There's plenty of options for that

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baggachipz 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

A good while back I abandoned PC gaming because I was sick of driver issues, compatibility, and always having to update hardware to play the next game. Instead, I embraced consoles and haven't considered PC gaming since then. This, however, has me reconsidering that. I want it to "just work". When I want to play games, I don't want to deal with all of that other crap. I'm old, ain't nobody got time for that.

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barrkel 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I guess you abandoned PC gaming some time in the early 2000s?

	▲	rtkwe 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I'm quite confused too, that doesn't align with my experience in the last couple years as well. There's notably been a few very good and long lived video cards and also as time goes on there's an ever deepening library of older games that can be played with very affordable cards. I'm wondering when and with what hardware they had that bad experience.

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theshackleford 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's wild how experiences can vary so wildly. That's the nature of PC's though I suppose that you are trying to avoid.

I've had no driver or compatibility issues in longer than I can remember. Maybe Vista?

I also rarely upgrade because playing at console level settings means I can easily get effectively the same lifetime out of my hardware. Though I do tend to upgrade a little earlier than console users still leaning a bit more towards the enthusiast side.

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andoando 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean I just don't see the difference between this and getting any PC and slapping SteamOS on it.

	▲	rtkwe 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		There's not currently a way to officially put SteamOS on Steam* hardware. Plenty of people have done it but there's the usual compatibility issues where the image is built for the very specific hardware Valve installs it on so there's often wake from sleep and fan control issues. All solvable but it's not the level of turn key of even a mainline linux distro.
	▲	kevinqi 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		probably the "slapping steamOS" part of that

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foresto 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As someone who has been building my PCs for decades, I have to admit seeing some appeal here:

It's apparently small, quiet, capable, and easy.

I'll keep building my own, but most people don't, and the value of saved time and reduced hassle should not be underestimated.

If comparing this device to other pre-built systems, consider that this one is likely to be a first class target for game developers, while others are not.

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eptcyka 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Some people really don't want to spend time exchanging parts when the memory they buy turns out to be incompatible or that the GPU doesn't fit the sleek mITX case. There's a lot of research to ensure all parts are compatible and optimal when building a PC - for some it's time that could be better spent on using the PC instead of building one.

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andoando 8 hours ago | parent [-]

You can still buy prebuilt though and slap SteamOS on it and youre there.

Dont get me wrong this looks very a nice product, but its nothing revolutionary.

	▲	_aavaa_ 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The hardware is not, but the implications are pretty close (major gaming company is pushing a first party product of open hardware + open software with a linux box). It is literally the year of linux desktop.

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remir 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's a console basically. It comes ready to play without much maintenance needed from the user.

	▲	baq an hour ago \| parent [-]
		One can argue consoles are pcs that the manufacturers try super hard to not allow you to root them. This steam machine here is a PC with steam preinstalled for a console-like setup and direct boot to your game library - but it’s still a pc. The point is, computers are computers I guess ;)

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rbits 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's tiny. It runs SteamOS which is built to be used with a controller on a TV. And it will probably be a performance target for many developers.

But I think the biggest feature might be the quick suspend and resume. Every modern console has that, but not PCs. You can try to put a computer to sleep, but many games won't like that.

	▲	baq 43 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		My Windows desktop doesn’t like that. It wakes instantly, no idea why. Not to mention windows laptops waking up in bags or backpacks in the middle of the night seemingly for the only purpose of burning themselves up.

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notatoad 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

i've spent plenty of time building custom PCs, but life changes and that's really not something i have any interest in doing any more.

there's plenty of people who just want to play games without researching what CPU and video card to buy.

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archagon 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I love SFF PCs, but you can’t get the same density as a manufacturer doing a fully bespoke design. Just look at those innards: no space is wasted.

	▲	baq 42 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah the heatsink filling the whole silicon-less volume is… something.