Opinions on steam deck

[Funky Monk]

Do you think it’s worth it? I’m thinking of buying it, wanna play my rouge-likes while I travel

[Boblin the Goblin]

It's already released...

[Funky Monk]

Originally posted by KittenGrindr:

It's already released...

Is it? I must have confused the dates, I’ll edit my post then

[Cathulhu]

It was released February 25th, 2022. Almost a year ago.
These days you can order them without waiting months in a queue.

[Funky Monk]

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

It was released February 25th, 2022. Almost a year ago.
These days you can order them without waiting months in a queue.

For some reason i thought it was still in the pre-order phase. Well do you think it's worth it? Or is a gaming laptop a better choice?

[Satoru]

Ultimately it depends on what you want

A gaming laptop is less portable, but it is going to be more capable and run more games.

The SteamDeck is more portable but may not run the particular games you want. I would recommend looking at some games you like and ensure they are compatible with the SteamDeck

Perhaps the best way to think about it is

Do you want

1) a laptop that can play games?

Or

2) a switch that can play some PC games

Yes this is not “technically accurate” but I’m more trying to make you think about what you want and how you want to use your device, which should then galvanize which device type is more what you’re looking for

[Funky Monk]

Originally posted by Satoru:

Ultimately it depends on what you want

A gaming laptop is less portable, but it is going to be more capable and run more games.

The SteamDeck is more portable but may not run the particular games you want. I would recommend looking at some games you like and ensure they are compatible with the SteamDeck

Perhaps the best way to think about it is

Do you want

1) a laptop that can play games?

Or

2) a switch that can play some PC games

Yes this is not “technically accurate” but I’m more trying to make you think about what you want and how you want to use your device, which should then galvanize which device type is more what you’re looking for

I'm not looking to play the likes of Elden ring. I wanna play rogue-likes such as Binding of Isaac or Hades. The most demanding game that i'd play on it would be Warframe.

[invision2212]

Originally posted by Funky Monk:

Originally posted by Satoru:

Ultimately it depends on what you want

A gaming laptop is less portable, but it is going to be more capable and run more games.

The SteamDeck is more portable but may not run the particular games you want. I would recommend looking at some games you like and ensure they are compatible with the SteamDeck

Perhaps the best way to think about it is

Do you want

1) a laptop that can play games?

Or

2) a switch that can play some PC games

Yes this is not “technically accurate” but I’m more trying to make you think about what you want and how you want to use your device, which should then galvanize which device type is more what you’re looking for

I'm not looking to play the likes of Elden ring. I wanna play rogue-likes such as Binding of Isaac or Hades. The most demanding game that i'd play on it would be Warframe.

To give you an idea of what the deck is capable of, I played resident evil 8 village at a near constant 60fps with a mix of medium and high settings.

[wuddih]

Originally posted by Funky Monk:

For some reason i thought it was still in the pre-order phase.

might wanna double check that. Deck via Steam only ships to NA, Eurozone+Poland and UK. all other countries can only do a reservation/wishlist, turkey f.e.

[invision2212]

Here’s a bunch of screenshots from the deck to give you an idea of what it can play and it’s frame rate in the corner

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2866485460

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2880487771

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2895879891

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2903372784

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2910518104

[76561199281265327]

in all honestly i wanna say no its not worth it, from what i seen of reviews, the device has very poor battery power and over heats which makes the battery consumption even higher, several articles on it becoming hot in players hands are out, plus the quality of device , the postion of the hands and the small view screen seem to really be some downsides of the device.

i am not hating on steam deck id love to try one i have not, but after reading what other people say about wishing they could refund it, i am skeptical.

I use a tablet for most of my travel gaming, there are lots of free google pplay games that run on tablets where all you need is a wifi and some are even offline so you can play while traveling.

i don't know if steam deck requires a log in to work, that would be pretty bad if it did, cause alot of times people traveling don't have wifi anyay to get the game they want installed. and if steam deck wouldn't access a game while offline that would be very bad.

preload and install your games before traveling as well, because you might run into very poor wifi connection with extremely bottle necked downloads.

