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My main workstation is powerful enough to play Steam games, and a Steam Link would allow me to stream them to my living room TV. Where that fails is when I have

My main workstation is powerful enough to play Steam games, and a Steam Link would allow me to stream them to my living room TV. Where that fails is when I have work to do on my desktop and my kids want to play games. To solve that, I had to build a dedicated living room PC. I didn't go nuts, so it ended up being about $500. If I could replace that with an handsome Linux powered gaming system for less than $300, then I think it's a no-brainer... especially if it can run third-party marketplaces and apps like Steam or Plex.

eikenberry 9y ago
Why would you build a living room PC instead of building each child their own Personal Computer? Then they could hook it up to the Link if they wanted as it is their PC.
- Fnoord 9y ago
  Because the child's personal computer resides in their room. This means less room (no pun intended) for control over active times, more costs involved because of computers not being shared, and also enforces the child to be excluded from social environment. It is a double edged sword. Both options have their pros and cons, and none is ideal.
  - eikenberry 9y ago
    Why would it be in their room. We have all our computers in one room, our family office. A shared, social environment.
- cat199 9y ago
  You're right. This seems like a hard problem, esp. since OP is so emphatic that $300 is preferrable to $500. Let me see if I can figgure this out for us both. 1 child x $500 = $500 1-or-more x $500 = $500-or-more Oh! That must be it! This solution would be more expensive to implement, and therefore, since cost is a factor, this solution would be less preferable! Glad I took the time to work this one out, I certainly was very confused as well.
  - eikenberry 9y ago
    Money isn't always the primary factor.
dkersten 9y ago
What does the living room PC get used for? If just games/movies/music then what was the logic for getting that over a console? (PS4, XBox1, Switch are around the same price point or below) Just curious, not suggesting that a console would have been better.

eikenberry 9y ago

Why would you build a living room PC instead of building each child their own Personal Computer? Then they could hook it up to the Link if they wanted as it is their PC.

Fnoord 9y ago
Because the child's personal computer resides in their room. This means less room (no pun intended) for control over active times, more costs involved because of computers not being shared, and also enforces the child to be excluded from social environment. It is a double edged sword. Both options have their pros and cons, and none is ideal.
- eikenberry 9y ago
  Why would it be in their room. We have all our computers in one room, our family office. A shared, social environment.
cat199 9y ago
You're right. This seems like a hard problem, esp. since OP is so emphatic that $300 is preferrable to $500. Let me see if I can figgure this out for us both. 1 child x $500 = $500 1-or-more x $500 = $500-or-more Oh! That must be it! This solution would be more expensive to implement, and therefore, since cost is a factor, this solution would be less preferable! Glad I took the time to work this one out, I certainly was very confused as well.
- eikenberry 9y ago
  Money isn't always the primary factor.

dkersten 9y ago

What does the living room PC get used for? If just games/movies/music then what was the logic for getting that over a console? (PS4, XBox1, Switch are around the same price point or below) Just curious, not suggesting that a console would have been better.