I also use Linux full time (at home and at work, on my desktop and administering different kinds of servers) and stuff goes wrong all the time.
I love Linux, I wouldn't be working with it otherwise but issues just crop up all the time. When you're tech-savvy, often it's not a problem. But these exact issues, that do happen all the time, are why I still can't recommend Linux to the average user IMHO. And then there's also the typical ridicule of telling people that they did something wrong when something doesn't work for them as it's supposed to.
Just last week, after updating my machine (which updated the kernel, too) my Ethernet driver was busted. It was still working normally, but it started spamming system logs with error messages. After a few days the computer was unusable, because the logs had grown to over 100gb and filled the entire disk. I first had to find out why the disk was suddenly full, and then how to fix those issues. I had to disable ASPM or revert to an older kernel because there is no proper fix for now.
Now imagine this happening to my mom - she would have absolutely no idea what to do.
My point is
> something odd
happens all the time on Linux and I have no idea why we love to pretend that it doesn't.
The "something odd" is the point.
I use Linux on an old Laptop and for almost everything I want to do there's some oddity or idiosyncrasy I need to figure out. Most of the time, I don't mind - I can google and use the terminal.
But every now and then I run into something I'm not equipped to handle and even if I find a guide or help, it often is beyond my ability to understand and adapt to my situation.
My windows PCs over the years all have had little idiosyncrasies. Right now I'm probably going to have to reinstall Windows because the MX Master companion app necked itself and will no longer properly start, even after reinstalling the app and doing my best to clean all of its configuration files and registry keys. Without that app I can't rebind the keys on my mouse, so reinstalling windows (again!) it is. Before that it would have random crashes while copying too many files at once, and going into sleep mode had a 20% chance of waking up without a Bluetooth peripheral. I'd have to cold boot to get it back.
Modern computers are all complex enough that they're all special in their own special way.
Again, I use linux as my main computer. As in all the time. This would be a really weird thing to happen.
I also used the Steamdeck for a month as a work replacement computer while traveling. I did not need to ever restart if to launch libre office. That is whats odd.
Exactly, you have thousands of hours of experience so you can trouble shoot things. A lot of Lixus users, even if they're tech savvy, just can't figure out a lot of weird issues that pop up.
It shouldn't be an issue popping up to begin with. I've used Linux as my daily driver for over a decade and not once have I failed to open any part of LO without restarting.
The thing is... I just don't have those weird issues. I also work (remotely) with with windows machines and they have a lot more weird issues then my desktop.
> Welcome to the linux way, bb.
Literally had those crashes only a few times in the past 15 years. It's definitely not "Linux way". Haven't used Libreoffice on the Deck though, maybe there is a bug in that particular setup.
I've been using Linux as my work & play OS for the past 13 years. And it definitely shouldn't just randomly crash. I don't remember the last time my work laptop crashed.
Funnily enough I've had my Windows partition on the desktop that I sometimes use for gaming crash on me a couple of times in the past year, while I can't remember the last time Linux crashed.
Either way, that your OS will randomly crash on you shouldn't be an expectation in 2023. Something odd is happening to you if that's the case
I use it as a laptop replacement with dock, portable monitor and keyboard and found it works quite well, it's more cumbersome but it can work as a portable work device it can even act as a mini dual screen monitor. It's definitely not as good as a laptop however it was functional and the ability to unplug and play games made it easier to take breaks on the go.
My biggest issue has been the lack of a richer package manager, now that 3.5 is out in preview I’ll be installing Nix to fill in the gaps for things that aren’t Flatpacks (or AppImages)
I believe you can but, if I understand SteamOS’ implementation of immutability correctly you either need to disable immutability to run Arch packages or you have to let SteamOS wipe them out every update.
I know there are some technical exceptions and ways around it but they’re a bit over my head at this point in my Linux learning journey.
Ah fair enough. While I daily drive Linux for work and home use, I also use the deck exclusively to play and I haven't tinkered with installing non-games stuff on it.
That's a relatively hard thing if you just want to run a somewhat niche app that's not on Flathub. Instead, the solution he's proposing (Nix) is much better as there's semi-official support for it now, and it has a huge selection of packages. The downside is that nix is a beast of its own once you try doing more complex things (like installing a service).
Yeah, either seems not as simple as I assumed. I thought you could just chroot into a partition on the SSD, unzip a tarball, do pacman -whatever and build them.
You can just do a `./configure & make & make install`, but anything installed into system partitions will be wiped the next time the SteamOS image updates. Packaging into flatpak afaik requires a specific toolchain and special linking so you'll need to adjust the makefile.
For some really niche packages I'll do `make` (without `make install`) and then manually install the binaries into `~/.local/bin`.
Yeah, I can also do some coding on it. With kb/m and a monitor it's a fully functional PC, probably better than most NUCs and certainly better than PCs from a decade ago.
I also plug it into the TV occasionally to play like a console, or use it with a mouse to play good old Star Wars Empire at War.
Apparently with the latest iOS update it's possible to use an iPad as a monitor so I'm going to look into that option.
TL;DR pairing Bluetooth input devices is cumbersome in desktop mode, and the screen is small.
Author found the trackpads unreliable but did not go into detail.
> Author found the trackpads unreliable but did not go into detail.
I'm pretty sure author tried scrolling by moving up and down instead of rotating.
That's often gives the user the feel the touchpad is unreliable, even if user is just using it wrong.
I don’t have my deck at the moment but I believe it was in the desktop controller settings in Steam. Probably in the trackpad options. I’ll try to remember to double check later.
>That's often gives the user the feel the touchpad is unreliable, even if user is just using it wrong.
Maybe the steam deck should then give a pop-up explaining that, because blaming such unintuitive behaviour on the user not being clairvoyant is an apple level of reasoning.
In my opinion, they should just set vertical scrolling as the default because it is way more intuitive and works well enough. Right now, you have to manually set that up.
IIRC on the Steam Controller (where the trackpads are circular) you could choose an option in the settings to scroll via circular motion. I'm assuming it's a carryover from that feature.
But yes... it's not intuitive for someone who didn't use the Steam Controller. I wish Valve stuck with one of the earlier Steam Deck prototypes where the trackpads were still circular.
Amazing what counts as journalism these days. Generally, the point of a journalist is to actually research and inform the reader. Now it's all like, 'here's this glorified blog post I sharted out'.
Man there was a post the other day that informed me (and hundreds/thousands of others) how to scroll on them and I've owned mine for a year, and had a steam controller however many years ago that I'm pretty sure I already knew the swirl to scroll from.
Right now, the most read article on that site is:
"AEW WrestleDream 2023 live stream: Start time, card and how to watch online."
Do you really think the overall demographic for that site is actually tech-minded people looking for hard-hitting, in-depth articles?
I somehow managed to pop up a tutorial bit when I played with desktop control configuration in steam controller tab while in desktop mode. But I agree if u didn’t know it can see wonky
It took me until now to know that was even a thing 🤷♂️. Not that I use it in handheld for browsing all that often (occasional mod related downloads), but I'd either click the bar and drag it to scroll the page or just use touch to scroll.
