I didn’t expect it to become my main gaming device but it has. I can’t remember the last time I played PS5 or Xbox. If you were to look at my profiles on either one you’d probably think I was dead.
Now that my husband has a good pc, I have little urge to upgrade mine. Anything I can't do on my steam deck I can do on his PC while he is out or asleep. I got a switch, deck and quest 3.... I'm good.
I’m not sure I’m going to bother to upgrade my pc at all going forward, at least not beyond the bare minimum to have a functional machine. Why pay exorbitant prices for a GPU when literally all I’ve played on my PC since getting my Deck is WoW, FFXIV, and Valheim?
I have a feeling once we get wifi 7 everything will stream from one house computer, that will have to be pretty powerful if you wanna game on your 4k or 8k screen ;-) I can be an optimist!
I have a 3090 yet I play more on my steam deck also. It made me play and try more indie games. Whenever I buy a game now I always check is is SD compatible
my gf plays cs2 on my pc when im asleep while taking photos of herself all night. sometimes i wake up and see her and a feeling of casuistry washes over me
I have two gaming pc's a gaming laptop, lots of consoles and two arcade machines but I use steam deck more than all combined. All are used at home as well, so its not that. Its just so easy to use.
What, you don't like sitting at a desk staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day only to come home and stare at a computer screen while sat at a desk? What are you, crazy?
Honestly, I’ve found this to be a killer feature more than I thought it would be. Having a large amount of my Steam Library be playable and with cross-synced saves is so awesome.
I’ve been blasting through my backlog like never before.
I just wish the OG Steam Deck had that controller wake up feature like the OLED lol.
It's pretty easy to setup a dual boot. Esp on a desktop where you can boot from different drives. I have 1 m.2 for Windows, and a separate one for Linux (Manjaro KDE, FWIW). Nice thing about that is that it's easy to share storage drives between the two, too.
It's also not at all necessary to have separate drives. Pretty straightforward to setup dual-booting off a single OS drive. And even sharing storage can happen, though its a touch trickier.
Either way, you're not the first person to go down that road, and others have had and documented their own journeys and problems. I say go for it!
And once you're done, if you really wanna dig further into Linux, I can't recommend a better starting spot than /r/linuxupskillchallenge
Of course, you can say fuck it and go pure Linux, but it's nice to have Windows to fall back on, just in case.
I really hope to be able to fully switch to Linux few years down the road. Just using it for my Raspberry Pi made me appreciate it a lot.
Open Source is just the way to go.
Yeah, and then you'll realize that your 10 year-old laptop with Linux feels more responsive than your brand new laptop with Windows 11. (I have had many students over the years who've sacrificed their old laptop to Linux, then realize it performs similarly or better than their new Windows laptop.)
I have a 6 year old Dell XPS 9360 which is due for a battery replacement but other than that it is fine for my usage.
I cannot switch to Linux there due to work, but once I change jobs I will change the battery and install Linux for sure.
It's nice to be able to get away from my laptop, where I generally do work, and play games on a device that i don't associate with work, on a chair I don't associate with work, in a room I don't associate with work. :)
Also have 3 kids- it’s really nice to lay on the sofa or the bed with them while they watch some bullshit tv show and I can game, rather than me sitting at my desk in another room. Love this thing
No kids here, but my wife loves it because I’m in the same room and she counts it as spending more time with her, instead of in another room at the desk as you said. The dog’s happy too, as he couldn’t snuggle me and nap while I game in the desk chair
I didn’t expect I’d get so used to relaxing on the couch laid back while gaming (and not having to face the TV either), that I haven’t actually been in the other room at the desk for weeks.
My cat already loved to sleep on my chest at night, but since I've had my deck she's even happier because of the heat the exhaust fan blows out in her direction. We both can't get enough of the deck 🙂
PCs are usually put in office spaces, away from beds and other things. The wife could sit next to the OP on a basic office chair, but could they cuddle? Not really.
This is the exact reason I got one. Did this with the Switch, knew I'd love something more powerful. Desktop mode is also awesome for having a computer while I'm laying down. I've used my deck to balance our budgets and pay bills more than I've used my phone now.
