News - Xi3 Piston console will initially ship with Windows installed

[MSIC]

Xi3 are not being clever i dont think - sure, they are getting lots of short term exposure (actually, maybe they are being clever then), but a number of the comments as reported are not going to endear themselves to Valve in the long term, and Valve will surely quickly and easily approach a number of other companies who will do a similar thing to Xi3, leaving them in the cold.
I think that Xi3 could have had similar amounts of press exposure without having a dig at Valve, if they were smart.

[crossy]

(A Lian-Li ITX case, 2.5" SSD, top line AMD APU, RAM would cost a lot less, look nicer and probably perform better without being that much bigger.) It would be a heck of a lot bigger - this Piston is only approx 10x9x9cm! It's certainly overpriced for actual performance, and I would personally also opt for an ITX based rig, but that form factor is absolutely tiny.

Like you I can't help thinking that the premium being attached for "midget size" is eye watering. And personally I really can't see who actually needs something that small. Also as you say, a mini-ITX form factor strikes me as a lot more sensible - e.g. even something like a Sugo SG06 with a decent low TDP IB processor and a decent graphics card.

If I'd got that kind of money and needed something tiny, then I think I'd be looking around for a decent laptop instead.

As it stands this product has "fail" written all over it.

[Jayfunk]

I actually like the name, it might be the only thing i do like, but 'Piston' sounds cool!

Unfortunately it's gonna be Pist on by everything else

[Turquoisetim]

Seems as if the market research could have been more in depth