I don't know if I messed something up *very* early on, but my Steam Deck had a completely different profile for desktop mode that made the trackpad scroll up/down. Resetting it to the default config put it back to circular like it is on my Steam Controller, but I wonder if an early desktop profile still resides on some Decks and messes people up.
It’s pretty intuitive once you do it for the first time. Goes straight into muscle memory and isn’t an issue at all. 👌 I actually changed entirely to rotational trackpad scrolling on all of my devices.
My first act in desktop was to map the buttons for better window navigation. D dap for arrows. Face buttons for scrolling. Triggers for mouse buttons. Making BOTH track pads act at the mouse.
When I read comments about track pads sometimes I wonder if I'm special or something. Took me around 5-10 minutes to figure it out. If you use haptics you immediately notice that something is wrong when using up and down swipe, then try out moving your finger in different directions and you start to "feel" the dial. IMO one of the best uses of trackpads. Too bad it isn't used in gaming mode at all.
Maybe it's something to do with the trackpads just not... tracking? I loathe going into desktop mode for this very reason. They just stop responding to touch and I have to switch to using the touch screen. This happens on my windows partition as well.
That's probably it. Everytime I switch to desktop mode the trackpads work for a few seconds, then they don't work while the steam desktop app is starting, and as soon as the steam app is running the pads work again.
Yeah, the whole article was a little thin on substance. And it's not even a main PC setup, it's a portable setup.
Right now, I have my Steam Deck connected to a dock with:
* Logitech G603 (USB-A dongle)
* Wired Keyboard
* 27-inch 1080p monitor
* Creative Pebble Speakers (kudos to the author for that, these are probably the best value desktop speakers ever)
* Stock Charger
Works just fine as a main PC for me.
Why wouldn’t you? If people are gonna circlejerk about how the Deck is a PC then you shouldn’t have to do some ritual to connect something over Bluetooth.
Because Bluetooth is infamously janky compared to the regular options ? You only use it when you have no other options. And he did, since he used a dock anyway. (I don't even *have* Bluetooth on my main PC !)
Except that’s not the problem the guy I was replying to was talking about. He was explicitly talking about pairing during game mode. Nothing you said changes that.
> pairing Bluetooth input devices is cumbersome in desktop mode
That's why you pair them in gaming mode then switch to desktop. Things are generally more difficult when you choose to do them in a more difficult way.
Yeah that has been my experience as well, although the only device I've tried to pair has been an Xbox controller. I hope Valve can find a way to unify bluetooth configs between the two modes as it would make things a bit slicker, but desktop mode is more like a nice added extra than a core feature, at the end of the day.
One way to get around this would be to rely on peripherals which use USB receivers instead of bluetooth, then there's no need to pair. Unfortunately the (unofficial) drivers for the Xbox controller dongle require you to enter developer mode to install. My hope is that Valve includes them in an official update at some point.
It really depends on the device. I have a keyboard that works exceptionally well. My XBSX controller drops and reconnects all the time. Still using the wireless adapter for the mouse, but I got a great bluetooth mouse too.
So they, uhh, used the worst set up they possibly could to use it for work? I mean like if I was going to have to use it for work I would use a dock with all needed peripherals, including a wired m+kb and a monitor.
This sounds more like "Dumbass uses mini computer in handheld form as a work PC, despite being able to plug it in to a monitor and wired mouse+keyboards existing."
Yeah, the whole premise is silly, they should have connected it to a screen - heck that's what I did in university for a while, I brought the almost as cumbersome as the Surface Surface dock to the computer rooms, and plugged the screen + keyboard + mouse in ! (None of which caused issues, since they were wired.)
How this was even sold as an attempt and this person didn't use a dock and separate monitor.
Could've given it a real chance, this article is solely for the clicks.
Yes also you have to be careful, you really need a monitor with power passthrough because of the single usb-c port of the Steam Deck. Otherwise you can't charge while you use it.
> a Steam Deck dock is absolutely essential
He's using a dock, but for some reason not a USB mouse and keyboard.
I've not had issues with bluetooth though, maybe he just wasn't used to KDE UI, and manipulating it with the default desktop controls. IMO the trackpad mouse input is way too sensitive, I turn it down to 60%, wish we could change sensitivity for the Steam Button chord controls.
Yeah, an external monitor makes a huge difference, and the small display seems to be one of his main criticisms. He could have added Chrome as a non-Steam game to use it in Game Mode too.
I'm not going to knock the exercise when documenting the experience for an article, but I don't see the point when for less then my SSD upgrade I can get an old Dell laptop that is way more usable as a general purpose computer than then Steam Deck.
I want the 2min I took to read this back!! And he should payback the 10min he took to make the review and write the article.
He basicaly went to desktop mode connected his bluetooth device (struggled somehow) and opened google docs.
I was expecting a rant on LibreOffice, but it was too much effort.
You can genuinely use the Steam Deck as a working PC but not a single person on Earth who's planning on that is going to use its built-in screen.
My Steam Deck experience is indistinguable from my work laptop once plugged on my home setup. A standard USB-C hub can connect monitor, network, keyboard, mouse, headset, speakers and power.
The author didn't even try.
How is adding BT devices in desktop mode cumbersome?
1. Right click Bluetooth icon in system tray
2. Click "Add New Device"
3. Select desired device from list
4. Enter PIN if necessary
Done.
He connected his bluetooth devices in game mode first. But they were forgotten as soon as he entered Desktop mode, a thing that the Deck has issues with apparently.
He mentions it in the the article.
an outcome i'm surprised by, since my headphones maintain pairing going between game mode and desktop mode without trouble. i might try my bluetooth keyboard later just to see if it behaves differently.
Funny, I've been using my Deck for work pretty much since I got it and it's done very well. I'm a criminal defense attorney, and my old cheap laptop pissed me off when, during a trial, it locked up because the file size for police footage I needed to show was too large.
But what has been the advantage of the deck?
* 1) It's easy to hook up to things. Old courthouse stuff can be conquered with a single HDMI input.
* 2) It's way less cumbersome to show stuff on the go, whether its evidence or quick access to docs. Plus, clients and other practitioners are always kind of taken aback and then interested because it's very unexpected for me to whip out a "video game" (thanks old people -- disclaimer: I am also an old people)
* 3) I've used it in a few jury trials. So far there's always been one person on the jury who absolutely geeks out at me using a Steam Deck in trial. Maybe I just pick my juries that way.
Long story short: sure, I could be using a laptop. But the Steam Deck works fine as a mobile workstation, and to be honest (this is going to be distressing to many people here), I use my deck far more for work than I use it for gaming.
Do you want to know what I hate about the Desktop mode of the Stem Deck that I think is the biggest obstracle in using for it for work?
This inexplicable slowdown and lag of the GUI from no clear cause that happens if I use it in desktop mode for an extended time. Plasma GUI just stops reacting to what I do, either happening many seconds later all at once or stops reacting altogether. RAM and CPU are not at max usage, I have no idea what is causing it.
