Someone turned a mini PC into a Steam Deck for the living room, and I'm in love with the idea

You know, on paper, the idea of a Steam Deck without the screen doesn't sound great. However, I've been proven wrong time and time again by people who have converted their Decks into a miniature console. They're actually kind of sweet as a console; given their small size, they're the perfect gadget to bring with you on travels (well, moreso than ever) or have sitting in your room for gaming on.

Well, someone else has had the same idea and created what they called the GeekDeck. It's not quite a converted Steam Deck, as it's actually a mini PC that kinda-sorta fits the same spec as Valve's console; however, it still creates an awesome mini console you can plug in anywhere.

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The GeekDeck is a Geekom A5 pretending to be a Steam Deck

As spotted by Hackaday, the GeekDeck came to life because of how easy it is to turn anything into a "Steam Deck." It's made possible due to Valve releasing the Steam Deck's operating system, SteamOS, to the public, allowing people to install it on their handhelds or any other device they can think of.

YouTuber Interfacing Linux decided to give the latter option a shot by taking a Geekom A5 mini PC, installing SteamOS on it, and then taping the word "Deck" over the latter bit of the Geekom logo on the case. The result is the GeekDeck, and it makes for a tidy little miniature console that shares similar specs to the real Steam Deck.

The end result is pretty good; at least, as long as you're expecting Steam Deck levels of processing power. Games seem to run pretty well, and I'd very easily use the GeekDeck to play my own titles just fine. And for the more intense stuff, Interfacing Linux notes that you can just boot up a cloud gaming service like GeForce Now and play the heavy-hitters that way.

In the conclusion, Interfacing Linux says they're pretty pleased with what they made:

I wanted a Steam brick, something that I can pop into the living room for casual gaming and streaming. This is it, and it's about $100 less than the cheapest Steam Deck [...] But if you get a PC laying around with AMD or Intel graphics, rub some Steam OS on it, and see what you can get up to. You might be surprised.

I'd love to see if this little "Steam brick" can do all the things people can do with their Steam Deck that you didn't know were possible. Well, okay, maybe not the battery-saving tricks, but the other ones would be cool to see.