Steam Link and Steam Controller now available to Pre Order

[Skeeter]

Higher resolution streams would need more bandwidth so those go hand in hand, but I still don't see why people think it needs USB3?

And its designed to connect to a TV, so I doubt they will support anything above 1080p until 4K becomes mainstream and then it will jump to that.

At the end of the day its just a receiver for a network stream and a USB hub. Theres not really anything in it to upgrade?

 

[demon8991]

Higher resolution streams would need more bandwidth so those go hand in hand, but I still don't see why people think it needs USB3?

And its designed to connect to a TV, so I doubt they will support anything above 1080p until 4K becomes mainstream and then it will jump to that.

At the end of the day its just a receiver for a network stream and a USB hub. Theres not really anything in it to upgrade?

I agree with you Skeeter, there is absolutely no need for USB 3.0 I just cannot see where anyone would ever need the extra bandwidth.

Although I understand that Gigabit may have increased the price slightly it would have been nice to have this fitted.

 

[Skeeter]

We must conclude that Valve are happy that 100mb is fast enough, or they wouldnt have used it.

So, I've pre ordered a Link, I've now got 4 months to upgrade my PC so its actually fast enough to feed it

 

[K1LaW8tt5]

We must conclude that Valve are happy that 100mb is fast enough, or they wouldnt have used it.

So, I've pre ordered a Link, I've now got 4 months to upgrade my PC so its actually fast enough to feed it

its borderline enough for 1080p 60fps. I assumed there would be other features like media player etc. but it seems its just literally a steam link. the hardware in it wont be worth £50.

 

[Skeeter]

Good job it'd only 40 quid then

It is litterally 'a Steam link'. You can build your own right now with anything that will run Windows or SteamOS. I think you'd struggle to build one for under £40 though?

 

[K1LaW8tt5]

Good job it'd only 40 quid then

It is litterally 'a Steam link'. You can build your own right now with anything that will run Windows or SteamOS. I think you'd struggle to build one for under £40 though?

If steam client supported arm you would get one for less. I would like to know the actual specs(internal) of what what I would be buying.
a box with an atom processor wouldnt cost a lot more and you could do so much more with it.
I already have a small (kabini) pc that I use for in home streaming with steam and watching sky player and movies tv etc. I used to use a rasp pi 2 for that but wanted access to sky and steam. so £50 for a box that just links to steam on another pc is a bit much. I would rather pay £100 for a system that can do a lot more.

 

[BaDBoY_uK]

At least my GF would stop complaining about the 15m HDMI cable running through the house!

Do you even cable fastener bro?

 

[kinger8938]

Sadly I only have flaky wi-fi in the room where the TV is.

Maybe try power plug adapters, works a charm for me almost as if plugging it straight in to the router speed wise! I was skeptical though and bought the cheaper ones from tplink but they have been amazing! Think it was about 30 squid, came with 2 plugs and 2 network cables!

 

[kinger8938]

So what happens if the pc comes up with an error message or something upon quiting a game? (Currently seems to happen every now and then on big picture mode) will we have to go to our other rooms to clear it or plug a mouse in to the link? Its still not 100% atm, having to have a kb/m on standby for such issues, but i suppose the steam controller can work like a mouse but i wouldnt order one until i hear final feedback

 

[delta0]

So what happens if the pc comes up with an error message or something upon quiting a game? (Currently seems to happen every now and then on big picture mode) will we have to go to our other rooms to clear it or plug a mouse in to the link? Its still not 100% atm, having to have a kb/m on standby for such issues, but i suppose the steam controller can work like a mouse but i wouldnt order one until i hear final feedback

The haptic controller has a mouse pad to use. I didn't order the pad I'm using a mouse and Xbox controller. Don't know if that means you still have to go to the other room to operate the computer or not I'm not sure.

 

[Skeeter]

In Home Streaming is a bit flakey. If you get errors and things then yes you need to wander into the other room. I've never successfully got it working, bit others have so I'll hold back judgement.

I will have my wireless KB/mouse combo plugged in for if/when I get an error a pad can't deal with.