[Haruspex]

I have a Steam Deck.
It's absolutely worth it if you find value in being able to play your PC games portably in a handheld format. Not everyone does, and that's fine.

In terms of the criticisms, some are valid. Battery life is a big one, but it's not so much a criticism of the Deck itself and more a criticism of the state of lithium battery tech today. It wouldn't be possible to improve the battery life without either massively increasing the size and weight of the device, or decreasing the power and performance. It's strikes a good balance of these two considering. Absolute worst case scenario in very demanding games, you'll get 1 1/2 hours. Best case scenario is 6-8 hours in less demanding titles. You can play while it's plugged in to the wall, of course, negating the battery entirely. An external battery pack can also be a good idea if you feel you won't be near an outlet any time soon.

It can't run every game, and accounts critical of the Deck will focus on the games it can't run. Truth is there are thousands and thousands of games it will happily run on Steam alone, and countless more outside of Steam. Any prospective buyer should do a quick reality check to make sure the games they want to play will run on the Deck.

There can be some jankiness outside of the most common use cases. There are plenty of complaints about playing it docked or using outside controllers, while others seem to have absolutely no problems there. It is a PC, and that can sometimes necessitate doing some troubleshooting, but since the Deck is running Linux it can baffle many people who are more familiar with Windows. The community is very good though and chances are someone has already solved any issue you might come across, and they've probably posted a solution.

Other criticisms are from people who just want to see the Deck fail for some reason. Maybe they're Nintendo fans and they feel like the Deck is somehow a threat to their beloved hybrid Nintendo system. Maybe they're awful and toxic PC gaming elitists who want to feel superior to anyone who plays on "lesser" hardware, using "inferior" control methods. Maybe they're just salty because they want one and can't afford it, or their mom said "No." Much of the most intense criticism comes from people who have never even held a Deck.

Ultimately the decision of whether or not it's worth it to you is up to you. All I can say is do a bit of research. Make sure it will play the games you want to play. Make sure you'll actually use it. If you're never away from your capable gaming desktop, you probably won't.

[76561199281265327]

i will admit that i am deffinatly salty over the price for the device, 400 is a bit much and 700 is deffinatly not worth it, same can be said with VR headsets, price is a must for all gamers. it would be in bad taste to spend several 100 on a device that is subpar and prone to drops and or breaks.

Nintendo took a massive step backwards with the switch, which is in comparison to the Wii U junk, i personally liked the Wii U it was much like the steam deck is representing. the downside is steam deck doesn't have a HDMI wireless broadcaster, it needs one. Nintendos switch controlers are also bothersome and junkie, it is nice you can replace them if one breaks without a new device, something steam should be looking into.

Some good options are extra portable battery packs for sure, but again heat issues and running the deck while its charging is dangerous, pluging it in won't stop it from charging a battery, it will only charge the battery while running, so you will still get heat issues.

i will give you a good example, i had a wifi Speaker that broke the power connection. i was able to rig a portable battery pack to the main battery terminal and skip using the onboard charging cable to power it. the battery pack that is installed stil charges, but an additional battery pack with its own power plug is linked to the device now, it charges both so the bluetooth speaker now gets 3 times the battery power as it use to. i don't recomemnd doing that to your steam deck but steam could always come out with a battery pack expander.

