For me the problem is that the target performance is in a weird spot - low enough that it's not amazing, but high enough to still be very expensive if you don't

For me the problem is that the target performance is in a weird spot - low enough that it's not amazing, but high enough to still be very expensive if you don't plan to play games that actually require that performance. A cheap $300 mini-PC is a lot weaker but it can still play plenty of indie and other games just fine, ultimately that's what matters. For me, I would have considered buying one of these if they had one at a $300 to $400 price point even though it would have been significantly weaker, but at $1k it's just impossible for me to justify.