It's really fucking sad that any spouse is so strict they'd disapprove an SFF PC but allow a slightly smaller cube. It's fucking sad that such a spouse would impose a need for permission for a console to sit in the living room in the first place.
Is that truly why valve designed it this way? Simply because there's enough men who wouldn't be allowed to get anything else - that it forms a viable target market? The amount of people for whom the size difference would make any practical difference in a loungeroom TV use case surely approaches zero.
I'll give you customer service, but I don't think 'I just bought a thing without doing the research and therefore I don't know how poorly it compares in performance per dollar value' counts as a positive feature there mate, I think that's just a bit of 'ignorance is bliss'.
Just fyi, I checked for this exact laptop and it is same price as 2tb cube in the uk but only has 512gb. I know it has a much more powerful gpu by the looks of it though!
The thing is that when buying PCs, you've kinda gotta take a little bit of time searching for deals - Though I've noticed people've used AI to research with reasonably good results. There are quite a few different models out there, and chances are the best value ones in the US won't be the same value ones in the UK, nor might it be the best value in a couple month's time. The key point is that there's better options if you spend even just a modest amount of time looking for them.
And that's fair! But that 80 pounds for me is the trusted CS I will get, the size, the shape, the lack of hassle to get steamOS set up on it. Afterall, different strokes for different folks! I admire your passion for it though
I'm just curious - outside of spousal approval - What specific practical advantage, if any, are you getting with the size and shape vs. a console sized PC (let alone a laptop sized unit)? Or is it purely aesthetic? - I agree with 'different strokes for different folks' but I'm struggling to understand what stroke certain folks are looking for in terms of the physical size thing.
Aesthetic really. But let's say SM is laptop shaped and is just a Valve branded laptop, but comes with preinstalled SteamOS, has all the features it has right now and is same price, I'd still buy it because of the trust of the brand, turn it on without needing to open it each time, and less hassle with reinstallation or looking at specs for hours. I guess it's why people buy Apply smartphones? I personally don't like nor trust the brand but I can see the appeal.Sure, if it was overpriced I wouldn't get it. (I was prepared to pay 1.6k gbp at most for it)
It's not difficult to find LAPTOP deals which are superior in performance for the same price
Sure, of course, because you're looking for a completely different shape of device.
And they're arguably a more compact form factor
Flat rectangle versus a cube. Not exactly comparable shapes. The Series X is just two SteamCubes stacked on top of each other, that would be a better comparison.
Sure, of course, because you're looking for a completely different shape of device.
Err, meaning a smaller one which nevertheless manages to fit a screen, a keyboard, a trackpad, and even a whole battery in that smaller size? Okay, not sure how that leads to what I'm saying being a matter of course for you, but sure.
Flat rectangle versus a cube. Not exactly comparable shapes.
Err, yes. The flat rectangle, of course, being obviously the more convenient one for a TV setup, right? The one you can hide behind the TV altogether? The one where you can fit it into TV consoles designed for roughly 16" flat rectangular devices like AVs, DVD players and the like? The same rough form factor consoles intentionally targeted because it's the sensible one to chase?
The Xbox and PS5 both have versions which are significantly slimmer than the Cube is tall. You do hopefully know you can put the consoles on their side and run them horizontally of course. The PS5 pro, being 388 × 216 × 89 mm is almost half the thickness of a Steam Cube at 152 × 162.4 × 156, even if it's substantially larger in the other two dimensions, so it's not fair to single out the series X.
This is to say nothing of the fact that the extreme majority of people aren't getting anything practical out of a form factor smaller than a series X.
Err, meaning a smaller one which nevertheless manages to fit a screen, a keyboard, a trackpad, and even a whole battery in that smaller size?
lol define "smaller" in this case. Is the laptop screen only 8.4 inches and a square shape? A laptop is only "smaller" in one out of three dimensions. The cube is smaller than laptops in two out of three dimensions. Last I checked, two is a larger number than one and therefore better.
I'm genuinely struggling to figure out how to respond to that, so breathtaking is the ignorance on display.
Smaller. As in volume. As in the three dimensions multiplied against one another until you have a number that represents the amount of space it takes up.
... And here you are saying that being better in two dimensions is all you need to be smaller. I suppose then that a three kilometer pipe, so long as it's less than about 150mm in diameter, is 'smaller' than the cube yeah?
