- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
Good day everyone!
So a while back I picked up a steam controller and began a review. I said I would come back and give it a long term use review, and so I am here to do that. Just recently however, I also picked up the Steam Link, and so I will add that into this big, steaming post of a review. Without further delay, I will begin with the Link, then comeback to the controller.
Steam Link:
Unboxing:
This is boxed pretty much the same as the controller. Same style box and packaging. Nice and simple, easy, 5 step quick start instructions and all that. Comes well packaged, and since this time around FedEx didn't use it as a hockey puck, so I'll be able to use it in a RPi project I have coming up.
Setup:
This was really easy. Watching some reviews, wifi seemed to have issues, so I wont be covering that aspect since I have a robust 1GB wired network in my house. Setup as such was a breeze, plug in power, I happen to have a Logitech wireless mouse and keyboard setup, so I plugged in the dongle for that and the dongle for the Steam controller. HDMI and Ethernet follow, as soon as I had the TV fired up an update was already downloaded and installing. A minute later it was running. As easy as hooking up a PS4 or Xbone. After that, start Steam on the "host" PC, big picture mode or not. Leave your PC, head into the living room/bedroom or what have you, and Steam Link will likely have already found your computer. Click on your PC's icon and it will launch into big picture mode. Walla! You are now linked!
Usage:
Let me just say, I was blown away! The link basically uses a proprietary UDP session to transmit a video feed of your active desktop to the link. In the past, this has SUCKED, introducing terrible lag that all but destroyed video gaming experiences. Steam however has nailed it. First is functionality. you start in big picture mode automatically when you first start your session. However you can minimize, and even stop big picture mode altogether. So long as steam is running, the connection will persist. From here you can access anything on your PC, run it and use it. the Link is pretty much just broadcasting whatever is displayed on your active screen, it will even track across multiple monitors if you have 2 or more set up. I was using it this weekend to game, watch videos on youtube, movies off plex, stream pandora and do some homework. All with only a couple of very minor issues, those I will address shortly.
Gameplay:
Absolutely stellar. There is some delay, in the micro seconds, very small ms at that. so small that in game play, I did not notice it at all. I played some Rocket League, Minecraft, Subnautica and CS:GO all without a hitch. I sucked, but I didn't suck any worse than usual. Even in Rocket League, which originally was a game that had some delay issues at Links launch played almost perfect for me. Games launched from steam all looked great full screen. Very little tearing/ artifacts and other issues that have plagued this technology in the past. the display was nice and crisp, nearly as nice as playing on my monitor and the controls where even very responsive. Needless to say, I am very impressed with its abilities.
Issues:
I did run into a few issues. As I said before, it will jump between your different monitor screen as you move your mouse to on of them. Sometimes though it can get "stuck" on one of those screens and you will need to go to your computer and move the cursor to the proper display. Some programs steam just plain does not like to work with. In my case the AI Suite that comes with ASUS cards. even I tried viewing any of the monitoring windows it would jump to my desktop and get "stuck" and I again would have to go to my PC and fix the issue by selecting the desktop or the program I want to use, and all would be fine again. Games not in your Steam Library. The only game at the moment that I've played that does not launch from Steam is Minecraft, since the ATLauncher holds onto the batch file for itself. So I have to use the ATLauncher console to launch my client. I have found that as such, I must run in windowed mode. Not a big issue for this game, but I have others that this might be inconvenient for. I will test this more later, with perhaps WarThunder, WoWTs or Planetside. There is also a bit of a delay. Again, I couldn't feel it gaming, but, while playing some music, there is definitely a little bit of an echo between the sound coming from the computer speakers compared to what was coming from the T.V. Again, it was a very, very short delay, not even enough to get a full syllable of echo, but it was there. My final issue, this is very much like and RDP session. I have control of my PC's cursor and desktop. While not an issue for me, it would be nice if it ran alittle more in the background, so that while I was perhaps working on a spreadsheet or something in one room, someone else could be viewing the web or streaming some video in the other. Currently that is not the case though. I imagine that the overhead to do this would probably introduce some lag though. And on that note, it des increase overhead. I do not have a solid number, and I feel it is very small. but it is there, and I noticed my CPU ran a touch hotter utilizing the Link as opposed to gaming at my PC. But I think that is to be expected. Finally, resolution. It doesn't change automatically. If you, like me, use monitors that display at 1920x1200, you will likely need to change your resolution to 1920x1080 to display properly on your TV.
Thoughts: This thing has blown me away. It works a whole lot better than I expected. I picked it up so I could do things like some RTS and city building stuff, maybe minecraft while I hung out in the living room or bedroom with my wife. She often does work at home, so this kinda gives us the ability to at least hang out while we have our noses in a monitor. But it has worked so well that I will be doing a lot more than light weight gaming with it. My thoughts, if you have spent a wad of cash building a crazy gaming system, and are considering a next gen system for the living room, but not really sure you wanna fork out dough for something that wont see much use, or even if you just want something to stream plex around the house or something. Spend the $50 and get this instead. It works with lots of controllers, including wirelessly with the xbone and ps4 controllers (I believe) and will work with ps3-4 and xbone/360 controllers wired. No need for extra drivers or anything. This is the best way to get your PC to a different room, without moving your PC.
To come: Picture, Steam Controller update and long term Link usage update.
