I think most of us understand that the parts market (RAM and SSD at least but also GPU) is so volatile that, for a machine they don’t expect great numbers on and they aren’t selling as a loss leader (like game consoles are), they can’t name a price because they don’t know. Committing to one price now almost certainly means a “price rise” at launch or selling at a loss, neither of which they want.
Personally I’m expecting $999. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m a little off, by $200 — in either direction. This will not be “affordable,” but they’re expecting their fans to come out and support them.
You can say $1000 instead of $999.
No reason to do our abusers’ dirty work for them.
I’m guessing $998.99
What is this, The Price Is Right?
OK but if it does turn out to be exactly $999 it’s going to be slightly more impressive foresight.
Clever idea would be to give to option to sell it without RAM and SSD (as option, you can still buy the whole package).
They need an open platform to soar, who cares if RAM and SSD comes from second hand market? Steam is a store, they could even lead the second hand market for the (key) accessory components!
Ooh, I’d assumed the RAM would be soldered/integrated with the SOC, but looking at the FAQ you’re completely right! That would be a neat option…
I feel like that goes against their whole message with Steam hardware though. The Steam Machine is advertised as a plug-and-play console alternative that needs zero effort on the user’s part, if they sell versions of it without components it would quickly start gaining notoriety for being for tinkerer’s and linux nerds instead of the average person.
As a cheaper option? Maybe. But that’s means the SteamBox certified might not be true (8 gigs of ram instead of original 16).
Also, while it might have reparability I’m mind, the fact it has to be opened in the first day requires more design effort
That’s not going to appeal to the console market they are targeting.
Removed by mod
When did they do this before, to make it a classic Valve move?
I don’t remember any of their other products being affected by global supply chain issues before.
In the post they say they’ll publish CAD for faceplates
