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Comment by wnevets | Hacker News Reader

> The 1TB OLED model got a $300 price increase, and now costs $949.

How is it possible for the steam machine to be under $1,000?

I really can't see the Steam Machine being a success at this point, if it ever even releases. It seems like they were really banking on hardware steadily getting cheaper like it pretty much always has in the past. A $1000+ Steam Machine makes the PS5 look like a good deal even after the price increases.

That was my first thought, there is no way they are going to hit that console price point anytime soon... so they can either release now at a price that reflects the reality of the market, or hold on even longer hoping for a near-term miracle. If they wait too long, they risk not being a good value due to aged hardware.

The performance envelope was already uninspiring. They said it does better than some big percentage of the people on Steam, but it's not an obvious upgrade over my 2023 Legion Go handheld in anything but a bit more RAM (and it's only 8GB discrete VRAM, which may be paltry for 4K).

4k is only expected to be 1080p + DLSS, it's really good enough for that class of HW

The console price point will go up too and set different expectations.

Its not unless its subsidised which valve may chose to do given that the enthusiast PC marked is crashing, which in time will eat some of their growth.

> Its not unless its subsidised

I don't see Valve doing it. Unlike an actual console they can't lock down the hardware. People would start buying Steam Machines then replace the OS or even resell the parts.

> People would start buying Steam Machines then replace the OS or even resell the parts.

That would be highly unprofitable. A subsidized Steam Machine contains a 7600M equivalent. It'll probably have a great price for machine with a 7600M, but it'll be significantly more expensive than a machine with an iGPU. Non-gamers aren't going to pay extra for a machine with a 7600M. And gamers are likely buying Steam games even if they aren't using SteamOS. You can't rip out the 7600M to sell it.

If they only subsidize engineering time, not part cost, this could still be a success for them. It could benefit them even to have people swapping OS and reselling parts. Steam does work across a lot of these combinations already.

I'd be interested in a bare bones version. That way I could shop for RAM and an SSD myself.

I want to go one step further and be able to add the CPU and GPU myself. Would also make future upgrades easier.

Maybe someone can invent a universal system to allow CPU and GPU upgrades on a desktop computer.

Fewer people than ever are comfortable doing that, even though the information on how is easier to get than ever.

I hope a repairable and upgradable Steam Machine would help more people dip their toes into it.

I fully understand being uncomfortable with a CPU swap, but a GPU swap isn't difficult.

Valve also could have gone the Framework route of releasing a motherboard+CPU combo so you can upgrade later down the line just by swapping the board out.

I guess they can earn more money by soldering everything on the board and having you buy a completely new PC every time you want to upgrade.

That would include trade off of locking yourself to single form factor. Less of issue with laptops with decades of design behind them. But unlikely to be preferable for first design you make.

You could use mini-ITX form factor.

Sometimes it is heavily marked up, but I'll never be able to get it cheaper than Valve in bulk.

To be honest you dont really need high speed or high quality SSD on Steam Deck. Almost 100% of games work just fine from good MicroSD card.

Its obviously less reliable, but with read only OS with only occasional writes it will work just fine for decade.

But many do already own SSD and RAM that they can reuse.

It won't, but that's an arbitrary number, and due to the sudden spike of inflation, $2000 is the new $1000. Yes your wage just got cut in half and you didn't notice.

Yeah, in this climate that won't be happening.

It was not going to be under $1,000 when it was announced.

...no OLED screen?

I'm grasping at very few straws here...

It very specifically says:

> The 1TB OLED model

That said, I thought HN was annoyed at Valve for taking a 30% cut, so that's probably how they can keep the Deck under 1k.

This thread is talking about the upcoming Steam Machine, not the Deck.

You're right, my reading comprehension failed me, my apologies.

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