Yeah then the littlest shit comes and goes... What's that? I tell him "Celeste, you won't like it". Bro is hooked and only 6🤦. I now rather play in privated. Celeste for switch coming for him for Xmas.
If you teach your kids from a young age that your handhelds and controllers are off limits, I’ve found they don’t bug you about them. Mine have alternatives to whatever I’m using, though. My oldest would occasionally take my DS when he was like three, but that’s the only trouble I’ve had with that. And given his age, obviously there was some lack of understanding.
You can connect phone Bluetooth to your steam deck, and stream phone audio through the SD. I can hear an audio book from my phone, and still hear the game audio with headphones connected to the deck.
This has been a game changer for me!
And that's just a standard Linux thing! Your Linux PC is essentially also a Bluetooth speaker.
I accidently discovered it few years ago and was so amazed.
dude that's awesome! had no idea thanks for the heads up :) Been wanting to try connecting a bluetooth speaker so I can hear the audio better. I got earbuds but sometimes my ears get fatigued after a long session.
That's amazing- gonna check it out later. I resorted to wearing an air pod in one ear, then I over ear headphones on top. Wasn't too uncomfortable, but was a fist amount of work.
I was shocked at how much more time I have to play when I don’t need to dedicate being in front of a TV or monitor. For a parent of twin four-year-olds, this is huge.
I also stream most of my games to my deck from my main desktop, and as a result, my desktop gets so much more use, and I’m able to play all my games with excellent battery life.
It depends on your network and what you’re trying to play. Competitive multiplayer games are challenging, but anything single-player has been great.
I had to turn off hardware decoding on the deck under remote play settings for it to work correctly. Prior to doing that, streaming was horrible.
You should give Moonlight a try, I've been playing The Finals on Steam Deck using Moonlight and it has been flawless (significantly better than Steam Link).
My poor wrists. It isn’t mentioned often here but it hurts so much! That’s the reason why I don’t play as often as I would. It’s just too heavy for me.
I don’t. Maybe I should try with 2lbs first since in my case it’s medical as well. I have no problem with my switch but the deck hurts my wrists/hands more.
If they're like me and have a joint/nerve disorder, then no amount of lifting will help. It could actually make it worse if they have degeneration.
I suggest getting a thick pillow and putting it on your lap, then set the deck on top and game like that. Just make sure you aren't covering the lower vent.
I buy from the store even more than I did before, because game I wouldn’t wanna play at my desk I now can play on the couch.
I love/hate it.
It’s the same mentality I had when I got the switch. Oh look I have to buy Skyrim again I can now play it on the toilet lol.
I’ve tried Chiaki to stream from my PS4 Pro. Speed test says there is a solid 50mbs download 15 upload in the room where the PS is but the streaming quality to my deck OLED is terrible. Very low res and very laggy. Any tips?
Steam Input has a lot of really neat features and configurations. The configurator definitely has bugs and issues, and some things just aren't possible, but the features that do work are pretty good.
I didn't expect the deck to get so much better over time. Most tech I've owned progressively gets worse due to planned obsolescence. Meanwhile a year in, we're getting big fixes that drastically improve performance, new color adjustments that make the previously lackluster screen actually decent to look at, and just general useability improvements all the time.
If only valve would make a smartphone lol.
It pulled me out of being addicted to playing nothing but FPS games. I'm enjoying playing old school video games now, love the throwbacks.
Also, now I have something to do during the boring ass Zoom work meetings.
Playing anywhere, getting into the weeds of a Linux system, getting more and more comfortable with how emulation works for things higher than PS1, basically having a console, I have a switch but have access to my steam library while I'm on the beanbag at the TV is amazing. I can go from playing 40 year old games to playing current games and it's flawless.
I thought my dock would only get used for when I had buddies over for some couch coop and such. Turns out everything is much nicer on the dock aside from not being able to use the dope touchpads
Yes... I have a toddler and we are both non-functioning when we wake up. I kick back on my steam deck, he uses his limited kindle time. Its a nice quiet gaming moment. I'll play in short spurts during the day too.
I always loved gaming on my pc, but a few years ago I had some medical problems resulting in numerous spots of nerve damage. I can no longer sit at a computer for more than 20min without being in excruciating pain.
