53 votes

Steam Brick: No screen, no controller, and absolutely no sense, just a power button and a USB port

24 comments

  1. [10]
    zestier
    Link
    People are fascinating. I do feel the pain on the steam deck not fitting nicely in a bag. I wonder if this actually is the most sensible approach. On one hand it seems kind of silly to start with...

    People are fascinating. I do feel the pain on the steam deck not fitting nicely in a bag.

    I wonder if this actually is the most sensible approach. On one hand it seems kind of silly to start with the SD and strip away stuff rather than building a machine designed for this form factor. On the other, my understanding is that most consoles, steam deck included, are sold on tiny margins with their real goal being to drive people to their stores so maybe this actually ends up far more economical than the alternatives.

    21 votes
    1. [4]
      onceuponaban
      Link Parent
      The rise of the market for "mini PCs" indicates that there is definitely a method to the madness. Converting a Steam Deck of all things into one is silly by the author's own admission, but the...

      The rise of the market for "mini PCs" indicates that there is definitely a method to the madness. Converting a Steam Deck of all things into one is silly by the author's own admission, but the principle of a compressed computer leveraging laptop-spec parts to take very little space while still being usable in a desktop context makes sense. In fact, I happen to be contemplating buying one of those as a home server I can stick next to my router and forget about. My Raspberry Pi is serving me well, but there are some applications where I need a bit more oomph that these mini PCs can provide for a very good price to performance ratio. Now that APUs with credible performance regarding integrated graphics are on the market, they can also be cheap gaming computers, so that's another area where they can make sense.

      15 votes
      1. [3]
        mayonuki
        Link Parent
        I bought a steam deck to play Age of Empires 2 and it seemed like the cheapest option for a machine that could run it. I didn’t really care about the screen or controls, so this brick would have...

        I bought a steam deck to play Age of Empires 2 and it seemed like the cheapest option for a machine that could run it. I didn’t really care about the screen or controls, so this brick would have been perfect. Ironically steamos doesn’t work very well for aoe…

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          semsevfor
          Link Parent
          How the hell would you play AOE with joysticks?? You're a madman

          How the hell would you play AOE with joysticks?? You're a madman

          1 vote
          1. mayonuki
            Link Parent
            That's what I mean! I got the steam deck and immediately plugged it into my monitor and connected a mouse and keyboard. Though actually, Microsoft released an Xbox version that works with a...

            That's what I mean! I got the steam deck and immediately plugged it into my monitor and connected a mouse and keyboard.

            Though actually, Microsoft released an Xbox version that works with a controller. I haven't tried it, but it's pretty good actually. They added a lot of special automation and tools to make it pretty viable. I can't even play FPS games with a controller with any skill so I don't think it would work for me.

            3 votes
    2. [5]
      papasquat
      Link Parent
      The big advantage with the steam deck is that you're running well supported hardware for all intents and purposes. If you DIYed it with an ARM PC, you might be able to get it to work, but steamOS...

      The big advantage with the steam deck is that you're running well supported hardware for all intents and purposes.

      If you DIYed it with an ARM PC, you might be able to get it to work, but steamOS isn't officially distributed, so you'd have to figure out a way to get it to run, and then hope that any update valve pushes doesn't break the thing. Every DIY computer thing I've ever built eventually just stops working because I lose interest, while ones with official vendor support usually keep chugging along since someone is paid to make sure it does.

      1 vote
      1. [3]
        zestier
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        The Steam Deck is x86, not ARM. A random x86 machine is kind of the standard for a PC gaming machine. From my time watching Bringus trying to install Steam on everything I'd guess that a real...

        The Steam Deck is x86, not ARM. A random x86 machine is kind of the standard for a PC gaming machine. From my time watching Bringus trying to install Steam on everything I'd guess that a real project would just use Bazzite rather than SteamOS.

        I do see your point though about expected hardware configurations. On the actual SD hardware it is likely someone already posted results on protondb. In some cases the developers will even have checked the Steam Deck themselves and done things like make an auto-selected SD graphics configuration.

        My original point was actually more about price and ease of building. The author makes it seem like the project is silly, but the components themselves may be more expensive if bought individually and Valve already did the work of compacting them. Your point that Valve already preinstalled software that is expected to just work also seems like another point toward this being a bit less absurd than the author suggests.

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          papasquat
          Link Parent
          Good to know. Didn't realize that. Kind of impressive they were able to squeeze out the kind of battery life and performance needed for a handheld from an x86 chip. I agree with you though, it's...

