Thinking About Buying a Steam Deck *TM*

[Zothique]

Do any of you have one? What are its pros and cons? Are they cool?

I'm a loser and not interested in buying a million dollar gaming PC. Couldn't care less about the portability aspect, though I guess that's cool.

[Vergil]

Are they cool?

Absolutely especially if you play it in public.

[gerey]

Do any of you have one? What are its pros and cons? Are they cool?

I have one.

Biggest con is going to be battery life. It's not really "portable" , more demanding games are likely to drain the battery in a couple of hours. Another issue I'd watch out for is buying the models with less disk space. I bought a 64GB model with the plan of upgrading it to a 1TB and nearly sheared off the screws holding the RF shield cover trying to get it off. I did manage, but it was touch and go. Apparently, newer models have a slightly different setup.

Also, just because a game isn't officially verified by Valve to work on the Steamdeck doesn't mean it won't - there's a plugin you can download that draws information from an unofficial database, and there's a lot of other tricks you can pull to squeeze more performance out of it.

Still, it's a defacto gaming PC in the shape of a gaming controller, has a lot of support, both official and unofficial, is an emulating powerhouse and really great if you're going somewhere and want to take your Steam library with you.

If portability is not your primary concern, also look into buying a good dock for it so you can more easily connect it to a TV/monitor and attach a keyboard and mouse.

[J1M]

LOL, 2 hours.

[Oyster Sauce]

Great when it works, but it loves to constantly give me issues when I haven't touched it for a while. For example: one time it refused to boot because it needed an update. To update, it needed an internet connection. I couldn't sign into the hotel wifi because it refused to boot. Turned out that I needed to rename my phone to my home wifi's name (thank **** I remembered) and use it as a mobile hotspot so that the Steam Deck would be tricked into thinking it was a known connection and automatically sign in to download the update. This hacky piece of **** workaround was Steam's official solution with the only alternative being formatting the device.

Do any of you have one? What are its pros and cons? Are they cool?

Another issue I'd watch out for is buying the models with less disk space. I bought a 64GB model with the plan of upgrading it to a 1TB and nearly sheared off the screws holding the RF shield cover trying to get it off. I did manage, but it was touch and go. Apparently, newer models have a slightly different setup.

They should all have a micro SD card slot

[gerey]

They should all have a micro SD card slot

Yeah, but I wanted to maximize loading speeds, so an NVMe was my preferred choice.

[Rand]

Do any of you have one? What are its pros and cons? Are they cool?

I'm a loser and not interested in buying a million dollar gaming PC. Couldn't care less about the portability aspect, though I guess that's cool.

If you can, wait a bit. There's a v2.0 in the pipeline.

[gerey]

If you can, wait a bit. There's a v2.0 in the pipeline.

I sincerely doubt it's coming out anytime soon. Maybe in 2 years.

Valve has no real competition on the market, so I imagine they don't feel much pressure to release a new model, plus the vast majority of games run on the Deck without issue, and if you're willing to sacrifice graphical fidelity and tinker with it, you can get even more demanding games to run on it.

[Zothique]

Thank you all. I've been wanting to bite the bullet on it, but just wasn't sure.

[StudiedAsleep]

Do any of you have one? What are its pros and cons? Are they cool?

I have one.

Biggest con is going to be battery life. It's not really "portable" , more demanding games are likely to drain the battery in a couple of hours. Another issue I'd watch out for is buying the models with less disk space. I bought a 64GB model with the plan of upgrading it to a 1TB and nearly sheared off the screws holding the RF shield cover trying to get it off. I did manage, but it was touch and go. Apparently, newer models have a slightly different setup.

Also, just because a game isn't officially verified by Valve to work on the Steamdeck doesn't mean it won't - there's a plugin you can download that draws information from an unofficial database, and there's a lot of other tricks you can pull to squeeze more performance out of it.

Still, it's a defacto gaming PC in the shape of a gaming controller, has a lot of support, both official and unofficial, is an emulating powerhouse and really great if you're going somewhere and want to take your Steam library with you.

