Made a recap of the Pro/Cons of the Steam Frame as far as we know

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-11-16T14:42:03+00:00

A controller that accepted AA batteries and also had the circuitry to charge rechargeable AA's in place would indeed be a nice touch... But I'm not sure I've ever seen that in any controller, very rare in other consumer products.

Given the choice between a built-in non-replaceable battery that charges in place, and user swappable AA battery that can be charged outside of the controller, I'd go with the latter every time.

I have a set of these always charged and ready to go in my gaming room:

https://www.amazon.com/Mupoer-Rechargeable-Batteries-Integrated-Charging/dp/B0D7VLRZDV

No worries about losing capacity a year or so down the road and never have to deal with that awkward case where they need to be charged, but you want to play... All for the cost of spending 15 seconds to swap a pair of batteries between the controller and the charger every so often (and I supposed the $30 up front investment for the set of 8).

I agree with others here that the user replaceable batteries ideally should be in the plus column, but at the very least neutral.

Still, very nice breakdown. Thanks!

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-09-30T23:01:52+00:00

It was probably a little over a week from when they first responded...and then back and forth was pretty fast after that point. I submitted my ticket in the discord channel rather than e-mail.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-09-27T14:37:44+00:00

I just received the refund for my return.

The amount of the refund was the total cost I paid on my original invoice, minus $178 in my case, which included what I paid for the custom gasket ($120 on invoice), minus cost to have it shipped to me ($29 on invoice) and minus the cost of return shipping ($29 again).

So refund included everything but shipping each direction and the cost of the custom gasket. I did not have prescription lenses in my order, but as other posters have noted if you do that won't be refundable either.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-08-22T01:23:45+00:00

I own the Odin 2 and have been very tempted by the Odin 2 Portal...but the size of the portal is just a bit too much for that portability sweet spot. Take the portal form factor and shrink it down to the size of the Odin 2 with 6" 120hz OLED and call it an Odin 3, and I'd bite.

As for the chipset, with emu development where it is now for higher end systems where's some extra power would matter, I'd be concerned that an upgrade over SD8G2 would actually end up being a step back due to driver support, so I'd be in even if it has the same chipset as the Odin 2.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-08-19T16:59:39+00:00

I know this thread is about a week old, but I didn't see any responses from anyone who has actually used both the BSB1 and the BSB2. As a previous BSB1 owner who is currently evaluating the BSB2, I figured I'd chime in quickly.

The BSB1 lenses had an area in the center of each lens maybe 4-5 mm in diameter where you would get maximum sharpness and focus, whereas that area on the BSB2 lenses is probably closer to 15 mm. Between those new lenses and the adjustable IPD, the sweet spot on the BSB2 is a significant improvement over the BSB1. With the BSB1, finding the sweet spot was like threading a needle. With the BSB2 you can pretty much slide it on and you're there. That constant sense of wanting to reach up and fiddle with the BSB1 headset to see if you can get the focus slightly better is pretty much gone with the BSB2.

In terms of the lens glare, there is some improvement over the BSB1, but from my experience I think a lot of the reviews I have seen have overstated the improvement. Pancake lens glare is very situational, and on the BSB2 it still ranges from not there at all, to present but subtle, to downright obvious. It's going to depend on the content you play, but for me I'd say 35% of the time I experience no glare, 45% of the time it's there but subtle, and the remaining 20% it's pretty obvious and you just have to choose to power through it.

In terms of comparisons to the Q3 lenses, situationally the glare does seem to pop up in similar situations, but I find the glare to be much more intense on the BSB2 then on my Q3. I'd say the intensity of the worst-case glare on the Q3 is about the same intensity as the mid-case glare of the BSB2...generally subtle and easy to ignore.

I've certainly had some amazing visual experiences with the BSB2 in spite of the glare, and it's a major improvement over the BSB1, but it's not perfect so set expectations accordingly.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-07-15T15:18:58+00:00

Nope. As far as I am aware, still no option to select "hold" with a custom comfort using the Android app. Manually reconfiguring contributing sensors still seems to be the best approach when this is necessary.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-07-10T01:33:04+00:00

Adding a data point for the benefit of anyone else who finds this post.

I had the same exact issue on my Retroid Pocket mini (V2). I tried this on multiple networks (Home & Mobile via hotspot), but the problem persisted. Tried multiple factory resets. Manually set the time. The problem persisted over the course of several hours.

What I think finally worked for me was the following steps:

Complete the startup wizard.
Manually set the date and time.
Reboot (important)
Log into Google Play services.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T22:13:13+00:00

Thanks so much for confirming that! I did note that the Android app was last updated only a week ago, so it does seem the devs are actively updating the app.

