Regarding the steam deck and repair

[Kuroki]

One of the major issues I see with the steam deck is that the buttons and joysticks are not easily replaceable. Deadzones, buttons jamming, buttons dying, buttons getting sticky, less responsive, etc over time is a massive issue and these will die long before the hardware does.


I would like to see some sort of system where components can be easily replaced.

I understand nintendo has the patent for detachable side-things (joycons, so to speak), so that's out of the question.

(Maybe by use of a special tool/wrench/"key" as to prevent it from happening accidentally (such as with a standard "locking" mechanism), things like the joysticks, 4 buttons or touchpads can be easily removed to have a new one put in its place, rather than have to RMA it or buy a new one every time one of these things fails, which they will, with purchasable replacements. This would work from a sales standpoint too, as people would buy new ones as soon as the old ones started getting worn out, as the hassle of needing to send it in for full repairs is gone.)

Or maybe your engineers and lawyers can find a way to have detachable controllers because that would be the best solution.

This is late in the engineering process, but a lot of people would rather have replaceable components than a sleek uniform design thats extremely tedious to replace and would require sending it in for repairs, then potentially the repair site scrapping an entire unit that would otherwise be in perfect condition.

I don't believe I'm alone in this concern. This was a major concern for the switch variant without replaceable joycons that stopped a lot of people from buying.

[AprilsRealm]

Originally posted by Tomoko Kuroki:

One of the major issues I see with the steam deck is that the buttons and joysticks are not easily replaceable. Deadzones, buttons jamming, buttons dying, buttons getting sticky, less responsive, etc over time is a massive issue and these will die long before the hardware does.


I would like to see some sort of system where components can be easily replaced.

I understand nintendo has the patent for detachable side-things (joycons, so to speak), so that's out of the question.

(Maybe by use of a special tool/wrench/"key" as to prevent it from happening accidentally (such as with a standard "locking" mechanism), things like the joysticks, 4 buttons or touchpads can be easily removed to have a new one put in its place, rather than have to RMA it or buy a new one every time one of these things fails, which they will, with purchasable replacements. This would work from a sales standpoint too, as people would buy new ones as soon as the old ones started getting worn out, as the hassle of needing to send it in for full repairs is gone.)

Or maybe your engineers and lawyers can find a way to have detachable controllers because that would be the best solution.

This is late in the engineering process, but a lot of people would rather have replaceable components than a sleek uniform design thats extremely tedious to replace and would require sending it in for repairs, then potentially the repair site scrapping an entire unit that would otherwise be in perfect condition.

I don't believe I'm alone in this concern. This was a major concern for the switch variant without replaceable joycons that stopped a lot of people from buying.

Not gonna happen.

The Steam Deck uses a custom AMD apu solution.

The motherboard is proprietary,
The APU is proprietary,
The RAM will be soldered in.

Only the Internal SSD/NVME will possibly be user replaceable as it has been confirmed to use a 2230 M.2 slot (smallest NVME form factor)

It'll be a return to valve/vendor for repair system.

[Joke]

Originally posted by adamsrealm:

Not gonna happen.

The Steam Deck uses a custom AMD apu solution.

The motherboard is proprietary,
The APU is proprietary,
The RAM will be soldered in.

Only the Internal SSD/NVME will possibly be user replaceable as it has been confirmed to use a 2230 M.2 slot (smallest NVME form factor)

It'll be a return to valve/vendor for repair system.

You quoted the OP's entire post, but apparently didn't read it.
Do that, and return with a better comment.

[Crazy Tiger]

OP, you have to factor in the possibility that Valve considered all that and decided this is the way to go.

[Supafly]

Originally posted by Joke:

Originally posted by adamsrealm:

Not gonna happen.

The Steam Deck uses a custom AMD apu solution.

The motherboard is proprietary,
The APU is proprietary,
The RAM will be soldered in.

Only the Internal SSD/NVME will possibly be user replaceable as it has been confirmed to use a 2230 M.2 slot (smallest NVME form factor)

It'll be a return to valve/vendor for repair system.

You quoted the OP's entire post, but apparently didn't read it.
Do that, and return with a better comment.

Love when people pull apart someone elses comment yet they themselves add nothing to the OP's actually thread.........Maybe follow your own advice and actually contribute to the thread????

OP- Part of the problem is warranties. Companies are preventing users from changing parts themselves because some owners actually make things worse rather than fix an issue. Look at phones. Years ago you could easily pop the battery out where as the vast majority of phones batteries are not user replaceable.