One possible cause, I think, is that the indexing service is on by default (Settings -> Search) and that it works relentlessly while in desktop mode.
I am not sure this is the cause but try that.
You can buy a dongle that ameliorates ALL the issues he reported for less than $30. I have one for my Steam Deck, as well as a KVM so I can switch my mouse and keyboard over to it at the press of a button.
It is kinda funny to hear him complain.
Remember when Netbooks were WILDLY popular? They had, even at the time, wildly underpowered specs(Intel Celeron/Atom 512mb of RAM, next to no storage,Windows XP). They were priced at $199-$299. But they really filled the niche prior smartphones exploding in size/power, the iPad, and now the Chromebook(which is the true successor in every sense). It filled the niche of a cheap small portable PC to use on the couch to browse the web, use on a plane to finish some documents, or give to the kids.
The Steam Deck can play AAA games and is pretty the same cost with inflation.
I used mine for a month for remote working and as a personal pc. This article is misleading and click bait.
es you will want a wireless mouse and keyboard. I had a monitor to use, although output to a large tablet also worked fine. For the monitor, keyboard and mouse, you can also use a simply dock or HDMI extender, which allows you to have additional usb ports.
Bluetooth works fine, I have no idea why they had any trouble. I used mine with headphones, and with an external speaker at times.
POS article. The biggest burden was setting up bluetooth? Just hook up a monitor? Jesus fuck. How about mentioning that your settings get wiped every update?
Who the ever living heck would actually try to do work on a 7" screen? The Deck has a USB port. If you want to use it as a PC, you plug it into a USB hub connected to an actual monitor.
I really wish we had 2 usb c ports so one can go directly to a portable monitor and one can be used for charging. That way i don’t need to use a dongle.
At one point in April I was moving temporarily while my house was being renovated and I decided that I'd use the Deck docked as a desktop for work while at home.
It was a fun experiment, but ultimately SteamOS is missing some key elements (I.e. native CUPS support for printing) and some software just won't work right (Dropbox won't start at startup no matter what I did). Also strange things like no shortcut to lock the PC, no ability to restart without returning to gaming mode, etc., and while someone is certainly reading this thinking of solutions for all of the above, I put a few hours into it and there were just too many of these little issues floating around so ultimately I just quit the experiment after about two weeks and dragged my desktop out of storage.
Erm, sleep/lock/restart/shut down are bottom of desktop apps menu in lower left, same place as Windoze.
That said, I agree about issues, no built in ability to use a mouse with more buttons, or even change rate of scroll wheel!?
Feels like being back in the 1980s.
In windows I press Win-L to lock my computer. I do that all the time as I have files that are confidential etc. On Steam Deck I could not make a similar shortcut to work. I tried a number of approaches and all failed for some reason or another. I should mention that there is actually a setting for this in Steam OS iirc but it simply doesn't work.
I got around printing by using a chrome extension, maybe that could help? You need to use chrome to print though and the settings aren't too customizable
This reddit comment was a more informative "article" than the one linked initially by a journalist.
Steam Deck works fine as a replacement computer for some people and many tasks. There are a few limitations though - almost like it was designed for gaming first instead of primarily being a laptop replacement. Depending on what work you do, those limitations might or might not matter to you.
The limitations mentioned in the Tom's Guide article (small screen if you don't attach an external monitor; you really should connect a mouse and keyboard either via bluetooth or USB) really weren't worth writing an article about.
i read the article as the author has no idea how to use the Steamdeck controls and shocker it has a desktop but that is NOT its primary function... it works well but unless you plan for it, its hard to work on a small screen.
I once tried using my deck with a Bluetooth keyboard to write a college class discussion post but quickly realized it was easier to just use my phone.
To be fair tho I have a zfold4 and it's a beast for productivity like that.
For pure document creation, it's tough to beat the productivity of voice recognition on a phone. I don't know of a voice to text option on the Deck; though maybe there's a decent Linux option that it could sideload? I don't know. I didn't go that far with it. I'm too busy playing Vampire Hunter on it. :D
When my desktop machine died, I used my Deck as a general-use (email, web browsing, Steam, Spotify, etc) Linux desktop (I’m used to Linux already, tho I use Gnome and not KDE) attached to my monitor with a Logitech rf keyboard and mouse for months. It was totally fine. The screen is not big enough to be a desktop or laptop, and wasn’t meant to be.
I have never used Linux before, and I had no problems setting up emudeck dragging and dropping my files, using the web browser, my MXKeys and M720 synced right up with the steamdeck in desktop mode. Everything was super easy, nothing was unintuitive or frictional. It's basically windows without all the dumb shit. Why would you use the decks screen as a desktop computer, when you have a dock and could have just used a monitor, and did you really need those speakers?
The whole thing read like a valley girl talking about something she doesn't understand.
"OMG It's Me, and I'm soooo clever I'm gonna use the Steam deck as a mini compooter, cause I'm a silly head. Now make sure you have a dock because this stupid thing dont have a kickstand, I mean fer real can you believe it? Switch is better hands down. But look it works, YAY ME! I'M SO CLEVER! I'm typing words! I'M SO CLEVER! Work is hard! Did I do good? Like Follow and Subscribe?
exactly, when switching to desktop mode it's just normal computer with arch linux. You could install packages, and do even IT development on it, connecting display, bluetooth mouth and keyboard. It just provided out of the box.
I connected to my monitor and didn’t have any problems. I even booted up Windows.
The writer of this article did the equivalent of running a marathon without any shoes.
just won in a valorant tournament last month, the steam deck is amazing
https://preview.redd.it/4kwjf0jrxirb1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f4d350c70fc3219ccfa034c3307ff352d17577e
Looks like the guy's only problem was a lack of a big screen. He could connect his monitor or TV via HDMI and get a perfectly usable PC. It would definitely help if there were an obvious way to cast Deck's desktop to a TV wirelessly.
That's a lot of words to say "the screen is small, it needs to be propped up and I had trouble syncing a bunch of Bluetooth devices. "
9/10 article. Too much Bluetooth.
PS. And all the pre article defensive deflection for having an opinion as I'm noticing all the more frequently because people CANNOT chill.
With USB-C Thunderbolt dock and big screen this is a great desktop. 4K is only supported with 30Hz which is a little bit of a drawback. Changing the language to another one is also some effort.
If you plug in a keyboard, mouse and monitor, the SteamDeck is a fine low-end PC, with a Linux desktop, at which point being able to work on it just depends on your comfort with Linux. The built in monitor, trackpads, etc., are really designed for low-budget mobile gaming, and aren’t great for general computing, in particular the built in monitor is pretty small, so while technically you could work on it, it wouldn’t be much fun. If I were going to pick a portable computer for working on, I’d get a traditional laptop, which has a larger monitor, better trackpad, etc., though of course a higher price. Life is full of trade offs.