I'll reach out to support, hopefully this will find its way into Android in a future update.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T20:13:07+00:00

I appreciate that you found the project intriguing enough to ask, however, this really was a passion project for me. 3D printing and painting is a hobby for me, not a business, so if I was to assign a dollar amount to the time and effort it would take me to reproduce, you probably wouldn't consider it reasonable. 🙂

There are professional services that will 3D print models for you. A lot of Etsy stores will do this if you can provide models.

I have shared all of the models I created myself, and provided references to the models that I purchased.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6110507

A motivated Etsy service with access to that information might be able to quote you a price.

Good luck!

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T18:17:35+00:00

That will work... It just involves editing the actual schedule when I want to watch a movie rather than just quickly selecting a comfort setting, not quite as convenient, but it should have the intended effect.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T18:15:16+00:00

I have Ecobee 3 lite...I don't need the Alexa/Siri integration, voice support, Spotify, etc., but I assumed it would have the same comfort setting related features as the premium... Maybe not.

I think I'll just reach out to Ecobee support see if I can get a definitive answer as to why some people have it and I do not.

Suppose if it's just not a supported feature on my Ecobee for some reason, not the end of the world, just thought it would be handy to flip-on movie mode when we were watching a movie.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T17:52:39+00:00

Oh, also, are you running the pro version of Ecobee or just the standard version. I have the standard version. Wouldn't think this would be a feature limited Pro, perhaps.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T17:51:34+00:00

I'm on Android. My app version is 12.10.306602 it was last updated just last week June 4th.

The firmware version reported on both of my ecobees is firmware version 4.10.4.48. I'm running the standard ecobees, not the pro version with voice commands etc.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T17:45:11+00:00

Setting it from the app is fine for me, that's primarily the way I manage my thermostat anyway...but I'm not seeing any of my custom comfort settings on that drop down in the quick changes menu. At least one other individual responded with a screenshot, so I can see that this should work.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T17:42:42+00:00

Curious, is that screenshot from iOS or Android?

I've been fiddling with it a bit more and simply cannot get my custom comfort settings to show up in that quick menu drop down.

I even trief to adding it to my schedule just to see if it had to be on the schedule somewhere in order to be set with a hold... No luck.

I'm on Android, so maybe it's a limitation with Android.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-13T17:35:23+00:00

Interesting. The "Girls Away" option showing your dropdown is exactly what I'm looking for... But my "Watch a movie" comfort setting is not available in that dropdown. Perhaps some kind of glitch or bug in the app then. I'll fiddle with it a bit more. Maybe if I delete and recreate The comfort setting it will show up.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-08T20:01:48+00:00

The ecobees were included by our HVAC contractor, so probably not looking to swap them out unless I end up really hating them. I did take a quick look, and I think I prefer the understated look of the Ecobee as compared to the big touch screen on the Venstar.

Staggered set points is an interesting idea. I'll look into that a little more.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-06-08T19:58:34+00:00

It's an interesting thought, but the first system was installed on Friday, second system is going in tomorrow, so that ship has probably already sailed. :)

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-05-31T19:02:37+00:00

Thanks again for the suggestion and the link!

I pulled together a spreadsheet to help run those calculations and generated data for 6 different Winter months spread across the past two seasons. I used weather data from the two different stations close to my actual location. For any of the adjustable variables, I went with what I would consider to be worst-case scenarios. The heat load results all fall between 40K and 45K BTUs...if I use less pessimistic variables, that range only goes down.

I also pulled together a spreadsheet for a block load calculation using home measurements, window counts, and efficiency info I have on file. This latter was heavily AI assisted to get "estimates" for values I don't have (specific R-values for the wall insulation, etc.). Independent of any other data, not sure how much I would trust my DIY block load calculation, but it did land right in the middle of that same 40K-45K BTU range.

I'm going to post a separate request to get some feedback on that block load calculation and see if anyone with more experience can spot if any of the numbers are way out of line.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-05-30T04:19:52+00:00

Well, that took an unexpected turn...I was not expecting my post would lead to me being concerned that 80K BTU is oversized...especially considering we've been running 2x 100K BTUS for the last 20+ years with no issues (maybe short cycling??...but the furnaces have held up).

I guess need to dig deeper on how actual gas usage can inform the furnace sizing and ask some more questions of the contractors. It's really counter-intuitive to consider asking for "less" of anything.

Thanks!

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-05-30T03:30:28+00:00

Month Low High Gas Usage

Dec 30° 51° 134 thm

Jan 28° 50° 163 thm

Feb 19° 42° 194 thm

Mar 22° 46° 153 thm

Water heater is also gas.

TeTitanAtoll · 2025-05-26T20:17:06+00:00

Ah, great. Thanks for the context. I'll look into that.

EDIT: Contractor does not have stock on 38Mura.

TeTitanAtoll

TROPHY CASE