The electrical tape approach is what I did and it did wonders. Went from having a myriad of green and blue LEDs on my fans/portable AC/etc to complete wonderful darkness when I retired for the night. Made a distinct difference in my ability to fall asleep faster at night. I hate having lights when going to bed. Darkness or bust.

Yes - went from my 512 LCD to the LE OLED. I already upgraded the nvme to a 2tb in the LCD, so I just swapped it out.

Screen is definitely more impressive, but that wasn’t the main reason I upgraded. It was the better battery life that made it worth it. The other efficiencies, upgrades to the controls, were icing on the cake, but battery life far and above was the thing that made it worth it. But as many have said, the screen is damn impressive.

There wasn’t a single shred of buyer’s remorse. But I also play on it every day and tinker with it non stop. So depending on how much you utilize your deck may effect whether it’s worth it for you or not.

Although I’m not surprised, it is interesting that the same big tech companies like Apple and Microsoft taking stances on being “environmentally conscious” while also ignoring forced obsoletion of old hardware. Your average office environment just needs basic email, document/excel editing software and a browser. Now to continue to do these base functions, they have to buy new PCs to do the same exact thing. And it’s not even faster anymore due to the bloat.

If tech wants to preach about the environment, they best start figuring out ways to keep computers out of the landfills.

I’ve said it before, but what makes the Deck unique is the holistic experience it brings. Like a really good chili, it’s a culmination of all the ingredients, particularly the below;

• SteamOS out of the box
• Steam Input in combination with the extensive inputs on the Deck itself
• The ability to easily change core hardware settings via the options menu to influence performance or battery life
• The extensive third party support via software and peripherals (cases, skins, accessories)
• Price point
• Well documented upgradability (SSD replacement, thumbsticks, etc)

I’m all for better screens and hardware, but they always come at a cost to battery life. Not that the Deck has a huge battery life to begin with, but the reason it is passable is due in large part to the hardware it comes with.

The Ally may be beefier spec wise, but at detriment to battery life. Not to mention the Windows OS and lack of inputs (both trackpads and two extra back buttons).

The Legion Go at least accounts for the input selection and has a unique controller setup, but I’m curious to see the battery life to performance ratio. Again, Windows will still be a detriment overall.

Really what it comes down to in the handheld space is finding something that has no compromises from the Steam Deck and an overall increase to performance without affecting battery life so negatively that it becomes a glorified docked laptop.

If I never got a Deck to start, I may have jumped to the Legion Go on account of not having realized what SteamOS brings to the table, and being enticed the beefier specs and control scheme.

However - after having a dual boot setup on the Deck with both SteamOS and Windows, I find myself more and more trying to get games working on the SteamOS side versus the Windows side. This is due to the overall “streamlined” experience of just booting up Game Mode, selecting a game and going off to the races.

Conversely, when I’m on Windows, I can get games operational and semi streamlined via playnite and Glosi, but it still feels clunkier and more obtuse. I pretty much only use Windows for games that I have a single player server running on for some emulated MMOs and that’s about it. If I could get the servers running properly on SteamOS, I’d make the switch in a heartbeat. It’s just trying to find a way to get them running on it with the associated databases/libraries that won’t get it wiped upon update to newer versions.

Yup. A quick tap of the horn or double tap is fine. Even a 1 second blast. Once we get into 2 seconds blast territory, it transitions to rude, with 3+ seconds going up linearly on the deranged jackass scale

It’s a subtle difference, but one has trackpads and analog sticks, while the other has analog sticks and trackpads.

It’s interesting because I swear I buzzed by an article the other day with some eye roll complaint about there being too many games, and that’s why it was hard for games to sell.

There are a lot of games, but it means that people want to engage with games that are actually fun and aren’t soulless cash grabs or half baked early access with no real value or fun.

It’s just the basic “quality versus quantity” principle. Instead of shoveling out crap like Rise of Kong, Gollum, The Day Before, etc etc, just focus your efforts on a single good game. The only recent exception to this rule I guess would be Starfield, but that’s for Bethesda to figure out on how to salvage.