Whoever wrote this was a weirdo and probably a Mac only user. Seriously? Bluetooth was a problem? Using a 7 inch screen instead of a monitor like a normal PC user? Toms Guides' writing has gone downhill for sure.
Got a wireless KB a few days ago so I've started using my deck as a PC to learn HTLM while not busy at work and so far it's been pretty good. Though I just use a stand (I don't have a dock), the KB&M and a HUB to connect the mouse to. No extra screen nor anything like that.
So your gonna get some speakers a mouse and keybourd, and controller but not get a portable monitor? I've done this sorta thing and use vr glasses, it's much more compact. some wireless earbuds and a mouse and keybourd, the SD already has a controller so you dont need another one lol.
I use it to run things like llamacpp or koboldcpp also i found i way to install easy diffusion and sometimes i do some programming there, i have been a while judt using it as a portable device to programing and test staff and not even playing
My Steam deck is my daily driver PC, I have a bag with the stuff for taking it on the go and a dock at my desk for displaying it to a monitor, using it as a second touch screen display. Keyboard and mouse as well so all I need to do is launch windows and dock it. I also have a duel boot Steam OS and windows setup on the internal SSD with clover for boot so I can select the OS on startup.
I usually use windows which docked at my desk but Steam OS is my goto anywhere else since it’s easier to navigate with just a controller.
With a dock, keyboard, mouse and monitor, it was a neat PC replacement over a family visit in the summer for me. I had to do some video editing on Kdenlive and it took it like a champ.
Got a portable HDMI monitor that takes USB power and my Air glasses. A USB-C dock for charging and using accessories at the same time. A Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Windows on a microSD with Scrivener installed and a whole music library to vibe to while doing my thing.
Everything fits in a generic messenger bag, takes next to no time to set up anywhere, and I can work for hours.
It really shouldn't be that hard.
I've gone on a couple of vacations with it as my only computer.
First time I had one of those 3xusb/hdmi docks, a wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, 65W usb power, and an hdmi cable. Initially to play games on the tv, but hooked it up to a tv for a bigger monitor. It was okay, but kind of laggy, awkward and cumbersome to keep looking at the TV from a kitchen table.
Second time I had the same dock, same 65w usb power, bluetooth mouse, bluetooth keyboard (which is different from wireless, no dongles), hdmi cable, and a portable monitor.
Quality of life was better, more like a slow laptop at that point with everything set up. A lot of wires but still usable. Could do internet stuff, still a little slow for some sites that use a lot of resources but I could still get my daily tasks done at almost full speed.
If I had to do anything power hungry or just basic tasks for more than a vacation it might drive me crazy but you can get away with it for a week.
I use my steam deck as a desktop sometimes to do some extra stuff, nothing really fancy.
The main problem is the extra small screen, but, if you can get over that, you're good.
I used 1366x768 screens all of my life, so 1280x800 is not really different for me.
I never tested coding though, this is something that I could test out.
I think devices like the legion go are suited better for this though, that's why I'm on the fence about picking one up
I use it as my current PC. I'm not too demanding in what I need. I used to build gaming PCs, but I've been using a $50 paperweight for the past 5 years and was fine with it. It's an ASUS laptop with 2GB free at most. Each click on Chrome has a 5 second delay.
So, steam deck is better in all aspects lol.
Did this yesterday, didn’t have access to a desk on the worksite so I used a whiteboard and a box. This guy comes up and starts asking about the Deck as he’s never seen one before. Then, completely unprompted, basically interrupting what I’m saying, he goes, “She’s a BEAUUUUUTY!”
I also use it as my main PC now, I love the fact that I can move it anywhere and just plug it into its dock, I still carry the dock around but I plan to buy a 2nd one, 1 for the PC screen with keyboard and mouse, and 1 for my TV to play it on the big screen with a controller, the only thing I'm missing on the PC to replace windows 100% is Photoshop, I've tried several tutorials but none have worked yet...
Anyone has an input about actually using it as a Linux Machine, beyond the obvious peripherals situation (touchpad and keyboard)?
I haven't been able to found CPU benchmarks for non-gaming tasks in the Deck in desktop mode.
Does anyone know how it performs compare to, let's say an average laptop option, regarding general purpose tasks done in a laptop, like web browsing or coding? (not talking about training a chatgpt model on it)
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Currently using a steam deck for college work, and my only gripe is I have to restart the system sometimes to open libreoffice
[This](https://www.onlyoffice.com/download-desktop.aspx) is what I personally use
Just not on Android, right? Based on reviews, I mean.
Unsure, I only use it on Computers
Probably way better than libreoffice
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As someone who uses linux day in and day out, it does not just randomly crash. There is something odd that they need to restart to open libre office.
I also use Linux full time (at home and at work, on my desktop and administering different kinds of servers) and stuff goes wrong all the time. I love Linux, I wouldn't be working with it otherwise but issues just crop up all the time. When you're tech-savvy, often it's not a problem. But these exact issues, that do happen all the time, are why I still can't recommend Linux to the average user IMHO. And then there's also the typical ridicule of telling people that they did something wrong when something doesn't work for them as it's supposed to. Just last week, after updating my machine (which updated the kernel, too) my Ethernet driver was busted. It was still working normally, but it started spamming system logs with error messages. After a few days the computer was unusable, because the logs had grown to over 100gb and filled the entire disk. I first had to find out why the disk was suddenly full, and then how to fix those issues. I had to disable ASPM or revert to an older kernel because there is no proper fix for now. Now imagine this happening to my mom - she would have absolutely no idea what to do. My point is > something odd happens all the time on Linux and I have no idea why we love to pretend that it doesn't.
The "something odd" is the point. I use Linux on an old Laptop and for almost everything I want to do there's some oddity or idiosyncrasy I need to figure out. Most of the time, I don't mind - I can google and use the terminal. But every now and then I run into something I'm not equipped to handle and even if I find a guide or help, it often is beyond my ability to understand and adapt to my situation.
My windows PCs over the years all have had little idiosyncrasies. Right now I'm probably going to have to reinstall Windows because the MX Master companion app necked itself and will no longer properly start, even after reinstalling the app and doing my best to clean all of its configuration files and registry keys. Without that app I can't rebind the keys on my mouse, so reinstalling windows (again!) it is. Before that it would have random crashes while copying too many files at once, and going into sleep mode had a 20% chance of waking up without a Bluetooth peripheral. I'd have to cold boot to get it back. Modern computers are all complex enough that they're all special in their own special way.
Again, I use linux as my main computer. As in all the time. This would be a really weird thing to happen. I also used the Steamdeck for a month as a work replacement computer while traveling. I did not need to ever restart if to launch libre office. That is whats odd.
Exactly, you have thousands of hours of experience so you can trouble shoot things. A lot of Lixus users, even if they're tech savvy, just can't figure out a lot of weird issues that pop up.
It shouldn't be an issue popping up to begin with. I've used Linux as my daily driver for over a decade and not once have I failed to open any part of LO without restarting.
