Steam Deck (Portable PC Gaming Console)

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Handle9

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#3158396 11-Nov-2023 20:24

Why wouldn’t you just rent an lcd one and find out?

If you find yourself liking the form factor then you can choose a device that suits but for a POC you don’t need a perfect device.

I’ve got a very good gaming pc but use my steam deck far more as I can play on the couch while my wife watches a movie etc.

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#3158403 11-Nov-2023 20:28

Handle9: Why wouldn’t you just rent an lcd one and find out?

I’ve got a very good gaming pc but use my steam deck far more as I can play on the couch while my wife watches a movie etc.

Yeah, I guess I could. It was interesting, because when I watched the Steam Deck Review it totally put me off, but when I got my hands on an actual ROG Ally I feel a little in love with it.

The kinds of games I like to play are things like Xcom etc. I am unsure how practical it would be to play those without a proper mouse.

I'll give it some thought re renting the LCD one, I am definitely the guy who finds it easier to decide if I see what I am actually going to buy.

Handle9

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#3158407 11-Nov-2023 20:36

IMO the easiest way to think of the Steam Deck and Ally is as consoles. If it’s a game you’d play on a console or with a controller it’ll likely be good on them. It’s not a gaming pc.

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#3158463 12-Nov-2023 09:35

Handle9: IMO the easiest way to think of the Steam Deck and Ally is as consoles. If it’s a game you’d play on a console or with a controller it’ll likely be good on them. It’s not a gaming pc.

Yeah, as much as something like this interests the magpie in me, I can really see a fairly limited number of games I'd play and a fairly limited number of times I'd actually use it, and for the expense, I could probably find a better spend of the money.

I'll probably try and borrow or rent one first and then make a final decision. The significant battery life improvement and my own love affair with OLED, means the steam deck, previously discounted in favour of the Ally, is now a contender once again. Lenovo also have something coming, though my gut feeling, they don't have the gaming DNA of Steam or Asus ROG to make their software shine against the others.

SpartanVXL

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#3158867 13-Nov-2023 09:55

networkn:
SpartanVXL: OLED model is very nice, much better screen, improved power efficiency along with a bigger battery at the same price points. (Slight performance increase from the increased memory speeds)

Are you going off personal experience with the device? I am quite torn, I am trying to decide between the OLED Steam Deck (Should be available by Xmas in the US?) or the Rog Ally. I was really keen to rent a ROG Ally for a couple of weeks and see if I was going to get any use of it.

Yes, I have the LCD model and probably it’s only slight downside is the screen doesn’t have the best colours and the battery could last a bit longer for more demanding games. It’s still quite serviceable but the OLED simply improves on these. With the expected price points getting the oled model is a no brainer. If you have one already, it’s tempting but not really worth it unless it’s your main device.

As for Deck usage, if you don’t really move around much or travel then you’ll likely not get much use out of it. It’s better thought of a replacement for a gaming laptop, far more portable so you can take with you while travelling or just moving to the couch/bed.

I find I don’t really use it at home since I have a far better PC + OLED but have used it at friends places and showed it off at work to colleagues who were previously resigned to having no time to play anymore to now thinking about getting one.

The console-like instant pause is probably the best feature for pick up and go play, works really well for single-player games. I’ve slowly been getting though a backlog in my steam library by just plying in small chunks of time that I wouldn’t have bothered booting up the PC for.

Edit: rog ally and lenovo go are nice, but they lose a lot of what Valve have put into the deck for portable gaming. They’re closer to the traditional gaming laptops, more performant but more power hungry and likely to be stuck with a power cord. Windows does get rid of any headaches with game compatibility but the streamlined features of steamOS are missing like the sleep mode. Plus I trust Valve far more than Asus or Lenovo for support, the latter doesn’t have the best track record for their other products.

Silvrav

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#3158871 13-Nov-2023 10:00

Nah for me - Will upgrade when the steam deck 2.0 lands with better hardware. Battery is non issue for me as I play plugged in most of the time and when I do travel I have a decent power bank that will extend my play time by hours. OLED sure does look nice, but its not a worthy upgrade for me (did the same with the Nintendo and realised it wasn't worth the price)

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#3158877 13-Nov-2023 10:18

As for Deck usage, if you don’t really move around much or travel then you’ll likely not get much use out of it. It’s better thought of a replacement for a gaming laptop, far more portable so you can take with you while travelling or just moving to the couch/bed.

Yes, so the use case for me would be if I was playing a PC only game that I wanted to play on holiday or a game that was better suited to PC. In those instances, the games I'm wanting to play are unlikely to be suited to the Deck style gaming anyways, so I think that pretty much makes this not a good use case for me. Probably could spend money elsewhere that would get more use.

Silvrav

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#3158878 13-Nov-2023 10:20

networkn:

As for Deck usage, if you don’t really move around much or travel then you’ll likely not get much use out of it. It’s better thought of a replacement for a gaming laptop, far more portable so you can take with you while travelling or just moving to the couch/bed.

Yes, so the use case for me would be if I was playing a PC only game that I wanted to play on holiday or a game that was better suited to PC. In those instances, the games I'm wanting to play are unlikely to be suited to the Deck style gaming anyways, so I think that pretty much makes this not a good use case for me. Probably could spend money elsewhere that would get more use.

well, if you have a good PC you can also stream games from your PC to the deck, so the PC does the brunt of the processing and you have smooth, high frames on the deck.

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#3158880 13-Nov-2023 10:25

Silvrav:

well, if you have a good PC you can also stream games from your PC to the deck, so the PC does the brunt of the processing and you have smooth, high frames on the deck.

Sure, except, as I mentioned, the issue isn't I can't play those games, it's just they wouldn't be fun to play in that format. Think Xcom, CIV, Xenonauts, real time strat games.

As @handle9 said, it's more as a portable console, so FPS, action arcade games are suited to it, but if I wanted to play those, I'd play them on the console I usually travel with.

SpartanVXL

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#3158889 13-Nov-2023 10:47

Games that have controller support will work, I can’t remember if Civ or Xcom have one but if they do then it should work straight away. The haptic trackpad works really well too for cursor movement, I’ve tried out Starcraft and a more recent RTS called Desynced. I think even Age of Empires 4 has a controller scheme, I might try that later. A friend also got the Deck to play WoW classic with a hotspot when he’s out and about.

You can always hook up a bluetooth/usbc mouse+kb if you want as well. Many different ways of using it. I will say though, I don’t stream to it much since my main pc display is much better. Probably one big reason to get the OLED model :)

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#3158941 13-Nov-2023 10:57

SpartanVXL: Games that have controller support will work, I can’t remember if Civ or Xcom have one but if they do then it should work straight away. The haptic trackpad works really well too for cursor movement, I’ve tried out Starcraft and a more recent RTS called Desynced. I think even Age of Empires 4 has a controller scheme, I might try that later. A friend also got the Deck to play WoW classic with a hotspot when he’s out and about.

You can always hook up a bluetooth/usbc mouse+kb if you want as well. Many different ways of using it. I will say though, I don’t stream to it much since my main pc display is much better. Probably one big reason to get the OLED model :)

I mean if I was going to stream it, or start attaching accessories to it, then I may as well use my mobile phone. Some games, even if they CAN be made to work, aren't suited.

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