512 GB: $1,049 USD / 1,509 CAD / 1,039 EUR / 879 GBP / 1,609 AUD / 4,389 PLN
2 TB: $1,349 USD / 1,919 CAD / 1,359 EUR / 1,149 GBP / 2,109 AUD / 5,739 PLN
512 GB w/ Controller: $1,128 USD / 1,628 CAD / 1,108 EUR / 938 GBP / 1,728 AUD / 4,698 PLN
2 TB w/ Controller: $1,428 USD / 2,038 CAD / 1,428 EUR / 1,208 GBP / 2,228 AUD / 6,048 PLN
They basically are, you can switch to ‘desktop mode’ which runs a custom linux distro and you can use it like a normal PC
But yeah you probably be saving a little money building something with the exact same specs
IMO it’s less about saving money necessarily and more about the modularity of PCs means if something breaks it’s easy to replace, if something new comes out and you wanna upgrade you can (generally). I don’t know anything about the steam machine but the lying machine says basically you can only upgrade the SSD? If it’s a 6 inch cube I imagine it has some weird bespoke motherboard and other stuff that would be hard to replace, both in sourcing components and I imagine it’s more physically difficult to work with like a laptop
Somehow the framework desktop is a thing too. Company built around repairability and then their desktop has CPU and RAM soldered to the mainboard.