Yeah I think you need a dock though, or if you don’t have the money to buy a dock, I think you can rent one of those POD containers. Still trying to figure out how to connect to this guy’s computer though, they locked it and I don’t know where to DL the libs for it

I’ve been following these guys closely. The exchangeable graphics card is huge. I’m interested to see how “future proof” It is, as I’m sure there are certain limitations as graphics cards get “bigger and better.” I’m sure there will be limitations by the modular design into the amount of power it can process.

Edit: My bad. I did the thing where I read like the first two sentences and didn’t read the rest. Reading the rest of the reply basically acknowledged my refute.

The majority of this waste is coming from businesses that now need to upgrade. That’s why there are IT departments to figure it out for the tech illiterate. As long as they can open their email client, a text editor and excel, you’ve overcome 90% of what a business needs for their computers.

You are right, Grandma Jones with her 800x600 resolution screen, 10 downloaded tool bars and Microsoft Edge ain’t going to get it, but Grandma Jones is still using XP, a CRT and a Gateway Computer she bought back in 2006

I’m inclined to agree. Many folks saw Elden Ring and its hype/critical acclaim, and they’ll look to AC6 next. Of course, I’m already seeing folks that are playing it and saying its not for them via Steam Reviews. So double edged sword I guess. It’ll bring new players in, but some may have bought solely on the hype, expecting something like Elden Ring but sci fi. Personally, I just like Armored Core and mechs.

This is interesting to me for my use case scenario, specifically SteamOS.

What I’m trying to do is run an emulated Everquest server (lookup EQEmu). The community there has several methods of installation of the server, Windows, Linux, and Docker. The hurdle to overcome is the immutable file system, specifically when it comes to the database (MariaDB). I think I may have found a work around via Linux brew and installing MariaDB through that (which I’ve done, I just have to make the final connection). However the Docker setup, when running it on a separate distro is stupid easy. If they make this a Flatpak, it can potentially be the solution I’m looking for.

Really the end goal is creating a Single player Everquest. I have a dual boot with it operating via Windows, but would much prefer to have it on the SteamOS side of the house.

I’m on the fence about the whole thing. The big turnoff for me was the custom BIOS. Personally, if they can get the same 800p screen but better in terms of color accuracy, I might bite on that. But like others have said, don’t know if I want to push the deck’s hardware into 1200p when it was designed with 800p in mind

Agreed. I know that my leaving isn’t going to change the platform, get Spez fired, or have any substantial effect. But the key thing is I know that I’m not supporting it.

That sounds like a marketing bullet point; -Xbox - comes with 1x monthly use of the gamer word

I’m probably thinking yeah. I mean, you could probably get it to run on HDD, but I’m thinking that if Bethesda created this game similar to their others, there is a boat load of cells per planet/in space and it would be way more than what you would load into the RAM, so SSD will significantly reduce load times.

But that’s just me spitballin too

I give her kudos for this. Instead of being some brainlet celebrity who preaches banning guns while having a fully armed security detail, she takes matters into her own hands. And as you stated, being a celebrity carries significantly more risk than your average joe.

I think most folks touched on the main ones as well as what you posted. The Librem 11 could potentially be something else to look at, but not sure about the German layout and price is above budget. Theoretically you could also look at doing a Steam Deck with a bluetooth keyboard, although the screen may be a bit on the small side, but would be well within budget even with buying a separate keyboard.

Personally I haven’t had much experience with Linux based tablets. I would say the guy who mentioned converting the surface 3 to a Linux tablet would probably be the best bet for the set of requirements you’re looking at

I guess there is going to be a split on this in terms of what people think. Obviously ride share drivers would love this, and since the only time I’m in Minneapolis is when I’m on business, it’s my company footing the bill, not me.

However - if it was me footing the bill, I’m sure I’d be much less inclined to take a Lyft/Uber. However, ending ops over this is stupid, because there will be people that will pay for it, business or personal. Let the market decide what’s palatable.

Everyone’s wallet is shrinking due to the rampant inflation over the past several years, and if you’re a full time ride share driver, it’s hard to cut even with the rising costs all around. Even before the inflation was hard. Vehicles don’t run on hopes and dreams and need maintenance.