          Good to know. Didn't realize that. Kind of impressive they were able to squeeze out the kind of battery life and performance needed for a handheld from an x86 chip.

          I agree with you though, it's not silly. It's silly in a vacuum if you've never attempted custom hardware like this before, but once you have the full context about what an absolute pain in the ass it is to keep a system running that's only powered on and updated sporadically, it makes a lot more sense to start with something fully supported by a single vendor.

          2 votes
          1. onceuponaban
            Link Parent
            For what it's worth, even a "DIY" computer/console thing focused on portability would most likely involve laptop-spec components which are just as standardized and supported as desktop PC...

            For what it's worth, even a "DIY" computer/console thing focused on portability would most likely involve laptop-spec components which are just as standardized and supported as desktop PC components and wouldn't cause any more software support issues than your garden variety custom-assembled computer. While it's a relatively recent development with the Steam Deck pretty much representing the first truly viable product following this approach, it mostly leverages existing hardware and software that already works well together. By this point, the bigger concern is no longer "Can I keep it working?" but "Is there anything I'd want enough to make it a DIY project that existing products don't already provide?".

            Of course, this is assuming "I want to build this device myself" isn't a compelling reason by itself... and quite often for someone in the DIY hobby that's already the whole point.

            1 vote
      2. onceuponaban
        Link Parent
        SteamOS isn't anything special in the grand scheme of things, it's just Valve's own blend of Arch Linux shipping with KDE and their Steam client, and adapted to be immutable (i.e the filesystem is...

        SteamOS isn't anything special in the grand scheme of things, it's just Valve's own blend of Arch Linux shipping with KDE and their Steam client, and adapted to be immutable (i.e the filesystem is locked down so user error cannot brick the device and any system update can be fully rolled back in case of issues; good for a device aimed toward the end-user, not important for someone DIYing it). Any other Linux distro would work just as well since the important part is the Steam client itself. Using an ARM architecture CPU would be the much bigger issue here, not that this is enough to stop people...

  2. [4]
    kfwyre
    Link
    This is a really neat project, and I can understand the use case. I'm not sure why this feels weird to admit to, but I'll out myself as someone who plays their Steam Deck on AR glasses...

    This is a really neat project, and I can understand the use case. I'm not sure why this feels weird to admit to, but I'll out myself as someone who plays their Steam Deck on AR glasses (sometimes). It's genuinely a nice experience.

    It especially makes playing in bed WAY more comfortable. I'm able to keep my neck at a much better angle, and I don't have to support the Deck (which often causes my arms to fall asleep). I consider the glasses a genuine ergonomic improvement.

    That said, my husband does laugh at me every time he walks into the room, because it looks like I'm just lying in bed in a coffin pose, holding a blank Steam Deck, and wearing what looks like sunglasses. The tech for AR glasses is as cool as how silly you look while using them.

    17 votes
    1. [3]
      hungariantoast
      Link Parent
      Nah, don't feel weird about it. It's easy to imagine how a good VR/AR/XR setup could allow for Really Comfortable Computing. I wrote a comment last year about how I'd love to have a pair of...

      Nah, don't feel weird about it. It's easy to imagine how a good VR/AR/XR setup could allow for Really Comfortable Computing. I wrote a comment last year about how I'd love to have a pair of "e-reader glasses", so I could comfortably read books hands-free, in positions that would be impossible otherwise.


      Actually, if you have the time, I have a couple of questions about your setup:

      1. What glasses do you use?
      2. Do you only play VR titles on them, or do they work well for non-VR games?
      3. Do you use the glasses for any non-gaming activities like reading, web browsing, watching videos?
      4. How well does text render on the glasses? Does it look nice and sharp, or is it pixelated and blurry?

      Context: I recently decided I am going to (eventually) put together a "virtual desktop" computing setup for myself. I want to (try to) replace my traditional monitors with a head-mounted display.

      However, I have limited experience with HMDs and VR/AR/XR, so I'm not confident what the best hardware to buy, or software to try, would be. It seems like virtual desktop software is still in its infancy, especially on Linux. I've found some promising projects, but they all have varying levels of software support. So, depending on what projects I want to try, I'll be limited in what headsets I can buy. Right now I'm just in the "scour the internet for literally any and all information" phase.