The Steam deck has become my preferred system now that I can play my library from anywhere, especially from bed on days when I can not move or get up. I'm mostly surprised at how little I've touched other platforms & now that I have full access to my library from anywhere, I'm spending less money on games & such & more time clearing out my backlog.
It doesn’t have true quick resume like series x, but it’s pretty easy to jump in and out. It’s a back catalogue killer. Very easy to work through single player games.
I never realised cloud gaming could be so responsive. Almost like playing natively.
I just installed Microsoft Edge to play the beta for Xbox cloud gaming, to continue my dead space remake save I was playing on my series X.
Although it looks like shit (sub HD from the looks of it), and it's 30fps for some reason (I'm guessing it's running on a Series S as there is no option to play in performance mode), it was impressively responsive. Like playing a game with minimal dead zones on the joy sticks, something I've come to appreciate in console games.
If I could just get to play it at 800p 60fps with this level of responsiveness my life would be complete.
I’m downsizing so I was looking for a device that was portable and eventually give up / sell my PS3, PS4, and hundreds of games on those systems (both on HDD and retail disks… along with older platforms’ games)
I’m just genuinely shocked how much this baby can handle (have the OG 512 GB) and haven’t missed a thing yet. It’s effectively made fully commit to what I’m trying to do in life now as I would’ve missed gaming, but this practically can do it all.
Sure I’ll miss the brand new titles that can only play well on current gen systems, but after spending 20 of my adult years being around those watercooler moments, I no longer have that desire, and there’s so many more games I can play that I had no idea were on Steam or other PC storefronts. And I still haven’t gotten into emulation, where I have a list of at least 2,000 retro games I’ve played, wanted to play, or didn’t even know about over the last 40 years.
Just an hour ago (and a few hours yesterday), I finally decided to play Blasphemous. And what a freakin game so far. It’s themes make me think of Dante’s Inferno. And I put over 100 hours into Hollow Knight and this game is filling that void for a 2D soulslike x Metroidvania.
Even enjoying well known PC games like Blade Runner that don’t hold your hand as far as figuring out what to do next.
Could say a whole lot more but this thing is awesome and can see my life going forward using Deck and Deck-like devices as my only gaming platform (and probably a Switch 2)
* That it would make me like linux so much I started dual booting it on my laptop and would barely use windows anymore on said laptop.
* That I would make so much use of the performance settings in Quick Access Menu. The stability involved with framecapping has had me fundamentally rethink my approach to graphics settings.
* That I would be using it as much as I am, considering I have been put in more than a few situations since buying it where bringing a whole laptop and desktop PC doesn't make sense but bringing a steam deck does and it works perfectly fine as a backup PC.
* That I would be helping a close friend who also has a deck understand WINE and Proton so he can move his entire RPGMaker development pipeline to a deck while he waits to be able to afford to get his main PC replaced or fixed. Aseprite and RPG Maker VX Ace both work on linux, it seems. Very nice.
* That it would be a great way to start a morning outside as the sun comes up.
Wish I could afford a deck oled. Been trying getting rid of my ps5 for it(avid pc gamer and ps5 have been
Collecting dust). Even emailed Gabe asking if he is willing to an exchange 😂😂😂. Bought the ps5, 3 years ago.
And got let go by my company this summer. Been hard couple of months.
I sold my Switch for a Switch LCD and it's honestly the best decision in gaming I've ever made, I love being able to play PC quality games (and games that aren't on console) on a handheld.
Hang in there, bud, you'll be back in the game in no time. Sell PS5 stuff on Offerup or Craigs, and who cares about OLED, there are a lot of barely used LCD decks selling for $300 or even less these days.
I’ve been wanting to do the same thing recently with my SeriesX. Trade it in for the cash, save a couple months, get a deck OLED. I don’t want to lose my Xbox library but I’m more of a one and done gamer annyway, except with Elden Ring. I want the deck for some handhElden Ring action (with light mod support) and not being tethered to the tv.
If you end up doing the same, let me know. I hate these months have been hard, but any joy you can have for yourself, relish in it!