I have 0 regrets upgrading to 2tb. I now have a dual boot setup with windows taking 1tb and SteamOS taking the other 1tb, and then a 1tb SD card for the SteamOS side. Makes life sooooooo much easier, no longer having to play musical games for what I want on my deck. Can have a modded FO new Vegas list, modded morrowind list, and another couple dozen games with space to spare (ranging from Cyberpunk to terraria). And on the windows side, plenty of room there to play with my different server emulators, VMs and the like. It’s truly ideal and will give you substantially more freedom.

You’re not kidding. Legit looks like someone just took the models from StarCraft and then freshened them up. Protoss Terran Zerg, all of them. In fact you could have removed the context and just showed me the raw footage and I would have arrived at the same conclusion, that it was a mod.

Of the modding, I’ve only done the SSD upgrade and software portions. Could not recommend upgrading the SSD more, it is such a nice QOL change since you no longer have to play musical games nearly as much, and still maintain the advantages of the read/write. I have a 1tb SD card as well. Between those two, I have as much storage as I would reasonably want in a portable device. Especially as newer titles suck out 100gb a pop, having the ability to play a handful or more of them without sacrificing others is really nice.

On the software side, EmuDeck or retrodeck, decky loader and a dual boot into windows is also super nice.

Right, it has more inputs that I find attractive. Especially with Steam Input being a thing, I typically use trackpads as a virtual menu for some games (MMOs typically), with the sticks being the normal move/camera. Then the extra two buttons on the back, helps to bind extra commands to them or tie them to a mode shift.

A Steam Controller 2 with all the inputs of the deck would be a day 1 buy.

Sometimes I get teary eyed looking at videos/gameplay footage, but it’s usually because of the combination of music, aesthetic and fluidity. There was a project trailer awhile ago, that for the life of me I can’t remember the name, but it had the protagonist kind of morphing into different opponents and seemingly very fluid combat and a distinct surreal Japanese aesthetic, and I remember getting teary-eyed at that. But if it was just gameplay and nothing else, don’t think it would have the same effect.

I use zerotier as a way to connect to my private emulated servers without having to worry about connecting to an external IP address and opening up a ton of ports. Plus if you have a dynamic IP, the address can change. Some people set up a domain name to circumvent the dynamic IP, but it still means you have to port forward. Zerotier solves it via creating a manageable virtual lan network. Think Hamachi.

In my use case, I run a solo EverQuest server emulator, WoW server emulator, City of Heroes, Ultima Online. I simply spin up my virtual machine connected to zerotier then boot up my steam deck. Then I can connect to them while I’m out and about at a hotel, friends place, etc.

It’s lightweight, so not much bloat, does exactly what I need it to do and initializes on startup. Then if you want to disconnect/reconnect, it’s really simple to do. Been using it for about a year now. Zero complaints (no pun intended).

I would say wait for a sale, but easy for me to say since I already have my deck since over a year ago. If you’re strapped for cash or just working within a budget for the year, then yeah you can easily save at least 50 or more bucks on one. If money isn’t really an object and you got upcoming travel plans where you can capitalize on the steam deck’s mobility, then it’s worth it at current price too. I have easily spent over a grand on the steam deck from the actual unit (512 version at 650), 2tb SSD, 1tb SD card, case, dock, skins, back pad accessories, 1tb usb flash drive with usb c/usb a, etc.

So all to say, if you like tinkering/making it your own, and are trying not to blow out your budget entirely, may be worth to save. I am glad I got the anti glare screen as I’m still not up for replacing the screen myself, but if the lowest model had the same screen, would have gotten that one and just swapped the SSD.

This is the dealbreaker for me. I was looking at earnestly upgrading the screen despite the effort/patience needed to do the swap, potential battery drain, etc. But the fact you need a third party bios flash is the bridge too far. I just want to make sure I don’t run into a situation where they stop support and now I’ve got to swap the screen again.

I remember awhile back when steam deck and emudeck were in their early early stages and complaints about how it was hard to fully remove emudeck as the files were still located in several different directories. Don’t know how much that pain point has changed personally, but I think retrodeck made it simpler to install/uninstall.

Personally I use emudeck, and haven’t had the need to uninstall, so can’t attest to the accuracy of that claim. But can assume for those folks that are worried about it, retrodeck fills that.