      In case you're curious, here's all the interesting Linux virtual desktop project's I've found so far:

      xrdesktop
      wlx-overlay-s
      Simula
      Zwin
      Stardust

      wlx-overlay-s is probably the most-promising project for me. Simula, Zwin, and Stardust are all their own dedicated virtual desktop window managers, while wlx-overlay-s and xrdesktop integrated existing window managers into a virtual working area. I like that because I greatly prefer tiling window management over stacking. wlx-overlay-s still uses the same "rearrange magical floating monitors" design that all other virtual desktops seem to have settled for, but it at least allows each of those magical floating monitors to be dedicated, tiled workspace.

      10 votes
      1. [2]
        kfwyre
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        If the Sols were cheaper, and if they supported BookFusion (which is now where I keep my whole digital library), I would buy them in a heartbeat. Ah, the pretzel! I know it well. Is it also gay...

        I wrote a comment last year about how I'd love to have a pair of "e-reader glasses"

        If the Sols were cheaper, and if they supported BookFusion (which is now where I keep my whole digital library), I would buy them in a heartbeat.

        in positions that would be impossible otherwise.

        Ah, the pretzel! I know it well. Is it also gay culture to point out that Willem Dafoe is aging very gracefully, or is that just me?


        Anyway, I’m happy to answer your questions! I have a narrow use case (Steam Deck gaming) so hopefully someone else can step in and speak more to the virtual desktop experience you’re wanting.

        1. What glasses do you use?

        I have the XREAL Airs. They’re the base, entry level ones in the AR market. I wouldn’t have bought them for myself, but I got them as a gift, and I’m ultimately happy that I did. If you’re not sure if AR is going to work for you, they’re a good test case since they’re (relatively) cheap and you can probably find some secondhand.

        That said, trying out someone’s rather than buying your own would be better, because, if you’re committing to the concept, I’d recommend something above these. From what I’ve read, there are much newer, better models out there now.

        Reviews on AR in general seem to be very split. Some people love it, while some people bounce off of it quickly and entirely, and I’m not sure there’s a way to tell where you’ll land without experiencing it first-hand.

        1. Do you only play VR titles on them, or do they work well for non-VR games?

        I’ve only used them for non-VR titles off my Steam Deck. I already have a full VR headset (Valve Index) so I wouldn’t need them for VR. Plus, I like the AR glasses for sort of opposite reasons than VR. With my VR headset I want to move around, whereas with my AR glasses I want to live in my lowest possible energy state (the aforementioned coffin-posing in my bed).

        The marketing makes it sound like you’ve got a big screen TV right in your room! In reality, it’s more like if you held the Steam Deck closer to your face. The “illusion” of size doesn’t really work for me, but it’s also sort of immaterial to my use case, since I like them primarily for ergonomics. The easiest way to describe them is that you’re buying a monitor that fits on your face.

        I haven’t used them on a flight, but I imagine they’d be great for that. As a tall person, playing the Deck as is on a flight is awful on my neck. These would make it feel much better (though also drain the battery quickly and likely get me some odd stares).

        I’ll also qualify that I’ve only played a few games with them, and I do have a narrower range of preferred experiences with them. I think games with a lot of camera motion, particularly first-person games, would make me sick (although I might be an outlier as I’m already pretty prone to motion sickness and have trouble with many first-person games on regular screens). If I want to play something like that, I’ll just do it on the Deck sans glasses, or on my laptop directly. I ultimately consider them as adding an option to my gaming setup rather than subtracting or replacing anything.

        1. Do you use the glasses for any non-gaming activities like reading, web browsing, watching videos?

        I haven’t yet and likely won’t. It’s not that they’d be bad for that — just that I really only use them on my Steam Deck, so games are my focus.

        1. How well does text render on the glasses? Does it look nice and sharp, or is it pixelated and blurry?

        Two things to know here: I wear glasses for (mostly) distance vision, and I changed the output resolution on the glasses to the Deck’s low native resolution (1280x800) for performance reasons.

        When I first got them, they were a bit blurry for me, and I wasn’t sure if that was a hardware limitation (the Airs are low-end), a resolution limitation (I was intentionally tanking the output fidelity), or a me limitation (my eyes aren’t perfect).

        I already have prescription lens inserts for my Index, so I ordered some for my Airs and discovered the answer: it was a me problem. With my prescription lens inserts, the display is now crisp and clear, even at low resolution. Text is readable, but, noticeably, could be better. I assume that’s because of my resolution and not the glasses though. Also, once you’ve had them on for a bit you stop noticing stuff like that. I could (and probably will) read some visual novels on them.

