I think he's absolutely right, and I hope Valve has considered this (and they probably have). This needs to be a door-opener, not a powerhouse.

Larian proving again and again, that they get it.

Ehh

I feel like most people that really care about their operating system are more than likely going to build a PC

Most people buying a pre-built device are like Apple users "It just works"

I have an expensive PC I built but I'm a console gamer

I enjoy a comfy couch, big TV, and controller.

It's the ease of just hitting a couple buttons and getting to play a game.

Could I hook my PC to my TV? Yes, but that would require me to move my PC from my desk.

Also things like controllers. If I hooked my PC to my TV to play something like Overwatch I'd have to play with m/kb people which I would be at a severe disadvantage if I played with a controller.

Like if Xbox overwatch allowed m/kb (yeah I know people cheat) I'd probably stop playing it.

It's the PC gamers that always want consoles to support m/kb. Console gamers do not want to play on m/kb.

In my mind lack of m/kb is why consoles exist

People aren't buying PS/Xbox for a living room PC. They want a console gaming experience

Id bet this will end up like the steam deck competitors. More powerful, but DOA because the price point is wrong and ultimately misses the reason why it's a product in the first place.

Valve isn't targeting the PC market with this. They are trying to persuade console users to make the switch.

Based on the limited specs we have, the steam machine is a more powerful PS5

They're coming, they'll just be third party and expensive.

Because valve does not need to profit,since they get money from people buying games.

The reason why Valve has a chance whereas Asus and Lenovo do not is that the latter two have to make a profit off of the hardware, whereas Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony can sell at a loss/cost because they earn it back and more through game sales. Valve is in the same position so can price competitively against the big 3.

Unless you are going for console exclusives, a PC is upgradable and can be just about as plug and play, specially now with SteamOS. The SteamDeck has really helped normalized control schemes into their gamepad.

I plan to plug my PS5 controller into this (I think its able?)

Yes, because everything runs through Steam, which support the DS5.

Whats a full setup in this context? A mouse and keyboard? You could always hook a pc up to a tv so thats not a factor.. dont get me wrong if this is what it takes to get you to embrace pc gaming thats great, it just feels like before now if there were any barriers to it they largely existed only in your head. Hooking a pc up to a tv and using a $20 air remote from amazon and a ps4 controller(or even just the touchpad on the ps4 controller) to control the mouse was always possible.

I think $700-$800 is a more realistic range unfortunately. It depends on how thin margins Valve is willing to accept, but I don’t think they want to sell at a loss like the typical console manufacturer.

Probably slightly more than that, but it's worth considering the long-term costs. Steam does not have a monthly subscription (minimum $160/yr with PS), they often have massive price cuts in their seasonal sales, and even many games can be had completely for free. Epic gives them away every week. GOG gives them away on occasion. And if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber, that includes several games a week as well.

Any other Distribution and even Windows would work fine, as long as you set up passwordless autologon as a default user and then put Steam in Big Picture Mode as autostart.