I tried Steam Deck and it's AWESOME!

[CerealExperimentsLain]

15 hours ago, Bramimond said:

Still looks like a niche product. It's just too expensive to achieve market penetration. 

Doesn't even look portable at that huge size. It gets some geeks excited and that seems to be about it.

 

I predict people won't remember that this thing existed five years from now, just like with the Steam Console.

It'll do better than the Steambox simply because it's the cheapest, most powerful, handheld gaming PC to come to market.  The Steam Box was, well, a PC.  That's it, it was literally just a desktop tower, and it ran Steam OS.

Now, it def won't smash open the PC market, it's a niche product for PC gamers wanting games on the go and that's not huge but it'll over shadow the Steam Box easily.

[Bramimond]

8 hours ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

It'll do better than the Steambox simply because it's the cheapest, most powerful, handheld gaming PC to come to market. 

I feel that calling this monstrosity a handheld is stretching it. I expect a handheld to fit into my pocket.

It doesn't really offer more portability than a laptop, so I'm kinda lost why people are even excited.

 

Historically, handhelds that had power as their selling point were left in the dust by the ones that had the cheaper price tag and this thing doesn't even have exclusive games to force preservationists to care down the line.

 

Personally, I'm not seeing a reason for people five years from now to remember this.

If they had sacrificed performance to achieve a price tag of under $130, however, I could have absolutely seen this thing being huge. There are enough indie 2D games to still make it worthwhile and playing triple A games on the go isn't really a good experience anyway.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

2 hours ago, Bramimond said:

I feel that calling this monstrosity a handheld is stretching it. I expect a handheld to fit into my pocket.

It doesn't really offer more portability than a laptop, so I'm kinda lost why people are even excited.

Nah, it's far more mobile than a laptop.  As someone who's used their laptop on a train and a plane, there's barely any room, especially on a plane in econo.  It's probably not ideal for communting but while traveling or sitting in a corner while about.  It's def not as discrete as my PSP though, you're right.

 

2 hours ago, Bramimond said:

Historically, handhelds that had power as their selling point were left in the dust by the ones that had the cheaper price tag and this thing doesn't even have exclusive games to force preservationists to care down the line.

Oh but it is the cheapest.  Because it's the cheapest PC handheld.  This will not hold a candle to the Switch, those demographics will barely overlap, they're not really in competition with each other.  It's to get PC gamers on the go.  As far as handheld PC gaming machines go, it's the cheapest and the most powerful.  But yes this is by no means 'A Switch Killer' and it will never sell as many units as the Switch.  But for a bunch of PC gamers, a relatively affordable handheld PC gaming device.  Not all PC gamers want that, no, but clearly a hyped number do.

[Stahlmann]

On 8/7/2021 at 4:50 PM, Ubersonic said:

Has it been confirmed yet whether it is/isn't possible to disable the touchpads while in a game? Sounds like a silly deal breaker but I would get really annoyed by them activating while using the thumbsticks.

From the positioning alone it looks nearly impossible to touch them on accident. I don't see that as a problem.

 

On 8/12/2021 at 12:25 PM, Bramimond said:

Still looks like a niche product. It's just too expensive to achieve market penetration. 

Doesn't even look portable at that huge size. It gets some geeks excited and that seems to be about it.

 

I predict people won't remember that this thing existed five years from now, just like with the Steam Console.

Just like the switch is a niche product that doesn't sell? It's pretty much a better switch that natively runs a desktop OS.

 

2 hours ago, Bramimond said:

I feel that calling this monstrosity a handheld is stretching it. I expect a handheld to fit into my pocket.

It doesn't really offer more portability than a laptop, so I'm kinda lost why people are even excited.

If you want a decent gaming experience without huge drawbacks (like touchscreen-only controls) then this is as small as it gets imo. Yes, the switch is smaller, but it has terrible ergonomics. As long as it comfortably fits into small backpacks, etc. it's small enough to be used mobile.

 

Quote

Historically, handhelds that had power as their selling point were left in the dust by the ones that had the cheaper price tag and this thing doesn't even have exclusive games to force preservationists to care down the line.

