[delecti]

You can't build a machine which is as powerful, small, quiet, and cheap, nor can you take for granted that a machine you build can have a controller that can wake it from sleep, or which has HDMI-CEC (both are possible, but take extra work or hardware). You can rather easily build a machine with multiple of those attributes, but you'll have to pick ones to sacrifice in the name of the others.

[esseph]

The only thing you might lose by building your own and running SteamOS is HDMI-CEC.

The steam controller would work just fine.

Valve supports SteamOS on other hardware.

[rbanffy]

I was thinking of getting prebuilt machines from the usual suspects, Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUs, and so on.

[delecti]

Those will be cheaper and/or more powerful. If that's all you care about, then the Steam Machine probably isn't worth the price or wait.

But they'll also be bigger, louder, probably not support HDMI-CEC, may or may not support waking via bluetooth, and it's a gamble whether they'll support Linux as well. Both are totally valid options, it just comes down to which tradeoffs you prefer.

[rbanffy]

The "boring" business boxes from the usual suspects are usually well supported by Linux, even if HDMI-CEC and BBT wake might not be priorities for the manufacturers. The hardware is so unimaginative it's almost an Intel or AMD reference design.

[tl]

I like the SteamDeck I have, but it doesn't do HDMI-CEC or controller wake from sleep today. Valve needs to prove the Steam Machine doesn't fail here.

[delecti]

The Steam Deck itself doesn't have an HDMI port, but the official dock does, and that does support HDMI-CEC (support was added to SteamOS a couple years ago). The Steam Deck also does support controller wake from sleep (added in the past year or so); I've actually seen people complaining about their Steam Decks waking up when they didn't realize that feature existed.

And all of the reviews I've seen about the Steam Machine talk about how well both of those features work.

[tl]

It does not. Source: have a dock. Latest firmware installed from deck. And because the current Steam controller is a recent release, I had to try a whole mess of third party controllers before settling on PS5 controllers because everything else I tried had Bluetooth pairing issues / disconnects as you approached four controllers.

SteamDeck as a handheld is great plus or minus a few nits baked onto the power / battery life choices Valve made. SteamDeck -> TV and SteamDeck -> USB-C KVM are both workable, with caveats. I had hoped we would see the bug fixes you describe before the Steam Machine release. Alas, no.

[delecti]

CEC support was added in to the Dock in May 2024 https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200?emclan=10358...

Bluetooth wake made available for LCD Decks in September 2025 (it was already available in OLED models) https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/view/4983336...

I will say that the Deck has less than stellar bluetooth reception in my experience too. I settled on an 8bitdo controller because my XBox Elite couldn't stay connected from across the room. The Steam Machine has a dedicated antenna for Steam Controllers though.

[esseph]

It's a Bluetooth problem in general.

If you have 2 or more controllers, you're often better off going with wifi dongles.

[esseph]

You are confidently incorrect.

SteamDeck supports HDMI-CEC as of 3.7 ~2 years ago, using the original dock or select third party docks.

---

How to Enable CEC:

Press the STEAM button and go to Settings.

Navigate to the Display tab.

On the right side of the screen, find and toggle on Enable HDMI CEC Support.

Ensure Wake TV when device resumes from sleep is also enabled.

[thecommakozzi]

Read the other replies, and i’ll restate that you are indeed confidently incorrect: i have been using this feature since the update that added it. i use the steam controller and i am using the original valve dock.