Make the Steam Deck Waterproof

[awen]

And at least have the fans on the bottom underside so if it rains it doesnt fry the deck... if you have to have speakers on the top make them waterproof.

[Dendrobates Tinctorius]

The obvious solution is to approach this from the other end. Make a steam deck that ONLY functions when it is raining. Put a big funnel to collect rain on it and then pipe that through instead of fans and air vents.

[Satoru]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Jessie:

Can it be used as a phone though? if not why ? that's how the iphone started out - a music player with phone functionality added on... why doesn't Valve just tack on a cheap cell module ? (would be a tiny module, it doesn't need much these days)

Note that while the chips are 'relatively' cheap, you still have to get all the other things in like antennas, power management, shielding etc in too. That still takes space and also power.

Then you've really only solved 50% of the problem. You now have the issue that SteamOS is not actually designed to use phones and has no phone UI/UX or anything. So you're now designing basic phone things like messages, mail, internet, contacts, dialing etc. All of which you still have to maintain. There's sort of a reason why otehr than Apple making their own iOS, basically everyone else is using Android.

[Tsubame ⭐]

Who plays on the rain? Even with a cellphone the only reason I would be using it outside is to take pictures or quickly trying to get my bearings.

[TGC> The Games Collector]

I doubt it's possible, or well, possible and still keep it affordable.
Like everyone says, there's the cooling issue.

The ol' gameboy and gamegear didn't really produce as much heat as laptops these days.

And Steamdeck is a bit more of a laptop in terms of hardware.
Would need quite a bit of engineering to waterproof it without downgrading anything.

[Thermal Lance]

Don’t forget the steam deck has repairability as a big plus.

A waterproof console would mean waterproof seals if we are really gonna do it proper. Bit like most cellphones sold today.

I mean, not a dealbreaker but I’d rather not have that kind of thing in the first place.

[Ducks on Fire]

Can't you just not play outside in the rain? This seems like a very easy problem to avoid.

[awen]

Replies on here all believe they can predict when it will start raining - LOL

[awen]

Want to know what is water resistant?
Android tablet computers (i can't say that for for all of them, just the ones i have used).
Mine has a silicone tight hugging case and tempered glass screen. all the ports are on one side that i either roughly hold my hand over when holding or have the ports at the bottom in portrait. the case completely waterproofs the buttons on another side. My tablet does not even have an exhaust vent and i doubt it vents through the speakers tiny holes, it must be an energy efficient processor and GPU with passive cooling, whilst still being powerful at the time of purchase.
I have tested mine sometimes getting it soaked by rain and all it has ever done on rare occasions is mess up the touch and freeze the screen a little, i just turn it off, wipe off the raindrops and get it out of the rain it works fine. It has never broken due to rain, it does not have water damage.
I realise that water proof is probably too hard to achieve, i believe it is possible just most manufacturers do not do so for whatever reasons. However there have been android phones said by the manufacturers to be water proof to so many feet of water.
I want to try a handheld Microsoft Surface Pro next to see if it has comparable water resistance to the android tablet. If it does this will suit me. These use the U line of Intel processors which are passively cooled usually and have an integrated not dedicated GPU, I mainly play strategy games anyway so i don't need a top end graphics card. Though android tablets have some great low temp low volt passively cooled GPU's, its just the PC graphic card manufacturers do not tend to go down that route.
I do not take my tablet computer outside when it is raining, however if it is not raining I do and sometimes it starts raining whilst I am using it. This is why water resistance is important for me. To give me the 10 seconds i need to pack away my tablet in a carrier bag when i have decided the rain is bad enough to go back inside. Some light rain i carry on playing it in the rain.
You cannot rely on a weather forecast to be correct. Nor can i not use my tablet computer if its cloudy, on the chance it will rain because it is cloudy a lot of the time here.
I like using my tablet computer outside and i do so most of the year round, i sit with my friend playing the computer together. I can connect to wifi in the garden and i have a 4g mobile data slot which i have used in the past that will work almost anywhere in my country.
That is what i call portable and mobility. Not just using it on public transport.
Because it seems the steam deck would die even to a little rain due port facings i will hold off purchasing one, it doesn't seem from the comments that it will ever be waterproof or water resistant. So be it.
LOL at water damaged / dead Nintendo switch inundating online marketplaces. I guess people also believe it should be used in the open air.
Could valve ever create a low voltage version, as time goes by low voltage versions of the same computing power of years before do come out.
Will valve put a disclaimer/warning for the steam deck stating it should never be used outside in the open air.

[Mad Scientist]

You're comparing very low power devices with basically a shrunken laptop, I doubt having basically no cooling would allow it to function without a thermal shutoff or damage to the unit.

This is like saying a modern version of a gameboy using a low power chip can be made strongly water resistant, and think you can cram a workstation into the size of a deck and not need active cooling.