Don't get me wrong I'd much rather repair something myself if I could but I understand that from a business perspective it's safer if they do it to ensure it is done correctly

[Sazzouu]

We are talking about (pretty much) a PC here. This device (as almost any other electronical device on the market) comes with a two years warranty. Now why is this relevant to the topic? As long as your device breaks within those two years you should not worry about it at all. Send it back to Valve for whatever lets say $10 (which is about accurate from my location) and in a week or two you get your refurbished device back.

Now back to the part why it being a PC is relevant. We have seen quite huge leaps in the past few years espeically from AMD which is the partnered company on this topic. I would assume that in two years or even later no one will even think about getting their device repaired rather than picking up a new one as I suppose that they will improve, adapt and overcome many issues this first attempt will have. So in two years when your warranty dies out you will see a Steam Deck 2.0 or even DIY Steam Decks or maybe a modular one... everything is a guessing game here.

To sum things up. In the timeframe where it is relevant repairing should not be an issue at all.

[Joke]

Originally posted by Supafly:

Love when people pull apart someone elses comment yet they themselves add nothing to the OP's actually thread.........Maybe follow your own advice and actually contribute to the thread????

OP- Part of the problem is warranties. Companies are preventing users from changing parts themselves because some owners actually make things worse rather than fix an issue. Look at phones. Years ago you could easily pop the battery out where as the vast majority of phones batteries are not user replaceable.

Don't get me wrong I'd much rather repair something myself if I could but I understand that from a business perspective it's safer if they do it to ensure it is done correctly

What should I contribute? Should I repeat what the OP clearly wrote, only in baby-talk?

I guess I have to, because even you seems to have just skimmed it:

1. OP's suggestion is to have the device designed so the user can replace the parts most likely to fail through normal wear (joystick, buttons), without opening it up.

2, This could be done by designing the device so these parts can be replaced from the outside.
for example:

• Screw loosened from the front on the joystick module.
  
• Faulty joystick removed.
  
• New joystick module inserted.
  
• Tighten screw again.

The current design will cause the problems you hint at.
Joysticks and buttons will break out of warranty, so people will have to open it up and try to replace these parts themselves.
If the Steam Deck is really successful, then we might see the small phone repair shops (the type that offers to replace a screen while you wait) offering this service. Let's hope...

The reason we're not likely to see something like this is that the device is already designed.
Valve is not going to go back to the drawing board and redesign something they have already started selling. (And it would have made it more expensive if they did it.)

[Supafly]

Originally posted by Joke:

Originally posted by Supafly:

Love when people pull apart someone elses comment yet they themselves add nothing to the OP's actually thread.........Maybe follow your own advice and actually contribute to the thread????

OP- Part of the problem is warranties. Companies are preventing users from changing parts themselves because some owners actually make things worse rather than fix an issue. Look at phones. Years ago you could easily pop the battery out where as the vast majority of phones batteries are not user replaceable.

Don't get me wrong I'd much rather repair something myself if I could but I understand that from a business perspective it's safer if they do it to ensure it is done correctly

What should I contribute? Should I repeat what the OP clearly wrote, only in baby-talk?

I guess I have to, because even you seems to have just skimmed it:

1. OP's suggestion is to have the device designed so the user can replace the parts most likely to fail through normal wear (joystick, buttons), without opening it up.

2, This could be done by designing the device so these parts can be replaced from the outside.
for example:

• Screw loosened from the front on the joystick module.
  
• Faulty joystick removed.
  
• New joystick module inserted.
  
• Tighten screw again.

The current design will cause the problems you hint at.
Joysticks and buttons will break out of warranty, so people will have to open it up and try to replace these parts themselves.
If the Steam Deck is really successful, then we might see the small phone repair shops (the type that offers to replace a screen while you wait) offering this service. Let's hope...

The reason we're not likely to see something like this is that the device is already designed.
Valve is not going to go back to the drawing board and redesign something they have already started selling. (And it would have made it more expensive if they did it.)

I meant contribute to the thread not paraphrase OP. You picked at another users comment whilst adding 0 to the thread. That makes you just as bad if not worse and you look like a troll deliberately looking to pick a fight so I called you out for it. If you want to pick at someones comment at least ADD to the thread

[Kuroki]

Originally posted by Supafly:

Originally posted by Joke:

You quoted the OP's entire post, but apparently didn't read it.
Do that, and return with a better comment.

Love when people pull apart someone elses comment yet they themselves add nothing to the OP's actually thread.........Maybe follow your own advice and actually contribute to the thread????

OP- Part of the problem is warranties. Companies are preventing users from changing parts themselves because some owners actually make things worse rather than fix an issue. Look at phones. Years ago you could easily pop the battery out where as the vast majority of phones batteries are not user replaceable.