        Colors look great, and there’s even a (maybe unintentional?) depth effect to some visuals. The SteamOS menu, which looks flat normally, has a very slight pseudo-3D effect to it. Nothing major or game-changing, just sort of noticeable.

        Now, with that said, there is a legitimate issue that could impact your use case.

        The acceptable viewport on the Airs is pretty narrow. The best way I can describe it is to imagine yourself looking at a screen through a hollow glass tube with open ends. If everything is lined up perfectly, you see the screen just fine since you’re looking straight at it and the tube isn’t getting in the way. If you shift the alignment just a little bit though, the glass of the tube starts to distort the edges of the screen, since what you’re seeing is refracted through that instead of viewed directly.

        While playing, it’s not uncommon for me to be slightly misaligned and lose some fidelity at the edges or corners of the screen. This usually isn’t too bad in games, in which your eyes are almost always focused on the center, but for everyday computing, where key stuff often lives at edges/corners, I could see it being a significant friction.

        That said, there’s a good chance this is merely a hardware limitation of the Airs specifically, and this problem might not exist with other models.


        Overall, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my AR experience, new as it is to me (I only just got the glasses for Christmas, and my prescription lenses came in maybe a week and a half ago).

        They simultaneously still feel novel, but also not novel at all, since the only thing I’m really doing is docking my Deck to a monitor.

        I will say that they’re slightly more immersive than playing without them, since you can partially (or completely, by putting on the lens covers) block out the outside world. They help with gaming-as-escapism for me and are nice after a long day at work.

        If you have any other questions, please let me know! I’m happy to answer anything I can. I’m also hoping someone else here can chime in about their virtual desktop experiences and speak better to what you’re looking for.

        9 votes
        1. hungariantoast
          Link Parent
          Thank you, this was all very informative and helpful. I spent some time today learning more about Xreal's hardware and it seems pretty cool. I think one of the first big choices I'll need to make...

          Thank you, this was all very informative and helpful. I spent some time today learning more about Xreal's hardware and it seems pretty cool. I think one of the first big choices I'll need to make when I start putting this setup together is whether to get a headset or glasses.

          I'm currently thinking headset, but with the pace of development for this stuff, who knows what will be out by the time I'm actually ready to buy something. (Deckard. Deckard might be out by then. I want to believe.)

          Is it also gay culture to point out that Willem Dafoe is aging very gracefully, or is that just me?

          Definitely not just you, bro is eternal

          2 votes
  3. raze2012
    Link
    heh, seem like a steam machine with extra steps. Still, a portable micro-desktop has appeals in its own ways; you simply need to make sure a monitor is available somewhere and maybe pack a...

    heh, seem like a steam machine with extra steps. Still, a portable micro-desktop has appeals in its own ways; you simply need to make sure a monitor is available somewhere and maybe pack a controller.

    The AR glasses are a neat way around the screen issue, but the few I tried weren't too good. I imagine getting good enouh AR glasses in 2025 would be more expensive than just buying a premium, smaller Steam Deck competitor.

    5 votes
  4. KakariBlue
    Link
    I've been considering something like this as a mini PC and a NexDock (if there are other competing options, please let me know; AR glasses are a maybe as I already need a keyboard) as my laptop...

    I've been considering something like this as a mini PC and a NexDock (if there are other competing options, please let me know; AR glasses are a maybe as I already need a keyboard) as my laptop seems to be dying.

    I might also just use the SteamDeck's desktop mode more but I'm not there yet.

    1 vote
  5. [7]
    llehsadam
    Link
    I read somewhere that the iPhone 15/16 Pro is more powerful than the Steam Deck hardware-wise. It doesn’t support this kind of use for many reasons (walled garden, no MacOS on iPhone, bad...

    I read somewhere that the iPhone 15/16 Pro is more powerful than the Steam Deck hardware-wise.

    It doesn’t support this kind of use for many reasons (walled garden, no MacOS on iPhone, bad connectivity), but even if not as powerful, for a lot of gaming, it would be more than enough. Wouldn’t it be great if you you could just do with a phone what the author did with the deck?

    So I’m just patiently waiting for the 2TB iPhone whatever with revolutionary connectivity and amazing native SteamOS support. Will it ever happen?

    1 vote
    1. IsildursBane
      Link Parent
      I am not surprised to hear that an iPhone is more powerful than the Steam Deck. To an extent, this is an issue with Apple's product lineup, where the hardware has risen to be quite capable but are...