Originally posted by 8bitbeard:

Other criticisms are from people who just want to see the Deck fail for some reason. Maybe they're Nintendo fans and they feel like the Deck is somehow a threat to their beloved hybrid Nintendo system. Maybe they're awful and toxic PC gaming elitists who want to feel superior to anyone who plays on "lesser" hardware, using "inferior" control methods. Maybe they're just salty because they want one and can't afford it, or their mom said "No." Much of the most intense criticism comes from people who have never even held a Deck.

ive never held a deck but have read alot of reviews, and have a life time of portable hand held devices , gamegear, gameboy, tablets, lynx, wii u, switch, turbographx portable, the all fall into the same catagory, batteries, the battery life on the switch and the fact it has to be docked to enjoy a tv makes it a huge mistake, same with the steam deck, having to dock it to enjoy a big screen is just a no brainer with todays over sized flat screens,

if steam is going to make a steam deck 2 they need to
1. increase battery life
2. make it hdmi connectable to smart tvs and hdmi devices while its being held
3. make the controllers replaceable cause nerds love to eat greasy potato chips while playing on hand helds.

im not hating on the steam deck but when people who buy it start talking about refunds you know there are issues that nobody wants to tell you.

[Funky Monk]

Thanks everyone for the answers :)

[invision2212]

Originally posted by New Login for Fallout76:

i will admit that i am deffinatly salty over the price for the device, 400 is a bit much and 700 is deffinatly not worth it, same can be said with VR headsets, price is a must for all gamers. it would be in bad taste to spend several 100 on a device that is subpar and prone to drops and or breaks.

Nintendo took a massive step backwards with the switch, which is in comparison to the Wii U junk, i personally liked the Wii U it was much like the steam deck is representing. the downside is steam deck doesn't have a HDMI wireless broadcaster, it needs one. Nintendos switch controlers are also bothersome and junkie, it is nice you can replace them if one breaks without a new device, something steam should be looking into.

Some good options are extra portable battery packs for sure, but again heat issues and running the deck while its charging is dangerous, pluging it in won't stop it from charging a battery, it will only charge the battery while running, so you will still get heat issues.

i will give you a good example, i had a wifi Speaker that broke the power connection. i was able to rig a portable battery pack to the main battery terminal and skip using the onboard charging cable to power it. the battery pack that is installed stil charges, but an additional battery pack with its own power plug is linked to the device now, it charges both so the bluetooth speaker now gets 3 times the battery power as it use to. i don't recomemnd doing that to your steam deck but steam could always come out with a battery pack expander.

Originally posted by 8bitbeard:

Other criticisms are from people who just want to see the Deck fail for some reason. Maybe they're Nintendo fans and they feel like the Deck is somehow a threat to their beloved hybrid Nintendo system. Maybe they're awful and toxic PC gaming elitists who want to feel superior to anyone who plays on "lesser" hardware, using "inferior" control methods. Maybe they're just salty because they want one and can't afford it, or their mom said "No." Much of the most intense criticism comes from people who have never even held a Deck.

ive never held a deck but have read alot of reviews, and have a life time of portable hand held devices , gamegear, gameboy, tablets, lynx, wii u, switch, turbographx portable, the all fall into the same catagory, batteries, the battery life on the switch and the fact it has to be docked to enjoy a tv makes it a huge mistake, same with the steam deck, having to dock it to enjoy a big screen is just a no brainer with todays over sized flat screens,

if steam is going to make a steam deck 2 they need to
1. increase battery life
2. make it hdmi connectable to smart tvs and hdmi devices while its being held
3. make the controllers replaceable cause nerds love to eat greasy potato chips while playing on hand helds.

im not hating on the steam deck but when people who buy it start talking about refunds you know there are issues that nobody wants to tell you.

400.00 is a bargain considering you get everything you need minus a sd-card to start gaming.
there is no overheating issue and i play mine on the charger almost 100% of the time for hours, and its been 6 months and the battery health is 99%

the battery doesnt constantly charge either. once it reaches 100% it stops charging and switches to direct power mode so the battery doesnt get over charged or constantly charged.
the steam deck is by far one of the most comfortable controllers ive held and fits in the hand perfectly.

you can also replace the thumb stick analogs as steam sells them via partner ifixit for 20.00
you can replace almost anything in the deck is it breaks, something you cannot do with any other major handheld.

you admit you never used one and it clearly shows

[Campo]

100% worth it