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

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

#201

Post by catlikesshrimp »

genewitch wrote: post #190
dynamite-ready wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose the missing part of the story is why they held back on pursuing this market. At the time, the console market was wide open, with little innovation in terms of hardware, until Nintendo released the Switch. Even now, I'd be quite happy to own a Valve branded, small form PC that plugs into a TV. The Steam Link was a kop out to me.

I still use my steam link all the time. I have it fiber back hauled to the computer that it runs off of. I'm thinking of buying a couple more. Give one to my kid and one put on a projector so I don't have to keep moving it back and forth. Also, I think the device you're looking for is a deck because you can plug that into a television and use a wireless remote with it. The steam link is the best remote display device…

I have used an old sony bravia tv to cast COD from an android phone. Every time I connected, latency varied from 100 - 200 ms to 10 seconds. I had to reconnect several times until the latency was satisfactory.

Conclusion: it has been technically possible to cast to a tv for some years.

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

#202

Post by ikurei »

soyiuz wrote: post #89
esperent wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've wanted this for ages, Laptop ergonomics are horrible. When traveling I use a portable monitor, keyboard, mouse. Yes it's annoying to travel with all that but worth it not to end my work days with neck pain and a migraine. I need a somewhat powerful GPU for work, so I'm seriously considering buying one of the more powerful handhelds with removable controllers and just taking them off. The screen would be superflu…

Minisforum machines are excellent in that regard. Sturdy little bricks with price and performance.

I have one and my main gripe with it is how large the power brick is. It's practically like carrying a second mini pc; I didn't take this into account when I got it, lesson learned.

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

#203

Post by quesera »

kelvie wrote: post #92
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it do that? Why?

Do you mean why a UPS beeps when it's disconnected from power? I imagine so the user knows it's disconnected. Annoying during a power outage though.

You might be able to hush the beep by holding down the UPS ON button.

Works on all APC UPSes that I've tried, at least.

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

#205

Post by anaisbetts »

atum47 wrote: post #5

Side question: are those glasses any good? I almost got myself a pair

I think they're quite good. Great for movies / games, I could use them for text but I'd probably zoom the editor a bit - a full work day in them would probably be Too Much. Really convenient for being able to plug into headless machines, or when traveling.

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

#206

Post by eieio »

Ekaros wrote: post #134
TeMPOraL wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I got confused by that too. Steam Deck is a handheld, right? It should fit in your pocket , right?

It is more like Switch. With grips like your average controller. So it is not a small device as such.

It's larger than the switch! And the case for the Steamdeck is notably thicker than the Steamdeck, while the case for the switch is not. I think this is because the switch is almost flat, whereas the joysticks on the front of the Steamdeck and the handholds on the back stick out a lot farther, and the Steamdeck case doesn't conform to the Steamdeck; it's just as large as the largest dimension in any direction.

My experience is that chucking the Steamdeck in my backpack for a flight is doable if I don't put it in the case, but if I put it in the case it takes up enough space that it's annoying to fit my laptop / other stuff too.

I normally deal with this by either not using the case or just taking my switch instead. But I respect the author's choice here a whole lot :)

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

#207

Post by jethro_tell »

thastings wrote: post #150

If you need to enter the BIOS: bring up the terminal, and write `systemctl reboot --firmware-setup` This reboots systemd-powered systems to the UEFI menu. May not work on other init systems, but SteamOS is based on Arch with systemd.

Systemd systems can still have grub as a boot loader.

In that case, you can usually set the boot order with bootctl and reboot.

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

#208

Post by alias_neo »

ok_dad wrote: post #108
swores wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> " which were just those companies’s normal hardware design " For Alienware (not sure about the others, but AW was Valve's lead partner on it anyway) you're right in that it was a computer designed by Alienware not Valve, however it was a) very different to other Alienware PCs, and b) Valve were genuinely part of the development process, they didn't just say "hey make a small computer". They also shipped with the fi…

> first gen of Steam controllers, which were created by Valve themselves The best goddamn controllers ever made, too, I still have one in a box somewhere around here and I won't use it because it's so awesome I don't want it to break. Pretty dumb eh? The two touchpads were the absolute best, I've never had control like that in an FPS and to this day I can't play any FPS with a stick because I was ruined on the Steam…

Funny how people differ in that regard.

It's the absolute worst controller I've ever used (Joy-Cons are a close second).

I didn't use it because I hated it so much, put it straight back in the box after a few days of trying to use it and eventually I sold it for as much as I paid, and I was glad to see the back of it.

The size/shape of the controller as a whole was fantastic but I just really hated only having touchpads instead of sticks, and that made it unusable.

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

#209

Post by ajmurmann »

fhars wrote: post #174
mgaunard wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly enough, the French do it the other way around, and start counting from the final year (they also start at 0 so it's offset by one). That's arguably a better system since you can keep adding earlier and earlier years (mandatory school starting age has drifted from 11 to 6 to 3 over the years) while keeping everything consistent. Unfortunately they messed it up in 1959 by renaming 12th to 7th and giving m…

Nothing compared to the order I went through in Germany: 1, 2, 3, 4 (elementary school until here), then VI (read in Latin, sexta ), V ( quinta ), IV ( quarta ), lower III ( tertia ), upper III, lower II ( secunda ), 11, 1st semester, 2nd semester, 3rd semester, 4th semester.

Does anyone still use these Latin terms? When I went to school in the 90s and early 00s we just counted from 1st to 12 and university just was it's own thing and how many semesters you were in didn't matter that much because there was no class structure.

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

#210

Post by alias_neo »

Fnoord wrote: post #155

Before performing a mod like this (or generally opening up your device) put your device in battery safe mode [1] [1] https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Enable+Steam+Deck+Batter...

I've disassembled LOTS of devices in my time, and never knew this was a feature that could be used after the initial purchase.

For some years now I've known certain devices like laptops won't power on when bought until first plugged in, but I didn't realise that it could be enabled intentionally after the fact.

Typically the first thing I do when I open a device is remove the battery, so accidental button presses (like i-fixit lists) as the reason for it are a non-issue.

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