Atm there are no exclusive games. However there is the luxury of MANY games. The amount of games that can be accessed through Steam's proton is bigger than any handheld ever had afaik

 

[CerealExperimentsLain]

16 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Just like the switch is a niche product that doesn't sell? It's pretty much a better switch that natively runs a desktop OS.

The switch is hardly 'Niche'.  It's an affordable Nintendo console.  Docked or on the go, it's the box that plays the Nintendo things.  That's as mainstream as mainstream gaming gets.

And no, it's not really 'better' than the Switch other than in raw hardware specs.  The Switch is lighter, cheaper, and most importantly, a crap load of Nintendo games.  It also doesn't need a bunch of controller hacks or thumb pads to play every game for it.  Every game is built for it's controls, where the Switch has to be built for a range of games their many control schemes.

I want a Steam Deck, I put in my CAD$5.70 to get one, I'm gonna buy one... But I'd be insane to think it'll ever beat the 'Switch' to anyone but PC gamer nerds with money to spare on a handheld.

[Stahlmann]

16 minutes ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

The switch is hardly 'Niche'.  It's an affordable Nintendo console.  Docked or on the go, it's the box that plays the Nintendo things.  That's as mainstream as mainstream gaming gets.

It was sarcasm.

 

16 minutes ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

And no, it's not really 'better' than the Switch other than in raw hardware specs.  The Switch is lighter, cheaper, and most importantly, a crap load of Nintendo games.  It also doesn't need a bunch of controller hacks or thumb pads to play every game for it.  Every game is built for it's controls, where the Switch has to be built for a range of games their many control schemes.

Yes it's cheaper (around $90), but it still lacks the versatility of a fully-fledged desktop OS like the steam deck has. You just need to plug the deck into a hub and then it can even replace a desktop computer. The switch cannot do that. (at least out of the box without flashing another OS that needs workarounds for most of the stuff to get it working correctly...)

 

16 minutes ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

I want a Steam Deck, I put in my CAD$5.70 to get one, I'm gonna buy one... But I'd be insane to think it'll ever beat the 'Switch' to anyone but PC gamer nerds with money to spare on a handheld.

I never said it will beat the switch. When looking at the apps and games alone they are two completely different devices. Many games that will be available to the switch will never come to the deck and the other way around.

 

I'm just of the opinion that the deck has more to offer. It brings versatility and a well thought out design, combined with proton, which guarantees a big game library now AND in the future. In a few years when nintendo has a new console the switch will just float dead in the water, just like every nintendo console ever when a new one was released. With the deck you can practically play all future games that have either native Linux compatibility or get worked into proton. Even long after the deck being discontinued.

 

But aside from our discussion:

I'd really wish for a better onboard display. I'm not even asking for some expensive OLED. A 1080p 90Hz screen would have made a huge difference. And trading off some battery life for that is worth it imo. Demanding games can just be run at a lower res, but easy-to-run titles would benefit in a big way.

[Bramimond]

1 hour ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

Nah, it's far more mobile than a laptop.  As someone who's used their laptop on a train and a plane, there's barely any room, especially on a plane in econo.  It's probably not ideal for communting but while traveling or sitting in a corner while about.  It's def not as discrete as my PSP though, you're right.

 

Oh but it is the cheapest.  Because it's the cheapest PC handheld.  This will not hold a candle to the Switch, those demographics will barely overlap, they're not really in competition with each other.  It's to get PC gamers on the go.  As far as handheld PC gaming machines go, it's the cheapest and the most powerful.  But yes this is by no means 'A Switch Killer' and it will never sell as many units as the Switch.  But for a bunch of PC gamers, a relatively affordable handheld PC gaming device.  Not all PC gamers want that, no, but clearly a hyped number do.

Yes, it's a niche product.

 

I think smartphones won the killing time on the go competition. I recently was on vacation and had a long way to go as a passenger. I brought both my smartphone and my PSP. I never even touched my PSP. 

 

It's not the cheapest, either. Neither was the GameBoy. TigerElectroncis Handhelds were the cheapest. 

Today, your smartphone is the cheapest, since you already have one. My smartphone isn't even powerful enough to play games, but it's powerful enough to read books and reading books is also a way to kill time on the go. This is a point that Nintendo got right when they released the NDS. It's not necessarily a portable gaming device, it's a protable time killer device. 

