5 ms·

This product is an awful bunch of compromises. The price is far too high for the performance it delivers. No console owner will be tempted by a $1000 price ta

This product is an awful bunch of compromises. The price is far too high for the performance it delivers. No console owner will be tempted by a $1000 price tag and limited game catalog. No PC gamer will be tempted by tepid performance in a small package.

stephengillie 14y ago
I wonder what their hardware cost is for that device. A comparable PC shouldn't cost half as much. How much of the price is due to the custom motherboard and case? Just like the PS4, this is PC hardware. And actual PCs provide more hardware for less money.
- Retric 14y ago
  That all depends on what video card they used as the 7000 series covers a lot of ground. That said I suspect they went for 'fits in your hand' over a good cost / performance ratio.
acgourley 14y ago
It's clear valve isn't subsidizing it with game purchases, which may end up being a requirement. That can still happen though, so keep an eye out for a price drop.
- cdash 14y ago
  Well yeah I would not expect them to subsidize hardware that is not their own. This is not Valve's Steam Box this is just a third party Steam Box. That is the key difference between the Steam Box and consoles, there will be a Valve reference implementation but there will be many other options.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
duaneb 14y ago
It's a first generation product—nobody in their right mind would buy it anyway. Setting the price at $1000 means people who buy it probably know what they are doing and can help valve improve the most—think paying for a beta test. At least that's my interpretation.
- macspoofing 14y ago
  >It's a first generation product I'm not even sure how a later generation product could improve on this one. Maybe a nicer form factor, but components would largely be the same.
- jordan0day 14y ago
  I think that's an optimistic interpretation. The "early adopter" tax people pay for the first version of something works for no-other-options devices (think the first HDTV's or Blu-Ray players). In this case however, just about can go to Microcenter and build a better-performing machine for significantly cheaper. The form factor or power consumption may not be as good, but I'm not entirely sure how much that matters compared to several hundred dollars of up-front savings?

stephengillie 14y ago

I wonder what their hardware cost is for that device. A comparable PC shouldn't cost half as much. How much of the price is due to the custom motherboard and case? Just like the PS4, this is PC hardware. And actual PCs provide more hardware for less money.

Retric 14y ago
That all depends on what video card they used as the 7000 series covers a lot of ground. That said I suspect they went for 'fits in your hand' over a good cost / performance ratio.

acgourley 14y ago

It's clear valve isn't subsidizing it with game purchases, which may end up being a requirement. That can still happen though, so keep an eye out for a price drop.

cdash 14y ago
Well yeah I would not expect them to subsidize hardware that is not their own. This is not Valve's Steam Box this is just a third party Steam Box. That is the key difference between the Steam Box and consoles, there will be a Valve reference implementation but there will be many other options.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

duaneb 14y ago

It's a first generation product—nobody in their right mind would buy it anyway. Setting the price at $1000 means people who buy it probably know what they are doing and can help valve improve the most—think paying for a beta test. At least that's my interpretation.

macspoofing 14y ago
>It's a first generation product I'm not even sure how a later generation product could improve on this one. Maybe a nicer form factor, but components would largely be the same.
jordan0day 14y ago
I think that's an optimistic interpretation. The "early adopter" tax people pay for the first version of something works for no-other-options devices (think the first HDTV's or Blu-Ray players). In this case however, just about can go to Microcenter and build a better-performing machine for significantly cheaper. The form factor or power consumption may not be as good, but I'm not entirely sure how much that matters compared to several hundred dollars of up-front savings?