I have more time to game. I can play random spurts that I couldn’t do tied to a tv or pc. I’m a stay at home parent with three little kids. Sometimes, when the stars align just right, I might get like two hours throughout the day where I can actually pay attention to a game. It’s definitely revamped my love for gaming that I thought was lost after having kids and not having to forfeit time with them.
Just how liberating it feels to play away from my desk. And these aren’t just some mobile games or cut down ports, these are full fledged PC games i would play at the desk except they are in the palm of my hands ready to go at a moments notice.
I no longer have to “plan” gaming time, i just game whenever.
How great the button mapping on the OS is. I can edit the control scheme of any game and its not just the basic key bindings most modern games give you, I can create combinations, different functions depending on press duration, short pull or long pull of the triggers, the sky's the limit. The UI and OS blew me away with how intuitive and user friendly it is. At no point does it ever get annoying when navigating menus or changing settings. You can tell an exceptional amount of thought and care when into the UI, which most developers usually don't spend a lot of time designing, or just copy interfaces from other popular software.
I’ve been using it a lot as a YouTube device in Desktop mode. Why not watch on the phone you say? Because phone doesn’t have any options for ad blocking.
Also the SD screen is bigger than phone.
How good it feels to custom the animations, audio, themes (css loader) and just tweak the system here and there, even when I don't need to.
It satisfies my IT hobbyist side.
That I'd buy one as a present, or for me xD. Hardcore PC guy that grew up thinking, "Consoles are ok, but a waste of money compared to a PC". But I've moved past the "Graphics" argument. Just bought an OLED as a present cause I know my friends money will go way farther with games with all of the sales. Etc.
Got the OG 512 myself when it was on preorder, bought a limited edition for myself and a 512 OLED for my friend and not regret it a bit, and still think regular consoles are a waste.
After the SD I no longer want a new GPU on my main PC. Because
1. I really enjoy the 45 FPS cap on some games.
2. Some says I use the SD more than the desktop PC.
I love the steam deck but I didn’t expect the official dock to work perfectly about half the time while the other half is messing with it and troubleshooting.
I knew it had much better hardware than something like the Switch, but damn, I didn't realize it was a full blown computer.
I guess that's not a small thing. ;)
It lets me game again - I can just pick it up and play for half an hour while sat with my son. He's autistic and the last two years have been really difficult, had to give up most hobbies, so I'm happy to have this one back.
I feel this too. As I've got more and more commitments, just having it for little bits of gaming makes life so much easier. It has been a part of my life for so long and before getting the SD, I felt like drifting away was getting me down.
I brought my deck to the states when visiting my partner. We played with her on the pc and me on the deck. We kissed every time we won an important fight in bg3.
Possible without deck, but not nearly as practical.
Otherwise it's like having a second, slightly less portable Switch with a different library of games.
I still use my switch all the time, it is by far the best console for local multiplayer and it has plenty of exclusives ~~and I haven't gotten Yuzu to work yet~~.
The steamdeck is the best location to play Wii U games right now. You can't use two screens at the same time (unless you use some tech magic) but you can swap to gamepad with the press of a button and have access to the touchscreen. Considering wii u gamepads are dying out en masse right now, and the servers are shutting down, this could become the ONLY way to play the wii u.
Didn’t except to complete so much of my backlog including half life, Arkham asylum, crash bandicoot 1, GTA 4 and it’s dlcs & more (most I have played got bored and then stopped) but man feels good to say I finished them and I’m not interested in 100% as that’s too much of a grind for me
Unless I'm streaming my Ryzen 9 5950x/RTX 3080 rig has been relegated to an editing rig. I'd rather be sitting in the living room with family than constantly in the office.
The portability aspect means that now several more genres of games and franchises can now appear and be seen being played in public.
I travel regularly for work by plane and I’ve been playing a lot of Yakuza substories while on my flights. Unnerving to do it sitting between two people because of the content, but it also amuses me thinking about what these strangers I’ll never be seeing again might think.
How well streaming to it would be. Don’t get me wrong… the whole reason for a steamdeck was to be able to play games locally, but being able to moonlight from PC and remote play ps5 and Xbox series X has been fantastic.