Exactly, and being accessible via Amazon is nice. I got my 2tb via Ali Express back in January, but didn’t actually receive it til mid February due to Chinese new year. Was well worth the wait and effort though. Having it via Amazon makes it so the wait isn’t as painful.

It is a bit of a project, as you’ll have not only the physical installation, but the OS installation too. So I’d recommend a nice 2-3 hour time window for those considering it and maybe doing some pre-work before getting it, such as getting a USB with the SteamOS recovery available, make sure you have an adapter to fit it (if it’s a usb a stick) and backing up any games to another media device for a more seamless transition.

No - strictly because I gutted windows update via a Windows Lite tutorial. Basically it’s an evergreen Windows OS that I’m using, so I never have to worry about Windows messing the boot. SteamOS will sometimes bork it, but I use Clover as my dual boot solution and it’s fairly easy to recover.

The trouble with a stock Windows OS is the frequent updates, to the point of your question. I do believe there are ways to mitigate it, but does require a bit of prep and being aware of windows And its updates.

Same. Indie games and emulators is what I’ve been putting a lot of my time into. I’ve learned that “AAA” studios are a lot like their alkaline counterparts - basically obsolete.

Valheim I agree. I did get a ton of enjoyment out of it on release, so it’s not really a matter of disappointment in the sense of fun per dollar, just disappointment in the glacial pace of updates. My feeling is that the Devs got their bag, then decided to just coast. It makes me wonder that if it didn’t explode in sales at the start, would they have put more effort into updates or would they have just given up. Guess we’ll never truly know

It’s pretty easy honestly. The community devs do a good job of making it fairly straightforward. You can slap it on windows, Linux, or docker, and as long as you aren’t facing an immutable file system OS, it’s really easy. Ubuntu/Debian work best with the Linux install.

Yeah, not a bad idea to hedge your bets. With all luck, it’s not for another long while. I know for myself, I’ll buy mostly on Steam, but if I got a game I really really like and want to preserve, I’ll get it on GoG then stash it on an external SSD. So if shit hits the fan and Valve grows devil horns overnight, I’ll at least have my favorite games sans DRM.

You’re not wrong. Any and all faith I had in Blizzard went away over the course of the past decade, with it evaporating completely during the past 3 years. I don’t even want to think how they’ll muck up SC3 at this rate.

Agreed. I’d prefer the lower red and higher battery life. I looked into the “DeckHD” screen, but the biggest buzzkill with that was the custom BIOS flash that you had to do. To your point though, the higher resolution would come at cost to battery life too.

What I want is a screen, same resolution, but increased sRGB coverage, everything the same beyond that.

This was one of those products that, when it was announced, I thought to myself “meh, I have no need for this.” But through the urging of friends, I pre ordered it back in July of 21, because hey, it was only 5 bucks to deposit and I could cancel.

Then as they started coming out, and I heard about everything they could do, I thought “well damn that’s pretty cool.” And then my own hype grew until I managed to get it, I believe August of last year. By far the most fun I’ve had with a device in quite some time.

Yeah I had the exact same thought - “huh, transparent case and charging led” - but I hear they’re going to come out with an update to adjust the intensity of it, so that may help that.

I also upgraded from OG 512 - personally love the OLED so far. Screen is really nice, battery life will be great to have on my business trips, and the clickiness of the Steam and … buttons is a definite improvement. Do you need any of these things? No… but they are really nice things.

I never had the issue you had, I just followed the read me for installation;

https://github.com/ryanrudolfoba/SteamDeck-Clover-dualboot

I would pay for something similar to the DeckHD screen if it had the same color improvements, retained the 800p and didn’t need a custom BIOS flash (like the DeckHD needs). I already have the Anti Glare screen, so need something worth the effort of a full screen replacement. If I busted my current screen, then I would buy this versus the “regular” replacement via ifixit.

I’ve seen virt-manager recommended in similar situations like mine. I’ll explore it - at first my thought was it may not be ideal as I’ll most likely need to overcome the immutable file system that comes with SteamOS. You can bypass it, but it isn’t ideal as anything written into the innate read only section of the OS is wiped on update. But thinking about it more, I may be able to use distrobox as a way to bypass it. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll report back with my findings. I also appreciate you mentioning the qemu user mode networking with gnome boxes, that makes sense.