Mine was $1! I love it. I just bought a wireless mouse and keyboard for it, because it's honestly just a great way to stream stuff. Now my computer can be in my living room, and my office at the same time!

[–] tyrant@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (5 children)

I've got one I never hooked up. Can you just control the computer in general or do you only get access to steam? I wanted to jellyfin with it maybe

[–] pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 16 points 10 months ago

You can do both. The default is Big Picture mode, but you can back out if it and get a desktop.

But, you'll basically have to be a foot or two from the PC to read anything unless you have a desktop environment set up for a large screen (KDE plasma has a TV version)

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[–] ono@lemmy.ca 95 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I bought one during the clearance sale for the price of shipping, assuming that it would be abandoned but maybe still useful as a low-power linux server. I guess I ought to set it up and take advantage of it.

Thanks, Valve, for not letting these things become instant e-waste.

[–] Jawa@lemmy.world 23 points 10 months ago (6 children)

I thought this too, but unfortunately in terms of modding and general use they are very limited, afaik. When I looked into it, it boiled down to: There's an sdk to develop stuff for it and you can get root access but good luck trying to replace the os or anything like that. That being said, this is what I remember from ~2 years ago, so if it can be customised more now, please let me know. I kinda bought 2 in hopes of being able to do that :D

[–] ono@lemmy.ca 9 points 10 months ago

I meant that I ought to use it for its intended purpose after all.

(But yes, I would still like the option of replacing the OS.)

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[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 55 points 10 months ago (2 children)

8 years later and I still haven't used it once

[–] BigPotato@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Every time I've tried to use it, I've either had to head downstairs to the PC to fix something or had terrible lag and artifacting making it unusable for even turn based games like Xcom...

But I still love that little box. I've got two of them and I have Steam Controllers to pair with them but I've never had luck with them. Wired, wireless, no luck.

[–] Zyrxil@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Have you tried Moonlight? It's an open source streaming alternative software that you can install on Steam Links, streams using Nvidia's GeForce Experience as the broadcasting part and Moonlight receives it.

https://moonlight-stream.org/

[–] a_wild_mimic_appears@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 10 months ago

https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine works for AMD/Intel/Nvidia :-)

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[–] woelkchen@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

Every time I’ve tried to use it, I’ve either had to head downstairs to the PC to fix something or had terrible lag and artifacting making it unusable for even turn based games like Xcom…

That's not normal. While Steam Link is a bit older by now and as a result there are constrains like streamed resolution, your problems look more likely connected to your network than Steam Link itself. Digital Foundry talked about PlayStation Portal recently which also includes a two minutes chapter about best practices that apply to other game streaming devices as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEoo_gbOBYo

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[–] BmeBenji@lemm.ee 49 points 10 months ago (10 children)

Maybe the Steam Link and Controller weren’t as popular as Valve hoped they would be, but damn everyone who still has them seems to love them. Maybe I’m biased because I still have my controller and love it, and I gave away my Steam link because my Deck can do that too, but my friend who received the link is loving it.

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[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 43 points 10 months ago (2 children)

That's the thing about Valve. They really know and do software as good as anyone else in the business.

[–] HATEFISH@midwest.social 36 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Let's not pretend alt tabbing a source game was possible pre 2013

[–] Fontasia@feddit.nl 13 points 10 months ago (2 children)

True, but the Steam overlay is a good workaround

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[–] Lightsong@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

Not like anyone else, they're unique.

[–] dinckelman@lemmy.world 43 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I love mine. It does one thing, and it does it well. That's exactly what I wanted from it

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[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 34 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Don't even need the hardware anymore. The Android app is really good on its own. I can even play games while not on my own home network with minimal lag so long as I am on 5G or wifi. I use it to play a few rounds of Civilization when waiting at the doctor.

[–] Retrograde@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Kolanak, I've seen you comment on so many threads on Lemmy. I thank you for A. Being an active commenter, B: having valuable opinions and instigating discourse and C: having your name in emoji format so people clearly see you.

Well done.

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[–] EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works 30 points 10 months ago

This post reminded me that it's supposed to be used for gaming. I've had mine since it was first released and have always used it to turn my TV into a PC monitor to watch YouTube and Movies from my bed

[–] rickdg@lemmy.world 29 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Feels like a nice symptom of Valve's flat structure.

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[–] CH3DD4R_G0BL1N@sh.itjust.works 27 points 10 months ago (2 children)

But…but…vAlve doEsNt suPpoRt iTs haRdWare

[–] Retrograde@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

I've never seen people say this, but if they do, fuck em

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[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 22 points 10 months ago (10 children)

I just wish it worked on modern linux.

spent an entire weekend trying to get steam link to work only to find out it doesnt work on wayland.

[–] knightly@pawb.social 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I give it eight months. Wayland support is getting better every week and some major distros plan to drop X11 by the end of the year.

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[–] garretble@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This post got me to dig mine out after all these years.

After literally 99 updates, I got it running and again and played some games from the couch. It was a good time! I don’t know why I packed it away.

Valve needs to update this little dude, but they never will, of course.

[–] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Most smart devices have steam link streaming built in now...which is sadly why they retired the hardware

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[–] mihnt@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

I love the concept of them, but I've never had an enjoyable experience on mine. Always lag, host client crashing, or some other crap stopping me from playing.

This is on a Cat 6a network too. Never had it on wifi.

[–] Zyrxil@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Try installing https://moonlight-stream.org/ on the Steam Link. Uses Nvidia's GeForce Experience to stream from your PC; works a lot better in my experience.

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[–] trackcharlie@lemmynsfw.com 18 points 10 months ago (11 children)

That's because unlike most other businesses steam understands that if you want people to keep buying your products, you need to provide a decent service

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[–] stanka@lemmy.ml 17 points 10 months ago

Labor of Love

[–] Suavevillain@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago

I love when old hardware gets update still.

[–] kratoz29@lemm.ee 16 points 10 months ago

The hardware that became an app, good thing it has updates yet.

[–] kosanovskiy@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago (9 children)

What do you use it for?

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 49 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

As someone who continues using a Steam Link for its original intended use of game streaming, this strikes me as a somewhat silly question. Haha.

Maybe I am just not adventurous enough with mine to consider other uses?

[–] MisterFeeny@kbin.social 23 points 10 months ago (8 children)

I often use it to watch Hulu and such on my tv, as even though the tv has its own app, I can't put an adblocker on those, but I can use my browser through the steam link and have all the ads blocked. Just one other type of use for it!

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

Also can be used to stream from less reputable sources, which don't have TV apps and don't work with Chromecast

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[–] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

I swapped over to a Sunshine host (non-NVidia version of Moonlight) + Moonlight client combo for game streaming and it absolutely blew Steamlink out of the water for me. Went from lag, resolution switching and disconnects to buttery smooth on my Pi400 at 1080p.

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Mine never worked very well. I'm assuming it's very dependent on which GPU you have.

Had much better results with Moonlight and Sunshine.

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