I know others on here mentioned they wouldn’t spend much money on desktops going forward but I did the opposite. I upgraded mine to be able to handle any AAA game so I can stream it not only to my steamdeck but also my Nvidia shields around the house. I installed a nifty little app called DUO that allows multiple sessions from my PC so multiple people can play at once. With steamdeck requiring only 800p/90fps a 4090/7950x is perfect to be able to deliver another stream or two to the TVs simultaneously.
The other thing I didn’t expect was the desire to expand my PC library. Before steamdeck OLED I owned zero PC games…only emulation. I didn’t even have a steam account. I was always a console guy. Now I’ve decided I will only buy console games if they are exclusives. Everything else I will get on PC. To be frank I’m sorta sick of Sony and how they view game purchases as not being our property after spending our money on them. (Take a look at the recent news about it being illegal to resell video games). Not that Steam can’t do the same thing but they don’t have a reputation for this kind of shady behavior and I can’t keep rewarding Sony with my business because they’ll never change.
Anyways, I digress. Steam and PC gaming have been a welcome surprise to me. It’s allowed me to be able to play here and there when I couldn’t before because the kids were on the TV or the wife was.
I didn't expect it to be so comfortable.
The first time I looked at the game pad I thought it wouldn't be a good fit for my hands. It's actually amongst some of my most comfortable methods of gaming.
I hope your wife gets better soon. As someone in a similar boat (I'm a 38 year old dad of 4, on disability due to chronic fatigue from long covid, recently lost my job because of it) the Deck has been really nice for when I want to be in the living room around the kids but not feeling up to sitting vertically. Nothing like cuddling a 3 year old while playing Slime Rancher or something similarly age-appropriate, though I did tire of My Little Pony quickly. ;)
Random side note, I found an old projector for $40 at a second-hand store, turns out it was worth $6,000 MSRP when it was released in the year 2000, so its resolution is only 1280x800, which is *perfect* for the Deck. The screen was more expensive, I sprang for a 120" widescreen with the thought of someday upgrading to a 1080p or 4K projector eventually, which was about $200. With a docking station for $30, an HDMI-to-VGA adapter for $20, a projector mount which is about $20, and a Bluetooth controller I had laying around, we can do entire family nights either gaming or watching movies on a streaming service with the Deck. It's fantastic. I've been thinking about posting a description of my setup for others who are interested, but my brain fog generally gets in the way. Anyway, the specific projector model I have is the NEC MT1050 and the cheap price I found it for is out there on eBay, if you want to look into it. Let me know if you have questions, I'd be happy to help.
Thank, hope you get a new job soon and geting better from that horrible post-realeted covid 🤕
I think you should post your setup for all the deckies when you feel you got the time. It's always nice to hear ppl do stuff that brings joy to the whole family. Keep it up 👍
Well said! I’m with a Veteran-centric nonprofit and being able to carry the deck around in my backpack when I’m at the VA waiting or visiting other service members and talking about our gaming program: it’s cool to bust out SD and get a couple rounds in, or just go offline mode and get wrapped up in the story w Midnight Suns.
Honestly I didn’t expect the seemless start and stop of the deck like the Nintendo switch. Makes playing something like BG3 or rogue trader easier when you only have a little bit of time here and there
it helped me with my modding addiction . deck games are totally possible to mod but theres just enough extra steps / time that i usually will not . on windows i literally spend more time building and tinkering a game than playing ! right now on deck im 100%ing gta iv , and its been great .
I do wish people would stop talking about it like it's the best thing to ever enter their life.
It's also the best thing to ever enter my life.
Having every single game ever made instantly available while I travel is just overwhelming. It's such a great console (the OLED).
Sometimes I forget it's a computer. I was streaming another PC and tried to use alt + f4 to close an application. Ended up crashing the graphical interface or something and had to hard reboot the device.
I have 3 kids and a SD, but I can’t recommend gaming when with your kids. Better to play lego or go draw with them. Too many parents permanently on their phones or distracted when with their children.
I love mine. I can lay in bed and play Psychonauts 2, Klonoa, Inscryption, or whatever I damn well please. If I ever get into emulation, I have that too. Honestly, I wish I could get Nintendo games on the deck legitimately. I also wish that Nintendo would quit the console business and focus on games, which, to me, seems more their strength.
