My partner and I both signed up for a Steam Machine, and I for a Steam Frame. We got waitlisted for all 3, and in the last 24 hours we got into the queue for all of them. Time to decide which machine (2TB vs 512) to get, and if we actually want a Frame!
So far I have been very happy with both the Steam Machine and the Frame (the software is still early days, especially on the Frame but personally I really enjoy that).
I have found myself playing a surprising amount of simpler/older flat screen games on the Frame entirely standalone (recently Hades and the original Minecraft Dungeons). That process has been really fun even though battery life leaves something to be desired. Along with having standalone Beat Saber and not being a Meta headset is awesome.
Just FYI the Frame and Machine don’t work together very well yet, that is something Valve is planning but they haven’t gotten it implemented yet.
This is the most concerning thing for me. I only use linux, so I have to imagine that if it isn’t working with my steam machine yet, it absolutely is not going to work with my desktop yet. I would much rather that be sorted out before I put out this much money.
Current status is that it works in desktop mode. Normal Linux needs at least Kernel 7.2 and there’s a script you can run to help with troubleshooting.
I predicted that the Steam Frame release delays would mean that Valve had spent that time perfecting the software experience. But I am surprised by how many little bugs there are that I would have expected Valve would have fixed.
I think they were managing the other releases. Also I think they put in the time to post Alyx to Frame, when it was first announced that was a soft maybe, but with all the extra time they got it working before launch.