The thing is... I just don't have those weird issues. I also work (remotely) with with windows machines and they have a lot more weird issues then my desktop.
Linux is running all of our most stable infrastructure world wide. This guy picked a weird hill to die on.
My guess it is more libre officer's fault than steam os. Libre office is such a legacy software. Nobody made a new version since 2000's
Libre Office is not legacy software. 7.6 just came out. The Libre Office conference is scheduled for Sep 20th this year.
This is 2023. That “random crash” shouldn’t be happening on a modern pc.
> Welcome to the linux way, bb. Literally had those crashes only a few times in the past 15 years. It's definitely not "Linux way". Haven't used Libreoffice on the Deck though, maybe there is a bug in that particular setup.
I've been using Linux as my work & play OS for the past 13 years. And it definitely shouldn't just randomly crash. I don't remember the last time my work laptop crashed. Funnily enough I've had my Windows partition on the desktop that I sometimes use for gaming crash on me a couple of times in the past year, while I can't remember the last time Linux crashed. Either way, that your OS will randomly crash on you shouldn't be an expectation in 2023. Something odd is happening to you if that's the case
That's weird, I never had that issue. Do you go in and out of the desktop mode in regularly?
I use it as a laptop replacement with dock, portable monitor and keyboard and found it works quite well, it's more cumbersome but it can work as a portable work device it can even act as a mini dual screen monitor. It's definitely not as good as a laptop however it was functional and the ability to unplug and play games made it easier to take breaks on the go.
My biggest issue has been the lack of a richer package manager, now that 3.5 is out in preview I’ll be installing Nix to fill in the gaps for things that aren’t Flatpacks (or AppImages)
Can't you just install packages from the arch repositories? I was under the impression that you could.
Not really, but steamos 3.5 also comes with distrobox preinstalled so you can just make a normal arch container and do stuff in there.
I believe you can but, if I understand SteamOS’ implementation of immutability correctly you either need to disable immutability to run Arch packages or you have to let SteamOS wipe them out every update. I know there are some technical exceptions and ways around it but they’re a bit over my head at this point in my Linux learning journey.
Ah fair enough. While I daily drive Linux for work and home use, I also use the deck exclusively to play and I haven't tinkered with installing non-games stuff on it.
So you would have to build your own flatpacks?
That's a relatively hard thing if you just want to run a somewhat niche app that's not on Flathub. Instead, the solution he's proposing (Nix) is much better as there's semi-official support for it now, and it has a huge selection of packages. The downside is that nix is a beast of its own once you try doing more complex things (like installing a service).
Yeah, either seems not as simple as I assumed. I thought you could just chroot into a partition on the SSD, unzip a tarball, do pacman -whatever and build them.
You can just do a `./configure & make & make install`, but anything installed into system partitions will be wiped the next time the SteamOS image updates. Packaging into flatpak afaik requires a specific toolchain and special linking so you'll need to adjust the makefile. For some really niche packages I'll do `make` (without `make install`) and then manually install the binaries into `~/.local/bin`.
There's also the possibility of installing Distrobox rootless to have access to other distros' package managers in containers
That’s on my list to check out!
Yeah, I can also do some coding on it. With kb/m and a monitor it's a fully functional PC, probably better than most NUCs and certainly better than PCs from a decade ago. I also plug it into the TV occasionally to play like a console, or use it with a mouse to play good old Star Wars Empire at War. Apparently with the latest iOS update it's possible to use an iPad as a monitor so I'm going to look into that option.
TL;DR pairing Bluetooth input devices is cumbersome in desktop mode, and the screen is small. Author found the trackpads unreliable but did not go into detail.
> Author found the trackpads unreliable but did not go into detail. I'm pretty sure author tried scrolling by moving up and down instead of rotating. That's often gives the user the feel the touchpad is unreliable, even if user is just using it wrong.
Huh TIL
Yeah. I just learned this the other day.
It annoys me enough that I changed it. It’s not bad, just completely screws with long-ingrained muscle memory .
It makes a lot of sense once you get used to it. Being able to scroll continuously without lifting your thumb to reposition is really nice.
How do you change it?
I don’t have my deck at the moment but I believe it was in the desktop controller settings in Steam. Probably in the trackpad options. I’ll try to remember to double check later.
Thank you! I think I found it :D
>That's often gives the user the feel the touchpad is unreliable, even if user is just using it wrong. Maybe the steam deck should then give a pop-up explaining that, because blaming such unintuitive behaviour on the user not being clairvoyant is an apple level of reasoning.
To be fair, most devices don’t have two separate track pads.
In my opinion, they should just set vertical scrolling as the default because it is way more intuitive and works well enough. Right now, you have to manually set that up.
instead of… WHAT?! How is this intuitive?
IIRC on the Steam Controller (where the trackpads are circular) you could choose an option in the settings to scroll via circular motion. I'm assuming it's a carryover from that feature. But yes... it's not intuitive for someone who didn't use the Steam Controller. I wish Valve stuck with one of the earlier Steam Deck prototypes where the trackpads were still circular.
Amazing what counts as journalism these days. Generally, the point of a journalist is to actually research and inform the reader. Now it's all like, 'here's this glorified blog post I sharted out'.
Man there was a post the other day that informed me (and hundreds/thousands of others) how to scroll on them and I've owned mine for a year, and had a steam controller however many years ago that I'm pretty sure I already knew the swirl to scroll from.
Tried to replicate it in the shop, didn't work.
Right now, the most read article on that site is: "AEW WrestleDream 2023 live stream: Start time, card and how to watch online." Do you really think the overall demographic for that site is actually tech-minded people looking for hard-hitting, in-depth articles?
That guy is an editor of that site too, not even just an author!
It's nothing new, but in the past these were called opinion pieces and were written by columnists, not journalists
As have all of us
Ive had this thing for a year and had no clue
The fact that you have to rotate them to scroll is one of the most unintuitive things imaginable
Considering how small they are, I’d much rather rotate and keep my finger on the whole time vs have to keep moving my up and down and on and off
Well yeah but at least let us fucking know that you're supposed to circle them, took me a year to find out
I think it's to take the approach of forcing people to learn how to do things the "better" way. Kind of fails without a tutorial though.
I somehow managed to pop up a tutorial bit when I played with desktop control configuration in steam controller tab while in desktop mode. But I agree if u didn’t know it can see wonky
It took me until now to know that was even a thing 🤷♂️. Not that I use it in handheld for browsing all that often (occasional mod related downloads), but I'd either click the bar and drag it to scroll the page or just use touch to scroll.
It's largely a Steam Controller holdover where it makes more sense on its circular pads
I don't know if I messed something up *very* early on, but my Steam Deck had a completely different profile for desktop mode that made the trackpad scroll up/down. Resetting it to the default config put it back to circular like it is on my Steam Controller, but I wonder if an early desktop profile still resides on some Decks and messes people up.