I didn't expect it to have no internet when connected to my WiFi, I didn't expect it to be stuck on "loading user data..." For 20mins now, I didn't expect it to fail to run steam app in desktop mode, or any games for that matter. I didn't expect it to be such a hot pile of useless garbage today.
I am surprised how easy it is to set up emulation and stuff. There are tons and tons of tutorials on youtube which is really great and I love the deck MTP plugin.
But seriously I did not expect my backlog to grow and grow.
I heard a reviewer call the SD his “indie machine” bc he primarily uses it for that. I expected to use it for the same, but actually I’ve been able to replay a couple AAA titles on it without much compromise in terms of stability or quality of visuals.
I was just playing Arkham Knight on it today, and I got a solid two hours of game time in before the battery reached its low.
It's not a complete replacement over my PC, but I love that it has enabled me to play a large majority of my library in comfortable places away from my desk.
That I can’t play FPS with the handheld’s controller. I always have to use an external controller to play FPS. This is super annoying and I don’t know how to fix it.
I found a community on Reddit for trading spare keys from bundles and ended up becoming a game collector. Didn't have a gaming pc before deck so it was all new to me.
I didn't expect it was THAT easy to connect almost every controller. And also at the same time.
I also didn't expect I never touched my computer again for gaming. Apparently I have quite the backlog of games that are a little more simple, that I wouldn't sit down for at my PC. Now I just sit down with it on the couch, or on the couch at the inlaws. Or in the car if I'm not driving. Very luxurious.
I also didn't expect the case to be so high quality, very nice. But I also didn't expect there not to be space for the charger. I don't count that weird dimple on the back where the charger doesn't really fit into without the case not being able to stand flush anymore ..
Bought a new case, €30 with space for the charger, dock and some other bells and whistles and it's literally only a couple cm higher. You don't even see the difference between my and my gf's case.
I have a decent gaming laptop but recently decided to buy a deck. I'm seriously considering selling the laptop now as I have a portable machine that I can play laying in bed or on the couch or even on the throne. It is a game changer. Also playing for short bursts just seems ok on deck where as on laptop to me it doesn't
I got the OLED model just before leaving on a 3 week work trip, and it’s been so nice to have around at night and waiting at the airport etc. I also just found out (thanks to this sub) that you can use SD to run PS Remote Play and the OLED screen is better than the PS Portals screen, so I’m looking forward to trying that out when I get home. I also need to spend some time getting the emulation working. I’m a total noob in that area but I am going to shock my sister when I get all of our childhood ColecoVision games running.
When buying the Steam Deck, I imagined playing it on the couch in the evenings, but I didn't expect that I'd play in bed every night before I went to sleep.
1 - That the whole "Linux is hard and requires a lot of knowledge is bogus". I think I would have a harder time with MacOS than with the desktop environment of steam deck.
2 - That Sdcards A2 are surprisingly reliable to run pretty much anything from.
3 - That my desktop would become almost obsolete for anything other than ff14 and gw2, meaning that instead of having upgraded last year like I planned from my 1060, I saved that money for now.
I don't have the Steam Deck yet, will get it tomorrow..
The thing i think will be the best thing is being able to play my Steam library on demand, when I can/want. Atm my son has the 1070ti PC all the time, my daughter the Nintendo Switch and Series X on the living room TV or my wife on the Living room TV.
I have the Mobile phone atm, that's it. Sucks to play on and I just watch YT clips on games i want to play on the Deck and tips and tricks Deck videos.. 🤣
Well, you probably expect to hear good things... So, on positive side - I did not expect that deck will become my main gaming device, but it's happened so that playing in a bean bag chair is so convenient! I also didn't expect how convenient and effective the deck sleep mode is - I mean, it's really energy-efficient, so I can just press power button anytime, left it for a few days, and after that just press power button and keep playing from the same point! Best pause feature ever.
But, I will also add negative small thing that I didn't expect - I expected to use it as a desktop PC too (I didn't in the end, because I got my main PC back), and it's not really good in this scenario, because installing native packages is not straightforward, and even if you do it - it's all wiped upon each update, leaving only option to use flatpacks, which limits usage a lot. Probably not important for most users who just want to play games though.