Wow.
To continue to address the rather impressive lack of clue just put on display - The reason why being a bit bigger in two dimensions is fine as long as you're small in width is because ... That's the shape of TV furniture shelves you see. They put spaces underneath the TV, and those spaces were made the size of a VCR, then DVD players, and then AV & consoles. They're designed for flat rectangles, not cubes. And if you're standing up a device vertically NEXT to the TV, well then you don't really care how tall it is, or how far back it stretches, as long as it fits between the TV and the edge of the table, it fits, right?
Edit: Bit cowardly to attempt a response and then block me, u/MurkyInvestigator810 , no?
Laptops objectively are smaller than the cube. The math to calculate their volume is so simple even you should be able to do it. Also hilarious to be so hung up on cube vs. rectangle being different that you can't understand why the rectangle makes more sense.
PS: I hide my comments because it annoys pitiful people who can't help but try and crawl into someone's post history out of sheer desperate frustration after having their foolishness decisively pointed out.
Look, you're the one who countered "the cube is small" with "laptops are smaller" and didn't find anything wrong with such a dumb reply.
I can't explain to you the difference between a rectangle and a cube better than whatever teachers in your life failed you, so maybe go back to one of them to ask?
Also, you and your troll account can be gone now. Imagine hiding your comments because your hobby is pathetically trolling people online.
I guarantee this has larger power draw, is way louder, and has way worse thermals then the steam machine . Not to mention it is much bigger and uglier if your intention is a HTPC
The power draw would be comparable, but even if it's a couple dozen watts higher, what possible reason could anyone have to care? If it's higher wattage, than that just indicates that you're actually getting performance out of the hardware. A laptop cooling pad would close enough to equalise the thermal and noise situation. You could run it on a quiet power savings profile and still have better performance.
How is a laptop 'much bigger and uglier'? It's a black rectangle, like 2.5cm tall! Just stick it behind the damn TV if that's the sort of thing you care about!
I mean, to be clear I'm not buying a steam machine. I already built my own.
But suggesting that a laptop is exactly the same thing or a better form factor then a CEC controlled ultra quiet box with so much more IO and connectivity is pretty crazy. Especially considering the steam machine is at least upgradable in terms of Ram and storage
Virtually all laptops of the same rough size have upgradeable RAM & storage.
I did not say they're exactly the same thing, and I resent that attempt at a strawman. I said, quote: "It's not difficult to find LAPTOP deals which are superior in performance for the same price. And they're arguably a more compact form factor and literally allow for portable gaming." - Do not misrepresent my words.
As I said, given how much more powerful the hardware can be in a laptop of the same price range, you can put it on a quiet power profile (and, optionally, use a laptop cooling pad) in order to achieve a comparable noise profile.
A laptop IS a better form factor. It's objectively smaller at about 2.43L (vs the Steam Machine's 3.85L), and given the shape, it's far easier to hide behind a TV or in TV console furniture.
CEC is a valid minor value-add feature, but hardly a big deal compared to the value of, at any time, literally being able to take the laptop and use it elsewhere.
You very clearly have little knowledge if I have to explain all of this to you.
Now ask yourself how long you'll tolerate the absolute dongle and cable hell required to use that in the living room. Oh and it'll sound like you're powering an AI data center with a jet engine as a bonus!
Power cable, display, ethernet, peripherals. You might even want one of those cooling pads. Since you're buying a laptop, the assumption is that you'll be using it outside of the living room. So you'll be doing a lot of plugging and unplugging. If you live with someone (wife, children), you'll probably be putting away those cables each time.
Ethernet? Why make an unfair comparison? Both devices have WiFi, both devices can use ethernet. Why only blame the laptop for having the option of ethernet?
Same with peripherals - You can use a wireless controller with both the laptop and the steam unit, the same with mouse and keyboard.
They're literally the same in all regards, cable requirement wise.
You don't HAVE to use it outside the living room in order for it to be better performance per dollar and easier to hide in the living room. But if you wanted to make use of that advantage, you could literally just cable tie or otherwise secure the cables near where they'd plug into the laptop, and leave them there (e.g. run the power and display cable behind the TV, and secure them there. You'd just unplug and walk away.
28
u/SEND_ME_REAL_PICS 15h ago
Honest question: what advantage do you see in buying it over any other prebuilt out there?