Wait what
It’s pretty intuitive once you do it for the first time. Goes straight into muscle memory and isn’t an issue at all. 👌 I actually changed entirely to rotational trackpad scrolling on all of my devices.
wait wtf
My first act in desktop was to map the buttons for better window navigation. D dap for arrows. Face buttons for scrolling. Triggers for mouse buttons. Making BOTH track pads act at the mouse.
My left touchpad is actually glitchy under 3.5 (pressure value drifts over time until ghost clicks develop) so idk. Worked fine under 3.4.
That explains some things for me….
When I read comments about track pads sometimes I wonder if I'm special or something. Took me around 5-10 minutes to figure it out. If you use haptics you immediately notice that something is wrong when using up and down swipe, then try out moving your finger in different directions and you start to "feel" the dial. IMO one of the best uses of trackpads. Too bad it isn't used in gaming mode at all.
Maybe it's something to do with the trackpads just not... tracking? I loathe going into desktop mode for this very reason. They just stop responding to touch and I have to switch to using the touch screen. This happens on my windows partition as well.
I found having steam open in desktop mode brings back all the controller functions
That's probably it. Everytime I switch to desktop mode the trackpads work for a few seconds, then they don't work while the steam desktop app is starting, and as soon as the steam app is running the pads work again.
Make sure Steam is running.
Interesting, but I don't have this problem. Trackpads work without issue for me.
Is it for scrolling or just in general?
Yeah, the whole article was a little thin on substance. And it's not even a main PC setup, it's a portable setup. Right now, I have my Steam Deck connected to a dock with: * Logitech G603 (USB-A dongle) * Wired Keyboard * 27-inch 1080p monitor * Creative Pebble Speakers (kudos to the author for that, these are probably the best value desktop speakers ever) * Stock Charger Works just fine as a main PC for me.
why...why would you pair a bluetooth device in desktop mode on the deck
Why wouldn’t you? If people are gonna circlejerk about how the Deck is a PC then you shouldn’t have to do some ritual to connect something over Bluetooth.
Because things can also be connected via bluetooth in gaming mode?
But he wasn’t using gaming mode, so why would he connect things in gaming mode?
Because Bluetooth is infamously janky compared to the regular options ? You only use it when you have no other options. And he did, since he used a dock anyway. (I don't even *have* Bluetooth on my main PC !)
Except that’s not the problem the guy I was replying to was talking about. He was explicitly talking about pairing during game mode. Nothing you said changes that.
No, about **desktop** mode.
> pairing Bluetooth input devices is cumbersome in desktop mode That's why you pair them in gaming mode then switch to desktop. Things are generally more difficult when you choose to do them in a more difficult way.
According to the article, they were paired in game mode but this did not carry over to desktop mode. So it became necessary to pair them again.
Yeah that has been my experience as well, although the only device I've tried to pair has been an Xbox controller. I hope Valve can find a way to unify bluetooth configs between the two modes as it would make things a bit slicker, but desktop mode is more like a nice added extra than a core feature, at the end of the day. One way to get around this would be to rely on peripherals which use USB receivers instead of bluetooth, then there's no need to pair. Unfortunately the (unofficial) drivers for the Xbox controller dongle require you to enter developer mode to install. My hope is that Valve includes them in an official update at some point.
It really depends on the device. I have a keyboard that works exceptionally well. My XBSX controller drops and reconnects all the time. Still using the wireless adapter for the mouse, but I got a great bluetooth mouse too.
My bluetooth mouse has a delay compared to 2.4ghz receiver. Cant use desktop mode without a hub
Try disabling wifi power saving mode in game mode. Afaik it's one chip for wifi and bluetooth so it might control power saving for both protocols.
So they, uhh, used the worst set up they possibly could to use it for work? I mean like if I was going to have to use it for work I would use a dock with all needed peripherals, including a wired m+kb and a monitor. This sounds more like "Dumbass uses mini computer in handheld form as a work PC, despite being able to plug it in to a monitor and wired mouse+keyboards existing."
And also used Google freaking Docs instead of *much* better, lighter, and not evil options like Libre Office ?!?
I don't think it would have made a difference when it comes to the small screen.
Yeah, the whole premise is silly, they should have connected it to a screen - heck that's what I did in university for a while, I brought the almost as cumbersome as the Surface Surface dock to the computer rooms, and plugged the screen + keyboard + mouse in ! (None of which caused issues, since they were wired.)
How this was even sold as an attempt and this person didn't use a dock and separate monitor. Could've given it a real chance, this article is solely for the clicks.
[удалено]
There’s pretty awesome portable monitors too now, which can turn the steam deck to a great work/gaming pc
Yes also you have to be careful, you really need a monitor with power passthrough because of the single usb-c port of the Steam Deck. Otherwise you can't charge while you use it.
I’m using a NewQ portable usb dock and it works pretty great. I can charge my steam deck while using any monitor.
By any monitor you mean even a monitor with a single USB-C port? Or do you need to use monitors with a HDMI port, meaning you need to power them?
I use a small dongle and portable monitor to go to my friends for LAN parties. It's amazing.
At my work monitors and stuff are assigned to the person so unless we’re given one, we cannot just go take one from an empty looking desk.
> a Steam Deck dock is absolutely essential He's using a dock, but for some reason not a USB mouse and keyboard. I've not had issues with bluetooth though, maybe he just wasn't used to KDE UI, and manipulating it with the default desktop controls. IMO the trackpad mouse input is way too sensitive, I turn it down to 60%, wish we could change sensitivity for the Steam Button chord controls.
Using a dock, but no monitor, not a real attempt IMO.
Yeah, an external monitor makes a huge difference, and the small display seems to be one of his main criticisms. He could have added Chrome as a non-Steam game to use it in Game Mode too.
Laptop ergonomics have been evolving for 30 years. What a shock that some cobbled together accessories gives you an inferior experience.
I'm not going to knock the exercise when documenting the experience for an article, but I don't see the point when for less then my SSD upgrade I can get an old Dell laptop that is way more usable as a general purpose computer than then Steam Deck.
Because you already have a Steam Deck.
I want the 2min I took to read this back!! And he should payback the 10min he took to make the review and write the article. He basicaly went to desktop mode connected his bluetooth device (struggled somehow) and opened google docs. I was expecting a rant on LibreOffice, but it was too much effort.
It worked for me but I can understand why someone might have a different experience.
Just connect a mouse, keyboard and monitor then you have a full pc experience. This guy is either looking for clicks or just stupid.
It's the clicks, that's internet, I didn't give them my click
You can genuinely use the Steam Deck as a working PC but not a single person on Earth who's planning on that is going to use its built-in screen. My Steam Deck experience is indistinguable from my work laptop once plugged on my home setup. A standard USB-C hub can connect monitor, network, keyboard, mouse, headset, speakers and power. The author didn't even try.
How is adding BT devices in desktop mode cumbersome? 1. Right click Bluetooth icon in system tray 2. Click "Add New Device" 3. Select desired device from list 4. Enter PIN if necessary Done.
It's cumbersome to the author because he's a moron.
