Everything Should Be As Easy to Upgrade As the Steam Deck - Wired

Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzmod to Steam Deck@sopuli.xyz – 494 points –
Everything Should Be As Easy to Upgrade As the Steam Deck
wired.com

I doubt this is news to anyone here, but always good to see positive coverage of the Deck

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I've replaced the screen and the fan. Both were pretty simple. I did fuck up with the screen replacement (didn't reconnect the audio jack I think?), but you can disassemble and reassemble the whole thing pretty quickly. And the ifixit guides are really good.

What screen did you upgrade to?

I have the 512gb model, so I just got that version.

I just got mine last week and have been playing it non stop. I had so many games that I wanted to play, but hate playing on a desktop since it’s more enjoyable to play when I’m with my wife and her switch or as she watches tv.

Such a big backlog.

I got the 64gb version and plan to upgrade the ssd at some point.

As someone who ordered the 64GB version, they never should have sold that thing. The entire thing gets filled with shader cache so fast. Not to mention any software you actually want to run on the device like EmuDeck, Chryoutils, Heroic Launcher, etc. etc.

That was my concern at first, but I figured it can be upgraded easily enough.

I used to do computer repair, so I’m not worried about doing to upgrade.

If it would just default this stuff to the SD card, I’d be able to hold out for much longer.

You can move it but it is not recommended. Plus having to constantly micromanage what is or goes where is tedious.

Upgrading the SSD is very easy, hope you enjoy your new deck!

How easy are we talking? I have literally 0 experience doing anything like that. I do have basic tech knowledge, but I haven't customized any sort of computer since the early 2000's (and even then we're talking simply installing a new graphics card).

I want a steam deck, but I want more, and faster storage.

It's very easy if you've done anything like this before. I would definitely follow a full guide, but the basic process is that you have to remove the microSD, take a few tiny screws out, pop the back open, unplug the battery, take a few more screws out, remove the heat shield, swap the SSD, and then put it back together.

After that you need to reinstall steamOS on the new drive, so you need a way to plug a USB drive into the deck (a dock, type-c adapter, or a type c USB drive). You can install the steamOS recovery software to it following the online instructions, boot the deck into bios with the USB drive plugged in, pick to boot off the USB drive, and then hit reinstall steamOS once the recovery desktop loads up.

Only part where I've seen people have problems is by stripping out the screws on the back of the deck. You have to make sure you are using an appropriately sized screw driver and that you have it fully inserted into the screw before turning. This usually isn't hard to do, but if you strip a screw it can be hard to remove it.

Ya, that sounds way too complicated for my skill level. Guess I'll have to wait until they release one with more storage.

The article talks about the process. Author links to website with instructions. They said the whole process took them about an hour and was easy.

I got the 64gb version and just got a 1tb micro SD. It's slightly slower but once everything loads it's not noticable.

On my desktop, I was installing almost everything to a mechanical drive. At one point, I was using my NAS as a place to play games. So the SD card is perfectly fast.

I upgraded mine before I ever even turned it on. Now I just wish I'd gone with the 1tb instead of 512gb. I did get a hub, that allows me to connect external drive enclosures. A recent update just enabled auto-mounting external drives, which is nice.

I checked and the 1tb is only about $30 more than 512, so I think I’ll go that route so I can just dump things without any consideration.

Right now I’m using a 256sd card and mostly playing roms, and a few oldish games so nothing too large in size.

I would like it to beasier though. I hope that one modular laptop takes off enough to become a widespread thing.

Well, if we don't buy Framework laptops, no competitors will rise.

they are being bought fast enough that you can't get them without pre-order so far

I imagine part of that is low production as well since they don't strike me as a huge company by computer manufacturing standards.

yeah its still pretty much running in a kickstarter type of mode. Still you can buy the modules now which is pretty huge compared to when they started.

The 13 inch Intel ones aren't a pre-order - you can just order them.

The AMD 13 inch and the 16 inch laptop are both releasing soon and are on pre-order.

I love that not only are the upgrades relatively easy, it is also easy to get the parts through an official shop (and not some unknown eBay sellers).

Has it gotten negative press? Everything I've seen has been extremely positive.