It's also a handheld console, so for it to work as designed it's not going to be water resistant like a sealed unit that is a tablet. These are largely incomparable. If you want the features of tablets, stick to tablets. If you want a handheld console, it's going to be designed around that function, not water resistance and being sealed in more places. Stronger parts require better cooling.

[Gwarsbane]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από awen:

Replies on here all believe they can predict when it will start raining - LOL

OP thinks that something that needs to have air vents and a fan to keep it cool, that is as small as it can be made and as cool as it can be made, can be made waterproof without hurting its performance, making it more expensive, and making it too hot to touch while running. - LOL


There are water proof laptops out there, they are 5000+ plus, but hey if you want to use it while its raining you can. You can even use them while you have thick gloves on, though the over experience without gloves is annoying.

But if you want it to keep the same performance as it has now you will need to...

make it bigger, to contain all the heat pipes it would need to move the heat from the sealed in area to some place with a water proof fan.

make it heavier with all the extra cooling and water proof fans it would need.

make it harder to hold because the outer part would be much hotter to the touch.

make it FAR more expensive because everything you want would raise its cost big time.



Or you could just do the smart thing and put it away when it looks like its going to rain, or at least keep a plastic bag handy to put over it while you shut it down and put it away in a water proof case.

[Gwarsbane]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από awen:

Want to know what is water resistant?
Android tablet computers (i can't say that for for all of them, just the ones i have used).
Mine has a silicone tight hugging case and tempered glass screen. all the ports are on one side that i either roughly hold my hand over when holding or have the ports at the bottom in portrait. the case completely waterproofs the buttons on another side. My tablet does not even have an exhaust vent and i doubt it vents through the speakers tiny holes, it must be an energy efficient processor and GPU with passive cooling, whilst still being powerful at the time of purchase.
I have tested mine sometimes getting it soaked by rain and all it has ever done on rare occasions is mess up the touch and freeze the screen a little, i just turn it off, wipe off the raindrops and get it out of the rain it works fine. It has never broken due to rain, it does not have water damage.
I realise that water proof is probably too hard to achieve, i believe it is possible just most manufacturers do not do so for whatever reasons. However there have been android phones said by the manufacturers to be water proof to so many feet of water.
I want to try a handheld Microsoft Surface Pro next to see if it has comparable water resistance to the android tablet. If it does this will suit me. These use the U line of Intel processors which are passively cooled usually and have an integrated not dedicated GPU, I mainly play strategy games anyway so i don't need a top end graphics card. Though android tablets have some great low temp low volt passively cooled GPU's, its just the PC graphic card manufacturers do not tend to go down that route.
I do not take my tablet computer outside when it is raining, however if it is not raining I do and sometimes it starts raining whilst I am using it. This is why water resistance is important for me. To give me the 10 seconds i need to pack away my tablet in a carrier bag when i have decided the rain is bad enough to go back inside. Some light rain i carry on playing it in the rain.
You cannot rely on a weather forecast to be correct. Nor can i not use my tablet computer if its cloudy, on the chance it will rain because it is cloudy a lot of the time here.
I like using my tablet computer outside and i do so most of the year round, i sit with my friend playing the computer together. I can connect to wifi in the garden and i have a 4g mobile data slot which i have used in the past that will work almost anywhere in my country.
That is what i call portable and mobility. Not just using it on public transport.
Because it seems the steam deck would die even to a little rain due port facings i will hold off purchasing one, it doesn't seem from the comments that it will ever be waterproof or water resistant. So be it.
LOL at water damaged / dead Nintendo switch inundating online marketplaces. I guess people also believe it should be used in the open air.
Could valve ever create a low voltage version, as time goes by low voltage versions of the same computing power of years before do come out.
Will valve put a disclaimer/warning for the steam deck stating it should never be used outside in the open air.

Do you even know the differences between an android tablet and the steam deck? The deck is basically a laptop squished down in size.

Its FAR more powerful than an android tablet.
Runs FAR hotter than an android tablet.
Can run far more programs than an android tablet.

Its like trying to compare a bike to car. Sure they will both get you to your location, but one will do it much better and faster than the other.

[Flavius Claudius Julianus]

You’ve been playing in the toilet too much haven’t ya?

I haven’t tested if it’s waterproof yet but I can confirm wiping poop from it’s esges is quite an easy process. Would not really recommend continue bringing it to the toilet though.

[awen]

Ever heard of an apple M2 chip?
Check out those benchmarks.
Its in the new iPad Pro.
Its basically a tablet computer.

Does the steam deck running a 1280x800 screen need to have the fastest GPU it could possibly have?
Potentially could a lower voltage GPU suffice.

[awen]

I believe you can make a rough comparison of components if the battery is around the same power (watts?)...
apples vs oranges
steam deck vs tablet computer
If they have around the same power from the battery the potential (speed etc) is similar.
Whereas laptop's have far more power consumption, I would not compare them?

[Washell]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από awen:

Replies on here all believe they can predict when it will start raining - LOL

There's an app for that.