I'll admit my interest, although the site has me curious as well. Steam is essentially going the "console" route since they're breaking away from being a PC exclusive deal...however, they're offering different "versions" of the Steam Machine (2 different models at the moment, more to come according to the site), which seems a little odd to me.
That'd be like if Playstation 4 and XBox One had different versions of their consoles, all for the same price and each offered different little features compared to the other models.
The different price points also worry me a little.
For the basic for each, they're $449, which is fine I guess, since that's essentially just a tad more expensive than a new console. However, they then branch off to:
Alienware i5: $649.99
Alienware i7: $749.99
and
Steam Machine P: $729
Steam Machine X: $1419
which paying that much for what is essentially a console is a little scary. The two Steam Machine ones being an example since essentially you're paying almost double the price for: a slightly better graphics card, a slightly faster quad core and different chipset, a slightly bigger power supply, and really that's it. It doesn't have a bigger hard-drive (both are 1TB), and essentially everything else is identical to the one for $729. The jump from I to P is more noticeable in changes and the price jump is surprisingly less.
It may be just me, but unless it's a monumental upgrade, the thought of paying $1419 for a box that can hook to your TV and play games is a little unsettling.
Actually, I take that back.
paying $2179 is a little more unsettling.
