Digital Storm Dual Boot Steam Machine Will Start at $1899
Digital Storm's Steam Machine isn't cheap.
Early in December, boutique PC maker Digital Storm revealed that its first Steam Machine would dual boot SteamOS and Windows. Today, the company finally officially unveiled its Bolt II Steam Machine.
The Bolt II is the first liquid cooled Steam Machine that will have the option for Nvidia's GeForce GTX Titan and up to a 700W PSU. Digital Storm hasn't mentioned much else about the specs, but we'll try to find out more when we see them at the show.
The tower measures 4.4 inches wide, 14.1 inches deep, and stands at 16.4 inches tall. In December, Digital Storm told us we could expect the machine to start at $1469, which is almost triple the $499 starting price of competitor iBuyPower's Steam Machine. Now, Digital Storm is saying the Bolt will start at $1899. Yikes. Digital Storm said today that it's not trying to compete with consoles when it comes to price.
"We [Digital Storm] are not looking to compete with console pricing," said Rajeev Kuruppu, Digital Storm's Director of Product Development. "We're taking aim at the high end of the market, targeting consumers that demand the best possible gaming experience and who are looking for a PC capable of playing any title on their new 4K display."
Still, when you consider Lenovo just announced a 4K monitor for $800, a price that starts at $1900 seems excessive. Sit tight for hands-on photos from the show!
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That said I know of 2 guys personally who will be uninstalling Windows from their machines and turning them into Steam OS boxes that can dual boot with Linux. They know there will be games they can't play right now, or maybe ever, but their hatred of Microsoft and therefore Windows is greater than their love of those games.
The advantage is that they are (supposedly) easier to use and play on in the living room and have access to some of the games on steam.
I'm sure in a years time we will be reading articles like with Chromebooks where they are supposedly selling by the truck load while nobody actually knows anyone that has or wants one.
Any windows PC can do what a steam machine can do and so much more for a very comparable price. Valve do not have the ability to incentivise / subsidise sales of steam machines and their niche status will keep their prices up compared to windows machines so their limited library of games and limited use case will make it a hard sell in the future.
Not a bad idea just not very practical in reality.
And DS pisses away an opportunity to sell massive numbers of units. Steam OS boxes were meant to be a companion box to a PC here and now IMHO. Anyone who runs a "steam machine" already has windows/mac. They DON'T need OMGWTFBBQGRASSTITAAAAAANNNNNNINQUADSLIFPSGAZIM levels of power as chances are they ALREADY have a capable rig elsewhere in the house. And if they don't, well that kind of pricing makes buying a PS3 XB1 and a wIIU (With about 4 games a piece) a very attractive option.