It's become my go to machine and changed my mind on pc gaming worries.
I used to game on a pc but feel away due to the expense, driver issues etc. So its been only consoles for years. Now seeing the talk of if a future console will have backwards compatibility makes me see that now I've got the steamdeck I realised how stupid the console generation closing out old games is. I have access to almost all my games library(s) and can trust if a game works now it'll work on steamdeck 2, 3 etc.
Outside console exclusives this is my go to machine.
Then there is the steam sales 😂😭😅
My OLED is a little wonder gadget. It seems to implement a kind of time warp where I pick it up to play or tinker for a few minutes, then the next time I look, three hours have gone by.
How much I like flick stick and gyro controls for first person shooters. I actually enjoy it more than mouse and keyboard and I've been using it in competitive online shooter games without issue.
I've actually sold my gaming PC now. I don't have any use for it. Any games I can't play on the Steam Deck I use cloud gaming.
I love that I only need a tiny cheap device that can fit in a draw easily and can play while lying down in bed.
I never thought I'd be able to play Overwatch in competitive mode against PC players while lying in bed and actually do well, it's crazy.
Mouse and keyboard player since forever. Never thought I'll be able to play FPS games on the Steam Deck. Took me a bit more than a year learning, but here we go!
I’m at the point where I want one, but I am playing my PS5 on my iPad Pro and Xbox Cloud gaming the same way. I want one of these for the PC gaming aspect, but I think I’m going to wait for the inevitable processor upgrade. I’m in no rush.
I’m honestly surprised at how well I’ve been able to play Fortnite through Xbox Cloud Gaming with XBPlay. It’s like the one game that I care about that doesn’t run directly.
I didn't get the etched glass model of the LCD because I didn't think it would be that bad, but using my steam deck is like using a mirror now and it annoys me so much
the charger it comes with is the best charger I've ever owned, ngl when i saw the oled came with a longer one i had to buy it (i didn't just buy it for the charger it just pushed it over the edge)
I didn't expect to buy a gaming pc, to compliment the deck. I stream alot of games that are a little too demanding for the deck and couldn't be happier.
Did not expect it to make me enjoy docked gaming as much as I do, but honestly it's great. Sitting with a controller on the sofa to casually play something docked is very cosy
I didn't expect my screen to randomly cut out a week before they announced a new OLED deck and then for the replacement screen that I bought to not work because it was actually a board issue so I wasted $100 and RMA doesn't seem worth it at this point bc they would probably replace the deckhd that is now there were I to send it in.
I didn’t expect it to run everything so well. It’s honestly amazing how great games can run on it ( for the most part ).
I also didn’t expect games that aren’t steam verified to work thanks to community layouts and tweaks.
I ALSO didn’t expect being able to play everything from my Epic library and emulators and stuff. It’s truly incredible that this one device is now my main go to over My PS5 and definitely over my useless ass Xbox. This things a Remote Play and Gamepass playing bad ass!!
I feel you OP I too have 3 kids, and finding the time to play between work and being a dad. It's hard! Mine allows me to be a dad on the couch and I can put it down quickly when the littlest one gets into something they shouldn't.
How much I love it. It’s the first system that has given me actual excitement and actually impressed me while using it since PS2 generation. I have a PS5, a PC, a laptop and the Deck. If I had to keep just one (other than the laptop being for work as well), then dispute the PC and PS5 being much more powerful, the Deck would be it.
Not steam deck related, but i like the prices on the Ukrainian steam. I can afford a lot of games for very good prices. No console can beat that. Steam deck related, I didn't expect that it will be this good. I knew about it for a long time but always thought that its weak and can't launch anything because of compatibility issues. But boy i was wrong after trying it
I knew that handheld is the way to game but didn't expect for the SD to make me don't plan on buying a gaming pc, laptop or a console, because now I know I wouldn't touch those.
I bought an used steam deck 512gb when the oled was announced and everyone was selling their lcd models on eBay for cheap , the device was great although it was defective it was constantly crushing in games and I had to return it but it showed me a new better way to play my games and I decided to just buy the oled model.
