Which Steam Deck model?

[GlaedrOromis]

I was waiting for the Steam Sale to buy the Steam Deck. The fact that the high-end unit has been reduced to the MSRP price of the mid-range model makes me think twice about buying it. Or I could save 100€, and buy the middle one. I was wondering if I could just buy an external SSD and plug it into the Steam Deck (256GB model) if needed. Is that possible?
And how is the anti-reflective glass? Would a matte protective film protect equally well from reflections or is the glass better?
Is the faster SSD of the 512 variant worth it compared to the 256 variant?
These are the questions I ask myself before buying.

[idrilpuckfay]

You can buy the lowest end model, get a top end ssd card, and open up the deck and install the card, or if you aren't comfortable with that bring it into a computer shop and they can install it for you. Then it becomes a level 3 deck or better, plus you have the external storage. Literally the only thing the mid and high end models have that the low end doesn't is a slightly better screen, but like its not a ton of a difference.

[Heraclius Caesar]

512 gb model definitely.

You can plug in an external SSD and/or a micro SD card. Personally I have the 512 gb + a 256 gb micro SD card and have no issues as far as space goes.

The anti-glare etched glass screen is great. Idk about the protective film, I know some folks swear by them and others can't stand them.

The 512 gb & the 256 gb have the same NVMe SSDs, the only different (and inferior) one is the 64 gb.

Whichever you choose have a blast man I love my Deck and I'm sure you'll love yours too.

[Komarimaru]

I got the best model for first one, regret it for the price for what you get, and just got the 64gb ones for the other two, and slapped in 2, 2TB 2230 nvme drives in each for 200 bucks each. Can get a 1TB for less.

[Mega Ultra Chicken]

I would recommend just going for the most expensive model right now since it's on sale. That way you don't have to mess around with opening it and installing your own storage. I bought the cheapest model because it wasn't on sale and I figured I could upgrade my storage later.

[ReBoot]

I went for the top-tier model for the screen. For obvious reasons, I was going to use my Deck for mobile gaming, train, park bench, you get the idea. I alps ended up using my Deck mostly for that and that anti-glare screen is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ godsend anywhere outside.

I took the additional storage as a welcome bonus on top (as well as justification for the price). I ended up plopping an SD card in there, but only because I had a spare one (actually a couple) anyway, I didn't buy one for the Deck.

Separate screen fouls are that: separate. You'll still get an optical boundary between the screen and the foil and boundaries is exactly what you don't want, if you want to reduce reflections.

[GlaedrOromis]

ReBoot eredeti hozzászólása:

I went for the top-tier model for the screen. For obvious reasons, I was going to use my Deck for mobile gaming, train, park bench, you get the idea. I alps ended up using my Deck mostly for that and that anti-glare screen is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ godsend anywhere outside.

I took the additional storage as a welcome bonus on top (as well as justification for the price). I ended up plopping an SD card in there, but only because I had a spare one (actually a couple) anyway, I didn't buy one for the Deck.

Separate screen fouls are that: separate. You'll still get an optical boundary between the screen and the foil and boundaries is exactly what you don't want, if you want to reduce reflections.

Thanks for the detailed answer :)
One more question came to my mind.
Is it possible to connect it to the TV without a docking station?

[Mailer]

Personally I bought the 256GB version on the last sale just to have a fast SSD available, and I didn't feel comfortable opening the deck so soon after purchase to install something better.

Now I've also gotten a larger SD card to complement the storage, which is great because now I get to decide whether to put games on the faster or slower storage whenever it proves necessary.
Otherwise, you can expect SD cards to be fast enough to run most games anyway. That choice is pretty nice to have imo, especially if you want to do some stuff in desktop mode like emulation, so you don't bundle everything into one partition.

[ReBoot]

GlaedrOromis eredeti hozzászólása:

ReBoot eredeti hozzászólása:

I went for the top-tier model for the screen. For obvious reasons, I was going to use my Deck for mobile gaming, train, park bench, you get the idea. I alps ended up using my Deck mostly for that and that anti-glare screen is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ godsend anywhere outside.

I took the additional storage as a welcome bonus on top (as well as justification for the price). I ended up plopping an SD card in there, but only because I had a spare one (actually a couple) anyway, I didn't buy one for the Deck.

Separate screen fouls are that: separate. You'll still get an optical boundary between the screen and the foil and boundaries is exactly what you don't want, if you want to reduce reflections.

Thanks for the detailed answer :)
One more question came to my mind.
Is it possible to connect it to the TV without a docking station?

That depends on how narrow you define the term "docking station". If you mean that thing where you put your Dock into, you don't need those. There's no shortage bar-shaped USB-C docks out there with video output. I've seen people referring to those as "hub" though (I guess, because they look similar to USB hubs despite being docks), do you call those "dock" or "hub"?

Well, you don't really NEED one of those either. You can also get a simple USB-C-HDMI-adapter. Those ain't docks by any Definition, they don't Power the Deck though so you'll end up running low on battery power while playing on your TV which is kinda dumb but if that's what you want, go ahead!

The easiest option would be using the USB-C input on your TV if it has one. Monitors with those feed power to the attached device.

[Angel666]

My steam Account shows there all sold out.....

[Mailer]

Angel666 eredeti hozzászólása:

My steam Account shows there all sold out.....

If you are ordering from the UK then it is likely sold out, as most people are saying on the Steam Deck forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/

[GlaedrOromis]

Angel666 eredeti hozzászólása:

My steam Account shows there all sold out.....

Should be a display error. Had that myself yesterday.

[GlaedrOromis]

ReBoot eredeti hozzászólása:

GlaedrOromis eredeti hozzászólása:

Thanks for the detailed answer :)
One more question came to my mind.
Is it possible to connect it to the TV without a docking station?

That depends on how narrow you define the term "docking station". If you mean that thing where you put your Dock into, you don't need those. There's no shortage bar-shaped USB-C docks out there with video output. I've seen people referring to those as "hub" though (I guess, because they look similar to USB hubs despite being docks), do you call those "dock" or "hub"?

Well, you don't really NEED one of those either. You can also get a simple USB-C-HDMI-adapter. Those ain't docks by any Definition, they don't Power the Deck though so you'll end up running low on battery power while playing on your TV which is kinda dumb but if that's what you want, go ahead!

The easiest option would be using the USB-C input on your TV if it has one. Monitors with those feed power to the attached device.

I was referring to the steam docking station. Whether it is really necessary to spend 80€ to play on the TV or buy a cable or something for less money.

[ReBoot]

GlaedrOromis eredeti hozzászólása:

ReBoot eredeti hozzászólása:

That depends on how narrow you define the term "docking station". If you mean that thing where you put your Dock into, you don't need those. There's no shortage bar-shaped USB-C docks out there with video output. I've seen people referring to those as "hub" though (I guess, because they look similar to USB hubs despite being docks), do you call those "dock" or "hub"?

Well, you don't really NEED one of those either. You can also get a simple USB-C-HDMI-adapter. Those ain't docks by any Definition, they don't Power the Deck though so you'll end up running low on battery power while playing on your TV which is kinda dumb but if that's what you want, go ahead!

The easiest option would be using the USB-C input on your TV if it has one. Monitors with those feed power to the attached device.

I was referring to the steam docking station. Whether it is really necessary to spend 80€ to play on the TV or buy a cable or something for less money.

You know, there's docks extra for the Deck that cost around 35 bucks. Whoever told you, you needed the official dock, lied.