Don't get me wrong I'd much rather repair something myself if I could but I understand that from a business perspective it's safer if they do it to ensure it is done correctly

Oh don't you give me that "its more safe for the business to do it", did you ever catch fire or short out your phone when you replaced a battery on it before they removed the ability do it without prying your phone open?
This is about modular design that makes things easy to replace and repair so units do not become unusable within a few years. This is about making it just marginally harder than replacing unsoldered switches on a mechanical keyboard.
Did you ever short out your keyboard or burn your house down doing that?

Did you even break or damage your keyboard/phone doing that?

Do you actually believe the words that come out of your mouth? If someone's so incompetent that they can't swap out a modular component without breaking their entire system I will be amazed if they can even turn it on and get it working

[Kuroki]

Originally posted by Skeletor:

Problem is, once the warranty is out and if the controls stop working, that is it, there is nothing that can be done since Valve won't repair stuff that is out of warranty. Valve only has 1 year warranty on hardware.

This is one thing that will most likely make it so I don't end up buying it due to the lack of ability to repair/replace the controllers. Once the controllers die on it, then it just becomes a very small desktop PC, where you have to use bluetooth/wired controlling devices in order to use it.

I already have a really beefy PC but I'd consider getting one of these things for on-the-go if I could replace the components.
Like this seems really cool but not being able to easily repair it or replace components is keeping me away from it. I don't want a $600 paperweight after 2 years.

[kilésengati]

Replacing joycons (or some generic counterpart) has nothing to do with repair, it's replacement.
If Valve doesn't hinder parts and tool manufacturers in providing proprietary parts, equipment and the necessary schematics to independent repair shops and individual customers, I don't see concerns in terms of long-term repairability.

[Coffee]

Just pray the O' mighty Lord Gaben everytime you start it and it won't break.


Amen.

[Gubernaut]

I wish they would sell replacement components and make the design so it isn't too hard to replace things cause that is a concern with you're dealing with all-in-one type device

[kilésengati]

Originally posted by Gubernaut:

I wish they would sell replacement components and make the design so it isn't too hard to replace things cause that is a concern with you're dealing with all-in-one type device

In an ideal world, we could do that, but integration and miniaturisation helps making devices smaller, more powerful and more efficient. It's not that I would want to desolder a damaged chip or something myself anyway, I want the person I trust with my device to do the work for me at a fair price once it's out of warranty.

Originally posted by Tomoko Kuroki:

I don't believe I'm alone in this concern. This was a major concern for the switch variant without replaceable joycons that stopped a lot of people from buying.

The inability to even have professionals have devices repaired due to nonavailability of parts, tools and schematics is a concern for many products across many industries. I can absolutely recommend you, and others, the videos by Louis Rossmann (https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup). It's a bit dry sometimes, but it's absolutely worth watching if you want to understand the scope of this issue from the perspective of a computer repair professional.

[Coffee]

Originally posted by kilésengati:

Originally posted by Gubernaut:

I wish they would sell replacement components and make the design so it isn't too hard to replace things cause that is a concern with you're dealing with all-in-one type device

In an ideal world, we could do that, but integration and miniaturisation helps making devices smaller, more powerful and more efficient. It's not that I would want to desolder a damaged chip or something myself anyway, I want the person I trust with my device to do the work for me at a fair price once it's out of warranty.

Originally posted by Tomoko Kuroki:

I don't believe I'm alone in this concern. This was a major concern for the switch variant without replaceable joycons that stopped a lot of people from buying.

The inability to even have professionals have devices repaired due to nonavailability of parts, tools and schematics is a concern for many products across many industries. I can absolutely recommend you, and others, the videos by Louis Rossmann (https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup). It's a bit dry sometimes, but it's absolutely worth watching if you want to understand the scope of this issue from the perspective of a computer repair professional.

Louis Rossmann! <3
Was finding him damn whiny at the beginning but ended to love his work lol. So much fun to discuss with him during his lives too.

[Meatloaf Cocktail]

User replaceable parts would be nice but the R&D along with average-user knowledge would result in too many headaches for Valve. It could go down the switch route with joy-con style controls but then it's just a copy-cat and the overall product feels less premium imo.

R&D - simply designing removable parts would mean custom ordering parts that aren't industry standard. Drives up the price, naturally pushed on the consumer. This product is being sold as low as possible to drive store sales and pull consumers away from consoles / other handhelds.

Average-user - The average consumer is not smart (see: dumb). They will find a way to completely break the product resulting in a higher return rate regardless of serviceability. I work in the repair industry, you'd be surprised how such a simple task can be messed up so badly by someone.

End result - just send it back to Valve for service. Not great for the tech savvy user but there's a reason that, outside of PC building, you just don't see this granularity with parts in the industry.