If portability is not your primary concern, also look into buying a good dock for it so you can more easily connect it to a TV/monitor and attach a keyboard and mouse.

How do you find the thumbsticks on the Steam Deck? Main issue I had with Switch and PS Vita were how tilting the thumbstick the smallest amount would cause the camera/cursor to fly and then abruptly stop. Made aiming difficult and innacurate.

Also how is the store on the Steam Deck? The Switch lagged so hard on the e-store it was impossible to actually buy anything. Both the PS4 and Xbox One was really bad for this as well.

[Rand]

If you want to upgrade your Steam Deck: https://dbrand.com/shop/catalog/steam-deck

[Xenich]

Playing anything other than an arcade style game on a controller is for the birds. I can't even stand playing many "designed for console" games on PC. The last console I bought was PS1 and I only played a few games on it before it started gathering dust.

[rusty_shackleford]

Rather enjoyed all the various little things that the rumble was used for when I played Ghosts of Tsushima, it's not something you get with m+kb.

[Tweed]

Steam ****

[Rigwort]

I like playing games on my porch. Glass of lemonade, living the high life.

[rusty_shackleford]

I'll probably pick one up whenever they release the v2, I assume many other people are also waiting and didn't want to be a tester of first generation hardware

[Rigwort]

I'll probably pick one up whenever they release the v2, I assume many other people are also waiting and didn't want to be a tester of first generation hardware

As an owner of the first gen, I will parrot that it does give me problems occasionally. "Don't want to have serial number #000001" is always good advice. But I was glad to read @maidenhaver's posts about travelling with one. If you have to travel for work it's a blessing. (Thanks maidenhaver )

[Tweed]

I kind of lament not getting one of those uhhh...uhhh...thingies that let you route your games to your TV when Valve was closing them out, I don't want to look it up right now, **** off.

[Rand]

I kind of lament not getting one of those uhhh...uhhh...thingies that let you route your games to your TV when Valve was closing them out, I don't want to look it up right now, **** off.

Steam Link

Apparently, Valve has released software for Raspberry Pi that does the same thing.

[Oyster Sauce]

I kind of lament not getting one of those uhhh...uhhh...thingies that let you route your games to your TV when Valve was closing them out, I don't want to look it up right now, **** off.

Steam Link

Apparently, Valve has released software for Raspberry Pi that does the same thing.

You can download Steam Link on any Android box/your phone. Sunshine/Moonlight work better though. Get Sunshine on your PC and the Moonlight app on whatever you want to play games on. Works for non-Steam games too.

[Xenich]

Rather enjoyed all the various little things that the rumble was used for when I played Ghosts of Tsushima, it's not something you get with m+kb.

To each their own I guess. I just never could get used to the controller's feel. The "skill" in play always felt like it was centered on the players ability to learn how to "deal" with the controllers limitation of play that seemed natural and fluid with M/KB (dark souls is a perfect example of "difficulty designed around the controller").

[DDC]

I have one that really doesn't get much use. It's a neat thing to have but:

-it's very large and portability isn't the best
-it's underpowered. the resolution is pretty low and even then I wish it had another 30% of GPU headroom
-the screen is horrible so make sure to get the OLED version
-the overall build quality is pretty good
-battery life is terrible
-compatibility is decent
-I don't use it for real "PC" games. It's best suited for something you'd play with an xbox gamepad

[rusty_shackleford]

[MC_Sea]

If you ever do decide to get a Steam Deck, I recommend buying a refurbished one on eBay (even if there is a sale on Steam). It's much easier to find one with high GB storage and a low price due to the people wanting to sell them as soon as possible (especially since the OLED version released). The sellers are usually people who added extra storage and fans manually but then didn't have time to use it or people who repair unused/old Steam Decks and sell them back for profit. If you are lucky, you might even get an 1TB SD card or custom shell + control sticks included with the deal!