 

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

Just like the switch is a niche product that doesn't sell? It's pretty much a better switch that natively runs a desktop OS.

No, it's a way worse Switch. You think it's better because you think specs matter, but they don't. 

I mean, on paper you're right. But on paper isn't what matters. 

 

Now, I don't like the Switch and will never own one, but the Switch has a bunch of exclusive Nintendo games making it the thing to get if you want to play these games. 

Personally I think exclusives should be illegal, be it for consoles or streaming services or whatever. But it is what it is. If you could play all the games for Switch on every other current console and the PC, I don't think it would be nearly as popular. 

 

And you can play all the games that run on the SteamPortable on your PC and have a better time, too. 

So it is a somewhat redundant luxury product. Still cannot figure out why playing on the go is exciting for people. I prefer to play my games on a big screen in a comfy chair. 

 

With the Switch, you can just use it with your big screen, but buying a SteamPortable so you can connect it to your big TV is even more redundant and stupid, unless you don't already have a PC that can play games.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

11 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

And you can play all the games that run on the SteamPortable on your PC and have a better time, too. 

So it is a somewhat redundant luxury product. Still cannot figure out why playing on the go is exciting for people. I prefer to play my games on a big screen in a comfy chair. 

So I can play RVGL, OpenRCT2 and SDLPoP while commuting, obviously!

[Forbidden Wafer]

30 minutes ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

OpenRCT2

I didn't know this was a thing *-*

[CerealExperimentsLain]

3 minutes ago, Forbidden Wafer said:

I didn't know this was a thing *-*

Oh it's great!  It's just RCT2 (With support for RCT1 assets too) but built open source and running on modern OSs with additional ease of use improvements.  Only downside is it's still pixed pixel art, so you'll need to be careful with scaling on a high resolution screen.

There are of course mobile ports of RCT in some iterations but.... They're bad.

[Bramimond]

3 hours ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

So I can play [...] while commuting, obviously!

Yes, I get the purpose. I just don't understand why people would want to pay a premium to carry around an extra device to make it happen.

Even back in the GameBoy days I never actually played with the thing outside. 

 

And the whole "it's also a computer" angle is kinda silly. If you just plug it in and use it as a computer at home it defeats the point and on the go a laptop or a phone are much better suited for productivity or browsing the web. 

 

 

I get that it's an expensive toy for nerds with money to spend, have fun with for a while and then not use a whole lot. 

But I'm not sure where the excitement is coming from. Unlike with the Framework laptop thing, where there is actually something to get excited about.

[Forbidden Wafer]

6 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

I just don't understand why people would want to pay a premium to carry around an extra device to make it happen.

Because games for consoles are trash on phones without physical controls? You could use a controller, but that is an extra device to carry.
It also uses your phone battery, which will make you carry either a charger or an additional battery? We are now at 2 additional things to carry and counting.

10 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

Even back in the GameBoy days I never actually played with the thing outside. 

Too bad. I always played with mine on school and play with my switch whenever I'm travelling.

12 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

And the whole "it's also a computer" angle is kinda silly. If you just plug it in and use it as a computer at home it defeats the point and on the go a laptop or a phone are much better suited for productivity or browsing the web. 

While I agree with you, if I had one I would probably leave my heavy/expensive laptop at home and carry only the deck instead of also carrying my switch when travelling.

14 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

Unlike with the Framework laptop thing, where there is actually something to get excited about.

It is pretty nice. Hoping to get one in the future.

[Bramimond]

2 hours ago, Forbidden Wafer said:

Because games for consoles are trash on phones without physical controls? You could use a controller, but that is an extra device to carry.
It also uses your phone battery, which will make you carry either a charger or an additional battery? We are now at 2 additional things to carry and counting.

Even if you carry three battery banks and two chargers, that's still significant less luggage than the SteamPortable.

But I never had a problem with my smartphone to last an entire day. Something I won't expect from the SteamPortable. 

[Quackers101]

10 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

Even if you carry three battery banks and two chargers, that's still significant less luggage than the SteamPortable.

