I love my deck so much that I broke my tinkering with computers outside of work hours rule in order to set up some Steam remote play boxes (HoloISO based) on mini PCs scattered throughout the house so I don't have to be next to my gaming rig to play. I don't really play anything online that has the Windows only DRM so Linux is great for me. But I get it when people have things they want to do and don't have the time, know how, or desire to fuck with their systems.

[–] ripcord 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

What's the advantage of the mini PCs over a relatively cheap Android TV with the Steam Link app or even an old Steam Link hardware?

What's the hardware you're using?

I have been doing local streaming from my gaming PC to devices around tbe house (using mostly Steam and Moonlight) for nearly a decade.

I just find the steam stuff maddeningly buggy (setups that worked a month ago suddenly start having some new issue, usually Steam Input or otherwise controller-related). But when things work, it's fantastic. Especially for living room gaming with friends (or my kid)

[–] TexasDrunk 2 points 5 months ago

I've had exactly one problem using the built in remote play with Steam, and that was a bad update that was put out just a few months ago. I've got a few Bee Links with the 680m iGPU (I'm not home to check the model right now) so they were a few hundred bucks apiece which is a huge con for some folks. But that also allows me to play a variety of emulated games and games that aren't graphically intensive locally if someone is streaming from another room.

So if I have a friend with kids over, we can play BG3 couch co-op in the bedroom or garage while the kids play Mario Kart or Hollow Knight in the living room. That's worth it for me.

However, cheap Android TV devices work for a lot of people and I'll never knock them.