The smallest GB on a Steam Deck is 64GB which can seem restricting until you realize you can put in a high GB microSD card to compensate (which you should also buy on eBay). You can also replace the storage manually with an high storage SSD but this is mainly for tech-savvy people. There's not much speed difference between games stored in the Deck VS mSD card. WARNING: DO NOT FORMAT YOUR mSD CARD USING THE OPTION ON THE STEAM DECK. This has caused many people's mSD cards to brick even though they were 100% legitimate. In order to format it, use a program on Windows or Linux PC to do so.

As for the display, the OLED has darker darks, a slightly larger screen with 90hz vs 60hz LCD, and better color accuracy. The LCD is still perfectly serviceable in regards to its screen quality though. It not something that you notice unless you go out of your way to compare them. Both have compatible screen resolution with most games and the framerate generally goes to 60 FPS (unless it's an open world game or an unoptimized AAA game).

Battery life can vary from 2-4 hours (LCD) or 3-6 hours (OLED) depending on how power intensive a game is. Emulating games usually lasts longer on battery while high fidelity games are on the lower end. It's on not very portable in this regard especially if you take WiFi connection into account. You can somewhat mitigate this by using a mobile hotspot + a power bank but mobile WiFi is slow and you'll have to carry the power bank. At the very least, it comes with a carrying case so you can carry it without trouble.

In concerns to compatibility, you'd be surprised at how well it works with most games I've tried. You may have to some tweaks manually for some games but thankfully there's a database for Linux games called ProtonDB that has potential solutions to your problems. Ignore the official "Steam Compatibility" list because it is pure nonsense. The Deck also has the ability to turn into a mini desktop through a change called "Desktop Mode". Emulators,Browsers, and other programs are compatible as well for all your needs you will have on desktop mode.


If you do end up getting the Steam Deck, here are a few things you should do:
- Mess with the settings to get everything just right.
- Add + Download all the games you are planning to play
Go to Desktop Mode and...
- Install any software you would normally on a regular PC (Brave Browser, VLC, Cloud Backup Software, etc.)
- Download pirating software like CreamAPI to get DLC or games without paying for them
- Install Bottles for any compatibility issues you may have
- Install Warpinator (Deck) and Winpinator (PC) to easily transfer files between PC/Deck. (Especially useful for emulation or pirating)
- Install Emudeck for convenient emulation and quick to setup without any hassle whatsoever. (3DS + Switch emulators will have to be downloaded manually due to Nintendo DMCAs)
- Install Protonup-Qt to allow easy access to different versions of Linux; mainly Proton GE
- Install Heroic Games Launcher so that you can play your Epic/GoG games with greater accessibility + compatibility
- If you are tech-savvy, you can download and use Moonlight + Sunshine for remote playing to your PC. It's much smoother and less buggy than using Steam Link.
- For any games/software you may want to use on Gaming Mode that aren't on Heroic/Emudeck, you can add them to your Steam Library by adding them as "Non-Steam Games" which allows
you access to them freely.

I believe I have covered everything that is necessary. If you have any more questions, I'm more than happy to answer them.
Personally, the Steam Deck really changed the way I approach emulation/gaming as well as my view on Linux. 8/10!

[Pizza]

There's a Limited edition in white on the way

https://steamcommunity.com/games/167520 ... 5261073465

[maidenhaver]

At this point, wait for the steam deck 2.

[rusty_shackleford]

There's a Limited edition in white on the way

https://steamcommunity.com/games/167520 ... 5261073465

What did Gabe mean by making the white edition the most valuable?

[J1M]

"Should I play PC games on a tablet?"

"Is 800p a good resolution?"

"3 hours of battery life is enough for anyone?"

[J1M]

If you want to play PC games on a budget, the solution is to buy a used PC. People essentially throw them in the garbage. The resale value is abysmal. Downside: you will end up with a gay case covered in LEDs.

[rusty_shackleford]

"Should I play PC games on a tablet?"

"Is 800p a good resolution?"

"3 hours of battery life is enough for anyone?"

If you want to play PC games on a budget, the solution is to buy a used PC. People essentially throw them in the garbage. The resale value is abysmal. Downside: you will end up with a gay case covered in LEDs.

Carrying a PC around with you to play games sounds like it might be impractical!