That's about on par with that is acceptable for a modern system. Remember, in the end, it's still a PC. I would've done away with the remaining USB 2.0 ports in favor of more USB 3.0 ports though. It's backwards compatible so I'm not exactly sure why systems still use USB 2.0 ports. This thing isn't going to be in most people's price range though.. $999 is no joke.
That seems to be the starting price for the Xi3 system that people are guessing 'Piston' will be based on, but then again you'd have to think there's something a bit different about 'Piston' vs. their other products if they're bothering to have a codename etc.
I doubt the actual SteamBox/ Piston will be $999. I expect it to be closer to $500 to $700 at most. I don't plan on buying the "Piston," but I am curious about these mini-computers as an alternative to a laptop. I could leave a really nice monitor at work and carry one of these little cubes home. I could probably find a way to lock the thing in a desk drawer if it was well-ventilated. A relative has access to welding tools I could use to customize a metal desk drawer. I could create the nerdiest and, far more importantly, most secure office computing setup around. I worry about malpractice issues when using my laptop at work because it would be so easy to take off with one. If I locked one of these little cubes in a big steel desk, it's not going anywhere. They could still steal my monitor and kb/m, but I wouldn't have a set of lawsuits for hundreds of thousands or more following that.
Piston isn't steam box, it's just a 3rd party SFF PC designed to be optimised for steam big picture and possibly have steam pre-installed and defaulted to big picture mode. There will be many manufactures releasing HTPC/SFF as well as regular form factor PC's that will also team up with Valve for the same 'ease of use' gaming experience. http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/valve-ben-krasnow-steambox/ Actual Valve hardware is still up in the air, but here's an interview with Gabe Newell that includes some pics of the current prototype of the steambox from Valve, which will likely be Linux based. http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming
Xi3 isn't really a 3rd party due to the fact that Valve is a major investor in their company. Piston may not qualify as the "true" Linux based Valve Steam box, but it's not unlikely that Xi3 would still be teaming with Valve on that one in the future.
This is kind of like a Google nexus device - Vavle teaming up with a particular 3rd party they have invested in to show other third parties what can be done as of right now. These devices will of course vary in size, power use, noise and capability but as of this moment they must run windows simply because there is no presence for Steam on linux just yet. In the future they're releasing a Valve branded Steam Box which will likely run linux. If the Piston is like a Nexus device and other similar 3rd party solutions are like accompaning Android devices, then Steam Box will almost be an iPhone in comparison. Different HW, different OS, different library, and for at least a small amount of time, single vendor specific. If this form of steambox is successful it will likely take over from the devices we are seeing now in which case there will be more 3rd party solutions based on generational releases of hardware/OS updates from Valve, again, back at being just like a Google Nexus device.
According to Gabe Newell, who I consider to be a pretty good source of info when it comes to the business of Valve, they're going to generally be targeting a 3-tiered line ("Good, Better," and"Best.") with the SteamBox. He indicated that there may be a $99 version at the bottom end. I would expect the middle tier to be similarly priced to the other consoles. The top end will probably be more in line with the Xi3 pricing. http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/11902/article/steambox-seen-by-newell-to-have-three-tiers-of-pricing-could-start-at-99/ http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming
He did say that he defines a "good" box as basically a streaming device, so OnLive or a local equivalent capable device. He then followed on to state that the "better" devices are the ones they aim to control (in the form of releasing their own example hardware). So it seems like they won't be getting into the "good" level themselves, just the better and best. I would say right now the X7A level (trinity A10 APU based) would be the very bottom of what anyone could define as "better". At a $999 price level, it's just not desirable for a gaming system. In a bigger box they could cut costs and include a discreet (mobile) GPU. This is what I expect them to aim for and at a $500 or lower price.