If steam client supported arm you would get one for less. I would like to know the actual specs(internal) of what what I would be buying.
a box with an atom processor wouldnt cost a lot more and you could do so much more with it.
I already have a small (kabini) pc that I use for in home streaming with steam and watching sky player and movies tv etc. I used to use a rasp pi 2 for that but wanted access to sky and steam. so £50 for a box that just links to steam on another pc is a bit much. I would rather pay £100 for a system that can do a lot more.

That option is there. Valve aren't trying to get in on the mini PC market, as theres already a billion options out there. The internal specs of the Link are pretty irrelevant as you will never be directly using them for anything. If you want a device that does more then you can build one, like you have.

And again, its £40, not £50.

 

[Glaucus]

Install something like splashtop then no need to go to the actual machine. Just remote in.

 

[kinger8938]

The haptic controller has a mouse pad to use. I didn't order the pad I'm using a mouse and Xbox controller. Don't know if that means you still have to go to the other room to operate the computer or not I'm not sure.

Indeed, shall decide at the time so do we think it just streams steam as big picture mode or will it stream whatever the computer is doing if that makes sense? So if a pop up box comes up will that stream to the tv screen too so we can address it or will we have to return to the pc to sort it, i think i need more info lol

Tbh £40 is worth a shot i think because if it works i would benefit greatly from it

 

[Glaucus]

Pop UPS come up. Or st least on normal streaming. Although it doesn't really like it.

 

[TheVoice]

That option is there. Valve aren't trying to get in on the mini PC market, as theres already a billion options out there. The internal specs of the Link are pretty irrelevant as you will never be directly using them for anything. If you want a device that does more then you can build one, like you have.

And again, its £40, not £50.

Agreed, it doesn't need to be a media player/web browser/Facebook/Netflix/whatever device; modern TVs, consoles, BD players etc do much of that already. As long as it's good at streaming PC games, it doesn't need to do anything else.

 

[Skeeter]

Indeed, shall decide at the time so do we think it just streams steam as big picture mode or will it stream whatever the computer is doing if that makes sense? So if a pop up box comes up will that stream to the tv screen too so we can address it or will we have to return to the pc to sort it, i think i need more info lol

Tbh £40 is worth a shot i think because if it works i would benefit greatly from it

If you have 2 computers now you can try it out with In Home Streaming. Or use SteamOS if you have something like a small media PC. The Steam Link will offer that same experience, just in an all in one packaged little box that is pre built.

 

[n111ck]

http://www.game.co.uk/en/hardware/steam/?merchname=hubsteam-_-link-_-HardwareBundles

 

[Skeeter]

Shame they don't offer just the Link on its own

 

[Twirlywoos]

I'm not saying that this isn't good value for money but for me it's wasted because of the "missing" features for my "personal" needs.

My living room TV is a Sony SXRD 55" 1080p so I can live with the supported maximum resolution being 1080p 60fps.

However when mainstream 4K TV's become more affordable which they are starting to become then the 100Mb NIC will become a problem when streaming 4k even over wireless a/c as the maximum theoretical throughput I don't achieve due to brick walls in my Victorian styled house.

It's unknown what compression is being used at 1080p. I suspect there will be some graphical degradation, however I would love to see some before encoding and after decoding screenshots to see if the visual difference is worth crying over.

I have a 5.1 surround sound setup in my living room therefore I would benefit if it supports it either via toslink or hdmi.

USB 3.0 is for Corsair's RGB keyboard that uses either 2XUSB 2.0 or 1XUSB3.0. There is the option of using control pads but I would like to have the best of both Worlds (Steam Pad/XB1 and something like Corsair's Lapdog)

Are there any plans to integrate VOIP? I would like to use Teamspeak to communicate or listen to clans whilst gaming.

Will there be Steering wheel integration/3D Vision support?

Now I would gladly pay extra if the Steamlink box has these features as I know I will make use of them, it will then become a welcomed addition to any living room then.

 

[delta0]

Shame they don't offer just the Link on its own

I noticed that so I had to order through steam directly.