this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2024
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Steam Deck + Docking station.
You can get a knock off dock for about $25, and a non-OLED deck is $400. Minimal setup to get. Emulators running, and the whole thing is portable if you want to relocate to a different room / a buddy's house / a projector in the backyard.
Someone suggested this before, and I'm not a big fan. If I get a steam deck, I'll probably be buying it for portable/handheld gaming.
Having a fairly useless screen on my gaming computer, behind/beside my living room TV seems odd at best....
Understandable, I was just suggesting it as a cost-effective choice. Consoles are usually more hardware than you pay for, and ≈$500 for a ready-to-go solution right out of the box isn't bad.
The useless screen isn't much different than a docked switch, or using an old laptop as a HTPC.
Bonus is if you ever want to upgrade the system, you can still use the deck as a portable solution later.
Well, previously, I had a mid tower on a large shelf above my TV, partly for this, but it was primarily built for VR. I still have my original Oculus cv1, from before Facebook bought them, then rebranded to meta....
I ran away screaming when they started to force everyone to use their Facebook account to log into Oculus.
Since then it's been on my mind to replace it. I recently moved house, and just didn't set up the VR PC again. I want a cleaner look.
The old system was a full ATX board with an Intel core i5 (4th Gen? IIRC), 16G of RAM and a GTX 1080 8G. Complete with some RGB and everything to be a bit more flashy because it was in a windowed case above my TV... It was a bit of a show piece.
Now, I just want something thats small, simple, and will do the job without too many compromises. I have an Xbox PC dongle (one of the old school fat ones), and a small assortment of Xbox controllers. Recently, my partner and I wanted to do so couch gaming so I dug it out and just plugged it into HDMI. It's sitting on the floor and we haven't played anything on it since. Wires everywhere.
When I replace it, I want something that won't look out of place, and definitely little to no RGB stuff. It got annoying having it blinking and changing all the time, distracting from what I'm trying to watch.
The system is meant to be forgettable, just humming away in the background, ever ready to cater to whatever couch gaming whims I may have.
The TV is 4k, and I'd like to have enough power in it to play high res, especially for somewhat older or simpler titles.
Long term, I kind of want two (or at least a second system with similar performance), so for games that don't do split screen, I can play on a smaller, closer screen, and my partner can take the TV. I'd have it wall mounted near my usual couch seat, with a display on an arm (also wall mounted). I imagine I'd use that for more than just games, since I'm not always a fan of juggling my laptop around trying to get comfortable on the couch.
The main problem I'm beating my head off of, is finding an adequate system that's not huge, and doesn't look like shit in my living room, with enough power to meet the demand.
I just want to install it and more or less forget about it until I want to play something. It should blend in, not stand out.
Sounds like you just need to do a case swap on the VRPC. A case w/o all the RGB gamer aesthetic solves most of your issues for about $50, since you already have decent hardware available.
For your use as a secondary system, not that I'm a Valve shill, but I kinda still suggest the Steam Deck... You wouldn't have to mount a secondary screen, since it's already built in, and it gives you the option to kick back however you want on the couch to play.
The amount of times I've sat on the couch playing on mine with one earbud in while my wife is watching TV is pretty significant, so a bit of asynchronous play would be available there as well. A small, black, zippered case can be tucked away a lot easier than a wall mounted swing arm as well.
I had looked into getting a Micro PC for a living room setup, but ended up getting the Steam Deck because it gave me more options for around the same price. I got mine about a year after they released & after getting it I realized I should have gotten it sooner.