      I am not surprised to hear that an iPhone is more powerful than the Steam Deck. To an extent, this is an issue with Apple's product lineup, where the hardware has risen to be quite capable but are limited via software to not cannibalize other parts of their lineup. The biggest example of this would be putting the M-Series chips in iPads, but having iPadOS limit the capabilities so that it cannot replace a macbook even though they are using the same chips.

      3 votes
    2. mayonuki
      Link Parent
      That would be absolutely incredible. Probably one of the few changes that would motivate me to happily upgrade from my 13 mini!

      That would be absolutely incredible. Probably one of the few changes that would motivate me to happily upgrade from my 13 mini!

      1 vote
    3. [4]
      zestier
      Link Parent
      What do you mean by "native SteamOS support"? iOS and SteamOS are both operating systems and I don't think there's any universe in which Apple ever allows SteamOS to be installed. At best someone...

      What do you mean by "native SteamOS support"? iOS and SteamOS are both operating systems and I don't think there's any universe in which Apple ever allows SteamOS to be installed. At best someone in the community may find a path to jailbreaking a custom build onto an iPhone that kind of works.

      Closer to possible, at least in the EU, would be a Steam store that allows exiting the walled garden following the pattern in the Epic lawsuit. Very few games would be likely to be naively ported, but if the device is sufficiently powerful it may be possible for Valve to provide a passable emulation layer.

      Although what I personally want is more like the opposite. I like the idea of being able to have a portable device dockable to become my main desk computer too. I just think that a phone, especially an iPhone, is near the bottom of the list of devices I'd want that to be. They're just too restrictive. I'd want something where I could install whatever OS I want, install non-store software, compile my own code, and so on.

      1 vote
      1. [3]
        llehsadam
        Link Parent
        I guess it wouldn’t be the OS, but my dream would be some sort of combination of managing installation like what Epic managed with their app on iOS plus what Steam on Mac manages with playability....

        I guess it wouldn’t be the OS, but my dream would be some sort of combination of managing installation like what Epic managed with their app on iOS plus what Steam on Mac manages with playability. Or maybe it would be the OS, why shouldn’t we be able to sideload another OS?

        I hope Apple is forced to open up a little and Steam notices that the iPhone is incredible hardware for them to build an OS for. Right now that’s not possible legally I suppose.

        I basically meant what you said! It’s just hopes and dreams.

        1. [2]
          papasquat
          Link Parent
          There's no way in hell apple ever opens up the iPhones hardware to allow alternate OSes. It's the direct antithesis of their entire philosophy, and more importantly their business model. The only...

          There's no way in hell apple ever opens up the iPhones hardware to allow alternate OSes. It's the direct antithesis of their entire philosophy, and more importantly their business model.

          The only way you can get apple software is by buying apple hardware, and the only way you can use apple hardware is with apple software. Both of those choices are very intentional.

          The only reason you can install alternative operating systems on MacBooks still is because of the cultural expectation that computers let you run whatever OS you want, but they've certainly gone out of their way to make it difficult to do.

          There was never any such expectation for phones, and so apple has no reason to ever change that.

          Seriously though, expecting apple to ever open up their platforms is like expecting the Catholic church to stop believing in God. If any concept is truly the core of Apple's business philosophy, it's walled gardens and vertical integration. From their view, computers of any type, and the software that interacts with the hardware on those computers are something to be built, controlled, programmed, and sold by a small group of elite tech professionals, and everyone else is just a user.

          2 votes
          1. gary
            Link Parent
            I wouldn't say they go out of their way to make it difficult. They once made a change that specifically helped out Asahi Linux; they just keep quiet and don't acknowledge publicly that they're...

            I wouldn't say they go out of their way to make it difficult. They once made a change that specifically helped out Asahi Linux; they just keep quiet and don't acknowledge publicly that they're doing so.

  6. Pavouk106
    (edited )
    Link
    It's sacrilege, but I still love it! I love people tinkering with stuff and this is great examole of doing just that. I can even understand why the crastinator-pro did that. I wouldn't as I can...

    It's sacrilege, but I still love it! I love people tinkering with stuff and this is great examole of doing just that.

    I can even understand why the crastinator-pro did that. I wouldn't as I can cope with the Steam Deck form factor (and I don't travel that much anyway) and I, even with my tinkering background, would be afraid of screwing up and making my beloved and not really cheap device a literal brick - damaged beyond repair, useless.