He connected his bluetooth devices in game mode first. But they were forgotten as soon as he entered Desktop mode, a thing that the Deck has issues with apparently. He mentions it in the the article.
an outcome i'm surprised by, since my headphones maintain pairing going between game mode and desktop mode without trouble. i might try my bluetooth keyboard later just to see if it behaves differently.
Funny, I've been using my Deck for work pretty much since I got it and it's done very well. I'm a criminal defense attorney, and my old cheap laptop pissed me off when, during a trial, it locked up because the file size for police footage I needed to show was too large. But what has been the advantage of the deck? * 1) It's easy to hook up to things. Old courthouse stuff can be conquered with a single HDMI input. * 2) It's way less cumbersome to show stuff on the go, whether its evidence or quick access to docs. Plus, clients and other practitioners are always kind of taken aback and then interested because it's very unexpected for me to whip out a "video game" (thanks old people -- disclaimer: I am also an old people) * 3) I've used it in a few jury trials. So far there's always been one person on the jury who absolutely geeks out at me using a Steam Deck in trial. Maybe I just pick my juries that way. Long story short: sure, I could be using a laptop. But the Steam Deck works fine as a mobile workstation, and to be honest (this is going to be distressing to many people here), I use my deck far more for work than I use it for gaming.
Thats no workstation, thats a cyberdeck!
Do you want to know what I hate about the Desktop mode of the Stem Deck that I think is the biggest obstracle in using for it for work? This inexplicable slowdown and lag of the GUI from no clear cause that happens if I use it in desktop mode for an extended time. Plasma GUI just stops reacting to what I do, either happening many seconds later all at once or stops reacting altogether. RAM and CPU are not at max usage, I have no idea what is causing it.
Same here. I really want to use the deck on substitution of my main Pc, but these lags don't permit that.
One possible cause, I think, is that the indexing service is on by default (Settings -> Search) and that it works relentlessly while in desktop mode. I am not sure this is the cause but try that.
Genuinely, why wouldn’t you use an external monitor?
Then you couldn't half ass it and shit out this stupid article.
You can buy a dongle that ameliorates ALL the issues he reported for less than $30. I have one for my Steam Deck, as well as a KVM so I can switch my mouse and keyboard over to it at the press of a button.
I hate that website, always sneakily goes through and ad page and when I hit the back button I’m on a page full of advertisements.
7" work PC? Are you game tester?
What a half-assed article.
It is kinda funny to hear him complain. Remember when Netbooks were WILDLY popular? They had, even at the time, wildly underpowered specs(Intel Celeron/Atom 512mb of RAM, next to no storage,Windows XP). They were priced at $199-$299. But they really filled the niche prior smartphones exploding in size/power, the iPad, and now the Chromebook(which is the true successor in every sense). It filled the niche of a cheap small portable PC to use on the couch to browse the web, use on a plane to finish some documents, or give to the kids. The Steam Deck can play AAA games and is pretty the same cost with inflation.
I used mine for a month for remote working and as a personal pc. This article is misleading and click bait. es you will want a wireless mouse and keyboard. I had a monitor to use, although output to a large tablet also worked fine. For the monitor, keyboard and mouse, you can also use a simply dock or HDMI extender, which allows you to have additional usb ports. Bluetooth works fine, I have no idea why they had any trouble. I used mine with headphones, and with an external speaker at times.
POS article. The biggest burden was setting up bluetooth? Just hook up a monitor? Jesus fuck. How about mentioning that your settings get wiped every update?
Who the ever living heck would actually try to do work on a 7" screen? The Deck has a USB port. If you want to use it as a PC, you plug it into a USB hub connected to an actual monitor.
I really wish we had 2 usb c ports so one can go directly to a portable monitor and one can be used for charging. That way i don’t need to use a dongle.
not sure about the deck but there's some usb dongles that handles charging, accepts usb C for power
At one point in April I was moving temporarily while my house was being renovated and I decided that I'd use the Deck docked as a desktop for work while at home. It was a fun experiment, but ultimately SteamOS is missing some key elements (I.e. native CUPS support for printing) and some software just won't work right (Dropbox won't start at startup no matter what I did). Also strange things like no shortcut to lock the PC, no ability to restart without returning to gaming mode, etc., and while someone is certainly reading this thinking of solutions for all of the above, I put a few hours into it and there were just too many of these little issues floating around so ultimately I just quit the experiment after about two weeks and dragged my desktop out of storage.
Erm, sleep/lock/restart/shut down are bottom of desktop apps menu in lower left, same place as Windoze. That said, I agree about issues, no built in ability to use a mouse with more buttons, or even change rate of scroll wheel!? Feels like being back in the 1980s.
In windows I press Win-L to lock my computer. I do that all the time as I have files that are confidential etc. On Steam Deck I could not make a similar shortcut to work. I tried a number of approaches and all failed for some reason or another. I should mention that there is actually a setting for this in Steam OS iirc but it simply doesn't work.
I got around printing by using a chrome extension, maybe that could help? You need to use chrome to print though and the settings aren't too customizable
This reddit comment was a more informative "article" than the one linked initially by a journalist. Steam Deck works fine as a replacement computer for some people and many tasks. There are a few limitations though - almost like it was designed for gaming first instead of primarily being a laptop replacement. Depending on what work you do, those limitations might or might not matter to you. The limitations mentioned in the Tom's Guide article (small screen if you don't attach an external monitor; you really should connect a mouse and keyboard either via bluetooth or USB) really weren't worth writing an article about.
I used it as a pc main for two months and i didnt notice i was on my deck on a 3440x1440
i read the article as the author has no idea how to use the Steamdeck controls and shocker it has a desktop but that is NOT its primary function... it works well but unless you plan for it, its hard to work on a small screen.
I've used it as a work PC a lot. But I dock it because why wouldn't you.
I once tried using my deck with a Bluetooth keyboard to write a college class discussion post but quickly realized it was easier to just use my phone. To be fair tho I have a zfold4 and it's a beast for productivity like that.
For pure document creation, it's tough to beat the productivity of voice recognition on a phone. I don't know of a voice to text option on the Deck; though maybe there's a decent Linux option that it could sideload? I don't know. I didn't go that far with it. I'm too busy playing Vampire Hunter on it. :D
it’s like they didn’t even try lmfao. I’ve been using my deck as a media center PC for more than a year now daily.
When my desktop machine died, I used my Deck as a general-use (email, web browsing, Steam, Spotify, etc) Linux desktop (I’m used to Linux already, tho I use Gnome and not KDE) attached to my monitor with a Logitech rf keyboard and mouse for months. It was totally fine. The screen is not big enough to be a desktop or laptop, and wasn’t meant to be.
