Update: Xi3 Opens "Piston" Steam Box Pre-Orders

[Dryk]

I don't quite understand all the people in this thread declaring that they could build a much better computer for $1000. No shit you can build a better computer for $1000 when you don't have to fit it into the palm of your hand. Was everyone really expecting the Piston to descend from the heavens and be smaller and draw almost no power while sitting on the bleeding edge of processing power for a lower price?

Anyone else curious how many ports they managed to fit on a PC the size of a grapefruit. I don't doubt it's sufficient, but I am still interested if they just went with USB everything or what?

See my post on the previous page, it's an impressive amount

 

[Legion]

I'm not an expert or anything but that seems ridiculously expensive. Considering you could get a pretty decent PC for the same price, and it'd have all of the other functions of a computer as well.

It's aiming for a niche market really, when someone needs/wants a small PC (and/or arguably a nicer looking one). Kind of like a console except more useful. I would guess it would usually be put out of the way or made to look nice next to the TV rather than a large tower. Also the average user is very IT illiterate, so this would appeal to them.

A very good point.

What it will come down to, I think, is how much it costs to produce it. Most consoles run on a loss, so if it isn't too expensive to make then the high price tag combined with the niche market may work out for them.

 

[Echo136]

I could get a very nice computer for a $1000. This is a joke.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

So who is the target audience for this? Not PC gamers as they would rather spend the money on upgrading there rig. An its not console gamers who will just by the wiiu/PS4 or next box for there games. An its not for the non gamer, because they wont buy that thing either.

So yeah, this product is going to sink.

 

[Doom972]

I dont really get it...it seems ot have neither of the advantages and both the disadvantages of a console/PC

It's supposed to be as powerful as a modern gaming PC (we can't really know without the graphics card), and advantages such as modding and other form of customization. It also has the main advantage of a console - It's supposed to just boot up with Steam in big picture mode (Which is similar to the X-Box 360 interface) and games can be simply downloaded and played without having to go through installation/configuration wizards, which is how games on Steam usually work.

Basically, it's a gateway to PC gaming for those who think that it's too complicated.

OT: It would be very stupid to buy a gaming PC without knowing what graphics card it has. I wonder why they haven't revealed it yet.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Well, at least we know what it looks like because, as we've determined, that's the most important thing about a new hardware;s first info release.

Teah, it sounds like a nice beefy machine (puts my PC to shame) and the form factor is good.. but the price is terrible. With a little study, or just some question asking, you could buld a well specced machine on your own and still have money left of that price tag to buy a console too if that's what you wanted. It just wouldn't be as small.

 

[Albino Boo]

I don't quite understand all the people in this thread declaring that they could build a much better computer for $1000. No shit you can build a better computer for $1000 when you don't have to fit it into the palm of your hand. Was everyone really expecting the Piston to descend from the heavens and be smaller and draw almost no power while sitting on the bleeding edge of processing power for a lower price?

Anyone else curious how many ports they managed to fit on a PC the size of a grapefruit. I don't doubt it's sufficient, but I am still interested if they just went with USB everything or what?

See my post on the previous page, it's an impressive amount

Easy you use a mini itx board with a picoPSU and a CPU with onboard graphics. Admittedly because of the because the back plate the machine would be wider but lower but the overall volume is about the same.

 

[Souplex]

A little pricey for my tastes, and for most people's tastes.
This won't end well for them.

 

[Vaccine]

Small and portable, good for people on the move a lot, if it's done right and doesn't suffer any long term heating issues(only thing I see potentially holding it back) then good on them, if you were someone who travels a lot for work or something like that would be a nice investment due to the size.

Most people seem to be saying a custom built PC is better, which I agree with, but the size is a pretty big factor on that price tag.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

Finally, a system crossing the flexibility of PCs with the affordability of...what the fuck?

Really, I'd say the problem here boils down to this:

We believe our Piston consoles do exactly that-deliver the beauty and small size of consoles with the upgradeability of computers.

The CEO appears to think people buy consoles because they look pretty, rather than, you know, because they can afford them.

 

[Bigsmith]

$1000, that's about £640. That is more then enough money for me to get a custom build desktop that will do everything that thing does and more.

This makes me really sad.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

You won't be able to just "upgrade" this thing. Based on the size, they definitely don't have a dedicated video card in there, so you won't be able to buy a new one. The mobo/CPU is probably a special formfactor (that they may sell as their proprietary "upgrade module"). And if it boots into big picture mode on top of that...this does not offer the freedom and customization power of PCs. And I imagine that your mods are limited to the ones from Steam Workshop.

 

[Daveman]

Considering the specs that's not awful. I initially thought "DA FUQ?" until I remembered we're dealing with dollars rather than pounds.

 

[Don Reba]

The tradeoff is that SSD's are MUCH faster and much less likely to fail. The update to SSD is probably one of the best upgrades people can make. You only really need the drive that you have windows and your games on to be an SSD, mechanical drives are fine for files. I made the switch to SSD last year and I'll never look back. Windows loads in about 15 seconds and my games load in moments, making 'level loads' almost a thing of the past. It also speeds up your overall performance.

From everything I've heard, SSDs are much more likely to fail.
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/05/the-hot-crazy-solid-state-drive-scale.html

 

[Xan Krieger]

Here's my biggest problem, I have a 1.5TB mechanical drive almost full of steam games so even the largest SSD they offer won't hold half of them. Until they can offer larger capacities at the same price or cheaper than mechanical I'm sticking to mechanical drives.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

Here's my biggest problem, I have a 1.5TB mechanical drive almost full of steam games so even the largest SSD they offer won't hold half of them. Until they can offer larger capacities at the same price or cheaper than mechanical I'm sticking to mechanical drives.

Steam games take little enough time to download that I can usually get away with rotating whatever 30-40 games I'm most likely to play at a given time. I'm not going to run into a situation where I urgently need to play a specific game, after all. Sure, it's a trade-off, but I've never really had a problem with it.

That said, not even providing the option of a mechanical drive is stupid, since not everyone is going to want to make that trade-off.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

My tower has better specs than that and it cost around $700 to build. I really don't know who this is for. Is it for those PC gamers where graphics are important, but who are too lazy to build their own PC.

 

[Antari]

I'm actually a fan of mechanical hard drives. The're cheaper and have larger storage. Like terabytes large.

They also last roughly 4 times as long as an SSD drive as well. This should have both if it wants to properly take advantage of both worlds. As well being such large SSD's I can see where the price has taken a bit of a jump.

My biggest complaint with systems like this is heat. Cramming that kind of power into that little bit of space will murder the components over time. Almost everything about this is designed to have it burn itself out in roughly 5 years if not quicker.

For that kind of money I'll just build a PC with adequate cooling.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

If I had $1000 to spare I sooner buy get a better pc and/or more games. I would only buy that steam box if I had so much money to burn that I did not know how to spend it.
I am sure a hell not part of there target audience.

 

[Jamous]

I don't know how I feel about it. On the one hand it's quite exciting seeing a new console hit the market. On the other hand, that price tag is ridiculous. :/