But I never had a problem with my smartphone to last an entire day. Something I won't expect from the SteamPortable. 

to me phones have a few issues, both in getting the right Mobile processor (seems to better this gen). also the heat issues, battery, oled if one has that and controls and supported games, unless you are streaming. But as shown on LTT and others, there has been some fun additions to the mobile space for handheld gaming, like USB C game controller using the phone as a screen or the dual screen for your phone. Compact to a degree and better to game on and if you want to waste money on a gaming phone that might have some interesting features but maybe a lack of future support.

[fattiewin]

On 8/7/2021 at 5:55 AM, Infernalz said:

+1 was wanting to know exactly the same thing.

I looked again and its this monitor the Proart PQ22UC https://store.asus.com/us/item/201906AM130000002

 

its $4K USD and this is the link to the video they reviewed it back in 2018. So sad to see it so expensive.

 

[kitnoman]

So after the video came out on how to open a steam deck. Are you guys still adamant on opening yours and replacing the ssd yourself?

 

And since we are talking about storage, can anyone suggest the best Lexar, Samsung, SanDisk or other micro sd brands for steam deck? I haven't bought a sd card before and I'm  currently reading on all this numbers and letters, the v30, xc and roman numerals, Ax(number), etc.

 

It's already nearing Dec and I'm already keeping an eye for any sd card sale. I would probably not replace the ssd card until I see/read a "it's safe now" video or review with recommend ssd.

[kitnoman]

On 8/14/2021 at 2:14 AM, Bramimond said:

And the whole "it's also a computer" angle is kinda silly. If you just plug it in and use it as a computer at home it defeats the point and on the go a laptop or a phone are much better suited for productivity or browsing the web. 

 

 

 

I think that's actually one of the potential market of steam deck. Not everyone can afford a laptop, desktop and a handheld, like a broke student(like most of us before we had decent jobs). Think of it this way, how many laptops are there that can have a decent gaming experience under $400-$600. Once linux become more popular or if windows is installed, it's basically a budget gaming/student desktop at home and a handheld on the go. All it needs is a decent docking for a seamless experience. Remember when people thought that the switch would fail and the docking/handheld feature gimmicky. I think steam is gambling on the same principle here but instead of console/handheld, its a desktop/handheld.

[Bramimond]

4 hours ago, kitnoman said:

Once linux become more popular or if windows is installed, it's basically a budget gaming/student desktop at home and a handheld on the go. All it needs is a decent docking for a seamless experience.

You can probably make it work like that, but I doubt it's going to be a good experience.

Hooking up something like a moonlander keyboard (around $350) to a tablet can transform it into a decent portable productivity device and if there's a way to make the SteamPortable stand like the Switch that will also hold true for this device. But at that point it's no longer a budget solution.

 

Since I've already got a moonlander, I'm considering whether to go SteamPortable or android tablet once my laptop fails. I guess for me the thing actually makes some sense. I'm already using Linux since Win98 anyway. But then again, the thing is pretty large compared to a tablet and you also have to carry a keyboard around to get any productivity use out of it...

 

[Quackers101]

6 hours ago, kitnoman said:

So after the video came out on how to open a steam deck. Are you guys still adamant on opening yours and replacing the ssd yourself?

 

It's already nearing Dec and I'm already keeping an eye for any sd card sale. I would probably not replace the ssd card until I see/read a "it's safe now" video or review with recommend ssd.

they mentioned some in the WAN show.

that some might come out with a "shielded" SSD that could fit the steam deck. Right now the max would maybe be 1TB and could cost less to upgrade than the higher capacity models of the steam deck? not sure, they also mentioned about if they were going to try to replace the shield onto another higher capacity one, not sure if they will though.

[kitnoman]

2 hours ago, Bramimond said:

You can probably make it work like that, but I doubt it's going to be a good experience.

Hooking up something like a moonlander keyboard (around $350) to a tablet can transform it into a decent portable productivity device and if there's a way to make the SteamPortable stand like the Switch that will also hold true for this device. But at that point it's no longer a budget solution.

 

Since I've already got a moonlander, I'm considering whether to go SteamPortable or android tablet once my laptop fails. I guess for me the thing actually makes some sense. I'm already using Linux since Win98 anyway. But then again, the thing is pretty large compared to a tablet and you also have to carry a keyboard around to get any productivity use out of it...