So a while back I picked up a steam controller and began a review. I said I would come back and give it a long term use review, and so I am here to do that. Just recently however, I also picked up the Steam Link, and so I will add that into this big, steaming post of a review. Without further delay, I will begin with the Link, then comeback to the controller.
Steam Link:
Unboxing:
This is boxed pretty much the same as the controller. Same style box and packaging. Nice and simple, easy, 5 step quick start instructions and all that. Comes well packaged, and since this time around FedEx didn't use it as a hockey puck, so I'll be able to use it in a RPi project I have coming up.
Nice and neat box:
Under the lid:
And finally, the machine:
Under the lid:
And finally, the machine:
Setup:
This was really easy. Watching some reviews, wifi seemed to have issues, so I wont be covering that aspect since I have a robust 1GB wired network in my house. Setup as such was a breeze, plug in power, I happen to have a Logitech wireless mouse and keyboard setup, so I plugged in the dongle for that and the dongle for the Steam controller. HDMI and Ethernet follow, as soon as I had the TV fired up an update was already downloaded and installing. A minute later it was running. As easy as hooking up a PS4 or Xbone. After that, start Steam on the "host" PC, big picture mode or not. Leave your PC, head into the living room/bedroom or what have you, and Steam Link will likely have already found your computer. Click on your PC's icon and it will launch into big picture mode. Walla! You are now linked!
Usage:
Let me just say, I was blown away! The link basically uses a proprietary UDP session to transmit a video feed of your active desktop to the link. In the past, this has SUCKED, introducing terrible lag that all but destroyed video gaming experiences. Steam however has nailed it. First is functionality. you start in big picture mode automatically when you first start your session. However you can minimize, and even stop big picture mode altogether. So long as steam is running, the connection will persist. From here you can access anything on your PC, run it and use it. the Link is pretty much just broadcasting whatever is displayed on your active screen, it will even track across multiple monitors if you have 2 or more set up. I was using it this weekend to game, watch videos on youtube, movies off plex, stream pandora and do some homework. All with only a couple of very minor issues, those I will address shortly.
Gameplay:
Absolutely stellar. There is some delay, in the micro seconds, very small ms at that. so small that in game play, I did not notice it at all. I played some Rocket League, Minecraft, Subnautica and CS:GO all without a hitch. I sucked, but I didn't suck any worse than usual. Even in Rocket League, which originally was a game that had some delay issues at Links launch played almost perfect for me. Games launched from steam all looked great full screen. Very little tearing/ artifacts and other issues that have plagued this technology in the past. the display was nice and crisp, nearly as nice as playing on my monitor and the controls where even very responsive. Needless to say, I am very impressed with its abilities.
Issues:
I did run into a few issues. As I said before, it will jump between your different monitor screen as you move your mouse to on of them. Sometimes though it can get "stuck" on one of those screens and you will need to go to your computer and move the cursor to the proper display. Some programs steam just plain does not like to work with. In my case the AI Suite that comes with ASUS cards. even I tried viewing any of the monitoring windows it would jump to my desktop and get "stuck" and I again would have to go to my PC and fix the issue by selecting the desktop or the program I want to use, and all would be fine again. Games not in your Steam Library. The only game at the moment that I've played that does not launch from Steam is Minecraft, since the ATLauncher holds onto the batch file for itself. So I have to use the ATLauncher console to launch my client. I have found that as such, I must run in windowed mode. Not a big issue for this game, but I have others that this might be inconvenient for. I will test this more later, with perhaps WarThunder, WoWTs or Planetside. There is also a bit of a delay. Again, I couldn't feel it gaming, but, while playing some music, there is definitely a little bit of an echo between the sound coming from the computer speakers compared to what was coming from the T.V. Again, it was a very, very short delay, not even enough to get a full syllable of echo, but it was there. My final issue, this is very much like and RDP session. I have control of my PC's cursor and desktop. While not an issue for me, it would be nice if it ran alittle more in the background, so that while I was perhaps working on a spreadsheet or something in one room, someone else could be viewing the web or streaming some video in the other. Currently that is not the case though. I imagine that the overhead to do this would probably introduce some lag though. And on that note, it des increase overhead. I do not have a solid number, and I feel it is very small. but it is there, and I noticed my CPU ran a touch hotter utilizing the Link as opposed to gaming at my PC. But I think that is to be expected. Finally, resolution. It doesn't change automatically. If you, like me, use monitors that display at 1920x1200, you will likely need to change your resolution to 1920x1080 to display properly on your TV.
Thoughts: This thing has blown me away. It works a whole lot better than I expected. I picked it up so I could do things like some RTS and city building stuff, maybe minecraft while I hung out in the living room or bedroom with my wife. She often does work at home, so this kinda gives us the ability to at least hang out while we have our noses in a monitor. But it has worked so well that I will be doing a lot more than light weight gaming with it. My thoughts, if you have spent a wad of cash building a crazy gaming system, and are considering a next gen system for the living room, but not really sure you wanna fork out dough for something that wont see much use, or even if you just want something to stream plex around the house or something. Spend the $50 and get this instead. It works with lots of controllers, including wirelessly with the xbone and ps4 controllers (I believe) and will work with ps3-4 and xbone/360 controllers wired. No need for extra drivers or anything. This is the best way to get your PC to a different room, without moving your PC.
To come: Picture, Steam Controller update and long term Link usage update.
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