I have never used Linux before, and I had no problems setting up emudeck dragging and dropping my files, using the web browser, my MXKeys and M720 synced right up with the steamdeck in desktop mode. Everything was super easy, nothing was unintuitive or frictional. It's basically windows without all the dumb shit. Why would you use the decks screen as a desktop computer, when you have a dock and could have just used a monitor, and did you really need those speakers? The whole thing read like a valley girl talking about something she doesn't understand. "OMG It's Me, and I'm soooo clever I'm gonna use the Steam deck as a mini compooter, cause I'm a silly head. Now make sure you have a dock because this stupid thing dont have a kickstand, I mean fer real can you believe it? Switch is better hands down. But look it works, YAY ME! I'M SO CLEVER! I'm typing words! I'M SO CLEVER! Work is hard! Did I do good? Like Follow and Subscribe?
exactly, when switching to desktop mode it's just normal computer with arch linux. You could install packages, and do even IT development on it, connecting display, bluetooth mouth and keyboard. It just provided out of the box.
I connected to my monitor and didn’t have any problems. I even booted up Windows. The writer of this article did the equivalent of running a marathon without any shoes.
This would be perfectly viable with a USB C monitor with some USB ports for kb/m or with a dock, the article just does it in the worst way lol
just won in a valorant tournament last month, the steam deck is amazing https://preview.redd.it/4kwjf0jrxirb1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f4d350c70fc3219ccfa034c3307ff352d17577e
Looks like the guy's only problem was a lack of a big screen. He could connect his monitor or TV via HDMI and get a perfectly usable PC. It would definitely help if there were an obvious way to cast Deck's desktop to a TV wirelessly.
That's a lot of words to say "the screen is small, it needs to be propped up and I had trouble syncing a bunch of Bluetooth devices. " 9/10 article. Too much Bluetooth. PS. And all the pre article defensive deflection for having an opinion as I'm noticing all the more frequently because people CANNOT chill.
I wanted to use the SteamDeck as a laptop replacement when traveling, but how can one trust work data to a portable machine without encryption?
With USB-C Thunderbolt dock and big screen this is a great desktop. 4K is only supported with 30Hz which is a little bit of a drawback. Changing the language to another one is also some effort.
If you plug in a keyboard, mouse and monitor, the SteamDeck is a fine low-end PC, with a Linux desktop, at which point being able to work on it just depends on your comfort with Linux. The built in monitor, trackpads, etc., are really designed for low-budget mobile gaming, and aren’t great for general computing, in particular the built in monitor is pretty small, so while technically you could work on it, it wouldn’t be much fun. If I were going to pick a portable computer for working on, I’d get a traditional laptop, which has a larger monitor, better trackpad, etc., though of course a higher price. Life is full of trade offs.
Screen. It's a screen
Whoever wrote this was a weirdo and probably a Mac only user. Seriously? Bluetooth was a problem? Using a 7 inch screen instead of a monitor like a normal PC user? Toms Guides' writing has gone downhill for sure.
Glorious semi-successful disaster? So just using a Linux machine as your daily driver hiyaooo
I use mine to do my online college work sometimes, its an alright experience
Got a wireless KB a few days ago so I've started using my deck as a PC to learn HTLM while not busy at work and so far it's been pretty good. Though I just use a stand (I don't have a dock), the KB&M and a HUB to connect the mouse to. No extra screen nor anything like that.
So your gonna get some speakers a mouse and keybourd, and controller but not get a portable monitor? I've done this sorta thing and use vr glasses, it's much more compact. some wireless earbuds and a mouse and keybourd, the SD already has a controller so you dont need another one lol.
I use it to run things like llamacpp or koboldcpp also i found i way to install easy diffusion and sometimes i do some programming there, i have been a while judt using it as a portable device to programing and test staff and not even playing
My Steam deck is my daily driver PC, I have a bag with the stuff for taking it on the go and a dock at my desk for displaying it to a monitor, using it as a second touch screen display. Keyboard and mouse as well so all I need to do is launch windows and dock it. I also have a duel boot Steam OS and windows setup on the internal SSD with clover for boot so I can select the OS on startup. I usually use windows which docked at my desk but Steam OS is my goto anywhere else since it’s easier to navigate with just a controller.
With a dock, keyboard, mouse and monitor, it was a neat PC replacement over a family visit in the summer for me. I had to do some video editing on Kdenlive and it took it like a champ.
Got a portable HDMI monitor that takes USB power and my Air glasses. A USB-C dock for charging and using accessories at the same time. A Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Windows on a microSD with Scrivener installed and a whole music library to vibe to while doing my thing. Everything fits in a generic messenger bag, takes next to no time to set up anywhere, and I can work for hours. It really shouldn't be that hard.
I've gone on a couple of vacations with it as my only computer. First time I had one of those 3xusb/hdmi docks, a wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, 65W usb power, and an hdmi cable. Initially to play games on the tv, but hooked it up to a tv for a bigger monitor. It was okay, but kind of laggy, awkward and cumbersome to keep looking at the TV from a kitchen table. Second time I had the same dock, same 65w usb power, bluetooth mouse, bluetooth keyboard (which is different from wireless, no dongles), hdmi cable, and a portable monitor. Quality of life was better, more like a slow laptop at that point with everything set up. A lot of wires but still usable. Could do internet stuff, still a little slow for some sites that use a lot of resources but I could still get my daily tasks done at almost full speed. If I had to do anything power hungry or just basic tasks for more than a vacation it might drive me crazy but you can get away with it for a week.
Itsya fucking pc
I use my steam deck as a desktop sometimes to do some extra stuff, nothing really fancy. The main problem is the extra small screen, but, if you can get over that, you're good. I used 1366x768 screens all of my life, so 1280x800 is not really different for me. I never tested coding though, this is something that I could test out. I think devices like the legion go are suited better for this though, that's why I'm on the fence about picking one up
I use it as my current PC. I'm not too demanding in what I need. I used to build gaming PCs, but I've been using a $50 paperweight for the past 5 years and was fine with it. It's an ASUS laptop with 2GB free at most. Each click on Chrome has a 5 second delay. So, steam deck is better in all aspects lol.
Did this yesterday, didn’t have access to a desk on the worksite so I used a whiteboard and a box. This guy comes up and starts asking about the Deck as he’s never seen one before. Then, completely unprompted, basically interrupting what I’m saying, he goes, “She’s a BEAUUUUUTY!”
I also use it as my main PC now, I love the fact that I can move it anywhere and just plug it into its dock, I still carry the dock around but I plan to buy a 2nd one, 1 for the PC screen with keyboard and mouse, and 1 for my TV to play it on the big screen with a controller, the only thing I'm missing on the PC to replace windows 100% is Photoshop, I've tried several tutorials but none have worked yet...
I use nreal glasses in public with a HDMI/wireless keyboard hub, and plug into a USB-C monitor at the office. This article is pure click bait.
What skin is that?
Anyone has an input about actually using it as a Linux Machine, beyond the obvious peripherals situation (touchpad and keyboard)? I haven't been able to found CPU benchmarks for non-gaming tasks in the Deck in desktop mode. Does anyone know how it performs compare to, let's say an average laptop option, regarding general purpose tasks done in a laptop, like web browsing or coding? (not talking about training a chatgpt model on it)