 

I think that's too expensive for steam deck. With your use case, steam deck is not a laptop/tablet replacement, but I think it would be decent desktop replacement. The market for steam deck would probably start with us, those who want to play our pc games in handheld form factor, that may or may not use it as a "pc". But whether by accident of pre-planned, this thing would actually have a bigger market for those who does not have a desktop of their own yet. I think it's already been said that it can power a 1080p monitor and play fps games. All it really needs is a decent dock were you can connect your monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset and a rj45 for direct internet. it just needs that "switch" experience and must look presentable(something that you only setup once and then just plug and play).

 

[Quackers101]

9 minutes ago, kitnoman said:

I think that's too expensive for steam deck. With your use case, steam deck is not a laptop/tablet replacement, but I think it would be decent desktop replacement. The market for steam deck would probably start with us, those who want to play our pc games in handheld form factor, that may or may not use it as a "pc". But whether by accident of pre-planned, this thing would actually have a bigger market for those who does not have a desktop of their own yet. I think it's already been said that it can power a 1080p monitor and play fps games. All it really needs is a decent dock were you can connect your monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset and a rj45 for direct internet. it just needs that "switch" experience and must look presentable(something that you only setup once and then just plug and play).

some productivity? sure, with linux? depends? can use windows?

power and thermal limits? not quite a laptop, unless the dock could combo into a full fledge laptop "performance" in both cooling and power.

also some of the handheld topic that lowspecgamer touches on. "PC handhelds"

Spoiler

 

 

[Bramimond]

2 hours ago, kitnoman said:

I think that's too expensive for steam deck.

I think the thing is already too expensive for mass market appeal anyway.

 

If you want to replace your main device, you better already use Linux like I am or put Windows on the thing. Not sure what's the experience is going to be. I only know it's a major pain in the ass to get Linux installed on locked down laptops designed for Windows. It's kinda a first to have it be the other way around.

 

But yeah, I'm probably going with a tablet. The form factor is better and it doesn't really out you as a major nerd. Also easy to bring into professional settings.

 

My conclusion on the SteamPortable™ is that it's going to serve a very niche market. I can't really see it as anything but a secondary device. And from my perspective, having it look like a gaming device isn't helping. I'd rather use actual controllers I can hook up than something build in. I also tried holding a Switch and it was so uncomfortable in my hands that I immediately dispelled all thoughts of buying one. I feel the SteamPortable™ is going to be similar, but is has been working for the Switch, so let's wait and see.

[Quackers101]

36 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

My conclusion on the SteamPortable™ is that it's going to serve a very niche market. I can't really see it as anything but a secondary device. And from my perspective, having it look like a gaming device isn't helping. I'd rather use actual controllers I can hook up than something build in. I also tried holding a Switch and it was so uncomfortable in my hands that I immediately dispelled all thoughts of buying one. I feel the SteamPortable™ is going to be similar, but is has been working for the Switch, so let's wait and see.

agree. as a PC it will not do "well" but maybe well enough for those who wants to accept if for what it is as the niche crowd. It could hopefully open up something new, like the seen linux support (no matter how good or bad it will be). where the housing/main components becomes a bit too much, where having the screen or controls somewhere else could be a bit nicer. so not all the weight are in your hands and hopefully able to push more performance or graphic performance and reduce some of the drawbacks of it being an handheld. (becomes an upgraded Nvidia shield portable TM).

 

also hope that at least steam deck will see some handheld titles or rather ports like with the switch and the like, as in stuff it can actually run. Not some AAA title that barely runs and makes it as an upgrade from the switch very pointless for some.

 

to different Android gaming aspects.

From various addons for your phone etc.

Like the mentioned nvidia shield portable and ASUS "gaming phones".

(N shield portable)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSWCJxS0-HA

LTT Gaming phone with the more expensive set, can get cheaper dual screen phone setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUzKDO3ue1I

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Quackers101
Added links for Shield and LTT

[I._.T]

How Do the Touch pads work

[Corny_Weeds]

I would really love to run Windows XP on the Steam Deck because it's a light OS and then use my unlimited power to run Skyrim on max settings.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Corny_Weeds
clarification