
New Steam Machine clone shows copycats are missing the point — the $1,299 'Steamroller' may run SteamOS, but it gets 4 key aspects wrong
THE SO WHAT
The $1,299 Steamroller underlines that copying software and OS choices isn’t enough—thermals, acoustics, form factor, and price discipline are the real moat in console-like PCs. Hardware teams chasing “Steam Machine killers” need to design around lived-in use cases, not spec sheets.
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