Steamdeck was my daily driving computer for months, here are some issues I've had.

[Kaptain Komodo]

I wanted it to be a perfect experience like many people did. The longer I use the Steamdeck, the more obvious the flaws and the fact that it's mostly experimental hardware.

If you're coming from years of Windows use, Linux will very quickly show its shortcomings to you. As the deck was my daily PC, I found that I was subject to using programs that very few people had experience with. It was most apparent in office and editing applications. This isn't 100% a fault of the Steamdeck but the lack of solid support for Windows leaves it hampered in using it for anything but video games.

It was a huge chore and very frustrating to scour the Linux atmosphere for word programs that were compatible with the standard Windows formats. Since people don't have as much experience with Linux as we do Windows, I was left mostly having to trust strange applications that may or may not do what I expected/hoped they would do.

I understand that this is mostly the Linux experience since it's still a very underused operating system.


There is; however, a bigger issue I have with the Steamdeck and it comes back around to the very thing it has been largely advertised for; playing games. Over the past few months I have tried playing many "Steamdeck verified" games. I've noticed that despite a lot of these games being "verified" that some of them still crash on a fairly regular basis. (Enough to avoid playing them)

It makes me particularly frustrated that *someone* played these games and still verified their playability on the deck, despite the crashes and general lack of quality control. *Someone* played through Crash Bandicoot but must have stopped after the first few levels. Once you get past the first few, the game really chugs along and crashes to "desktop" or just outright forces your Steamdeck to restart. It should be noted that the system failures or crashing still happen even if you have the lowest settings and limit FPS to the lowest amount of 33 fps.

*Someone* played and verified Noita but the controls haven't been mapped properly and you need to enter desktop mode in order to remap. *Someone* played and verified Skyrim but the controls haven't been mapped properly and you need to etc etc.

I only bring up these specific games because they are a part of a larger pattern that happens with many of the verified titles. I took "steamdeck verified" as something that meant "plays mostly flawlessly at lowest settings" but still didn't really have that expectation met. It feels a bit disingenuous on Valve's part.


I wanted to make a more thoughtful discussion than saying something like company bad or product bad. I think a system like this has a lot of potential but that potential seems further away from being recognized than I thought going into this and making the purchase.

This is just one idiots' thoughts on the matter but I hope it helps someone out there.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Deck forum...

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/

[Kaptain Komodo]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Deck forum...

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/

:qr:

Yeah, thanks. I was considering cross-posting it, just noticed that there were still questions being asked about Steamdeck outside of that forum.

[Marazipan]

Outside of gaming use it sounds you had unrealistic expectations of what the deck was designed for:

On Steam Deck, your games run on a different operating system than the one on your desktop PC. It's a new version of SteamOS, built with Steam Deck in mind and optimized for a handheld gaming experience.

[wuddih]

Originally posted by Marazipan:

Outside of gaming use it sounds you had unrealistic expectations of what the deck was designed for:

On Steam Deck, your games run on a different operating system than the one on your desktop PC. It's a new version of SteamOS, built with Steam Deck in mind and optimized for a handheld gaming experience.

if you plug in a keyboard, mouse and display, go into desktop, you should not even notice that it is "optimized for gaming" as you don't even have to hold it in your hands. it will than act as any computer with a bit more beef than a standard thin client.

it just seems just because it has a controller attached to it and Steam runs by default, it is considered "limited" to or "optimized" for gaming.
the hardware isn't and also the core software on it also really isn't.

and i am really baffled about this:

Originally posted by Kaptain Komodo:

I found that I was subject to using programs that very few people had experience with. It was most apparent in office and editing applications.
[...]
It was a huge chore and very frustrating to scour the Linux atmosphere for word programs that were compatible with the standard Windows formats.

many on windows popular programs are cross-platform.
i have zero issues with switching between windows an linux for productive tasks as you can simply use the very same and also popular programs.

few examples:
office? open/libreoffice
video? lightworks
image? gimp
code? eclipse

all have large enough if not massive user bases to solve nearly all usage issues. open/libreoffice should be a complete replacement for ms office and not just for basic documents.

the only problem with linux is really just gaming and that's an issue still to be solved, which i am glad that someone actually tries a bit harder on it.

on windows it is 99% a plug-and-play experience to play literally everything available for PC. Proton doesn't and wont get it to this point anytime soon.
compared to gaming on native Linux it is a big step forward but if you really try it for mainstream gaming ... it will not take long until you can't run a game or your plug-and-play experience gets devoured by an avalanche of troubleshooting.

but i really can't understand problems with Linux and productive tasks, other than it being a heavy conditioning to windows, even within windows versions ...

and i even know that is the reason as i also taught officials on using computer to do their job and the lectures had to be so precise that it began with "what is the start button and what does it?".
my brain tells me the disappearing of the word "start" from the button in windows 7 should not be any issue ... the officials looked me in the eyes and said: "no, that is completely different now, we can not understand that, the menu also looks completely different".
that was the day when i stopped being a shepherd.

"deck verified", for me, was straight out of the gate just a marketing tool, nothing more. it actually has less meaning to gaming on Linux than protondb has.

with the deck, i restrict my gaming usage to games that used popular game engines, no anti-cheat, was not old and not too demanding. then the deck is ok for gaming for a plug-and-play experience.
my ayaneo gets more use though because .. native windows and the word "portable" gets an actual meaning.
i still would have no issues with using both for productive tasks, i just have no reason to as i have windows as well as linux laptops and desktops available.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by Kaptain Komodo:

If you're coming from years of Windows use, Linux will very quickly show its shortcomings to you. As the deck was my daily PC, I found that I was subject to using programs that very few people had experience with. It was most apparent in office and editing applications.

So, how did the Switch compare in that area?

[AvidWriter]

Sounds like more of a Linux issue then a SD issue. You could dual boot Win 11 but I'm not sure how fast it would run etc. I'm slowly making the move from Windows to Linux and yes it's a bit of a change but with time you can customize more, have better options or open-source apps and in the end you are not locked up by M$ and their BS and spyware.