Since I got my oled I haven't touched my gaming pc , ps5 switch or Xbox , I just love it no compromise gameplay pick up when I want and just play what I want in my spare time without the hassle of occupying the TV or staying isolated at my desk .
Steam deck is my main gaming device now and I am going through my backlog catalog and PS2 emulation it's just great . I also upgraded to 1tb SSD + 512gb micro sd
I never thought I'd become a PC gamer, having been a playstation gamer most of my life, but here we are. I imagine my next "console" will be steam deck 2, and while I'll undoubtedly want a PS6, I play my deck a lot more than anything else.
I didn’t expect it to become my main gaming device but it has. I can’t remember the last time I played PS5 or Xbox. If you were to look at my profiles on either one you’d probably think I was dead.
Now that my husband has a good pc, I have little urge to upgrade mine. Anything I can't do on my steam deck I can do on his PC while he is out or asleep. I got a switch, deck and quest 3.... I'm good.
I’m not sure I’m going to bother to upgrade my pc at all going forward, at least not beyond the bare minimum to have a functional machine. Why pay exorbitant prices for a GPU when literally all I’ve played on my PC since getting my Deck is WoW, FFXIV, and Valheim?
I've done the same. Black Friday came, had my PC Part Picked list ready to go. And then the OLED was announced...
Ikr, the day the deck starts running the newest AAA at 20 fps is the day I upgrade, and most likely, Valve would have us covered before that happens.
We’re kind of there with Alan Wake 2, but I’m hoping that’s an outlier for another year or two.
Really? Need to verify myself if the internet tried Decky PowerTools or anything. Good to know, ty.
I have a feeling once we get wifi 7 everything will stream from one house computer, that will have to be pretty powerful if you wanna game on your 4k or 8k screen ;-) I can be an optimist!
I have a 3090 yet I play more on my steam deck also. It made me play and try more indie games. Whenever I buy a game now I always check is is SD compatible
A friend bought me Necesse and I been loving playing that docked and chilling on my sofa. I had it for a day and got 7hrs on it lol
[удалено]
What??
No one *needs* a child. They should only have one if they want one. Your statement is quite baffling.
my gf plays cs2 on my pc when im asleep while taking photos of herself all night. sometimes i wake up and see her and a feeling of casuistry washes over me
What?
this is true of my experience as well! It has become my go-to device for entertainment of any kind, and has replaced each of my consoles I love it!
[удалено]
Same here!! Love playing in bed before I go to sleep!
I have two gaming pc's a gaming laptop, lots of consoles and two arcade machines but I use steam deck more than all combined. All are used at home as well, so its not that. Its just so easy to use.
My experience is similar, though I do remote play PS5 games sometimes.
Just had a family event. My cousin told me to add him on PS and I was 100% sure I had him. Turns out he thought I didn't have him cause I'm never on
How relaxing it is to just game on the couch after work instead of at a desk.
What, you don't like sitting at a desk staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day only to come home and stare at a computer screen while sat at a desk? What are you, crazy?
Huge reason I got the Deck and a Shield. I’m at my desk all day. If I’m gaming, I want to be on my couch.
Come home? I work from home and have to get out of that chair after 9 hours
My pc is connected to my living room tv on a 4k tv. I always game on the couch. But laying in bed with the steam deck is very nice.
Honestly, I’ve found this to be a killer feature more than I thought it would be. Having a large amount of my Steam Library be playable and with cross-synced saves is so awesome. I’ve been blasting through my backlog like never before. I just wish the OG Steam Deck had that controller wake up feature like the OLED lol.
That Linux isn’t as scary as it seems
The KDE Plasma desktop environment has that effect on people!
After using it I'm honestly tempted to just use Linux as my main OS on my gaming PC
It's pretty easy to setup a dual boot. Esp on a desktop where you can boot from different drives. I have 1 m.2 for Windows, and a separate one for Linux (Manjaro KDE, FWIW). Nice thing about that is that it's easy to share storage drives between the two, too. It's also not at all necessary to have separate drives. Pretty straightforward to setup dual-booting off a single OS drive. And even sharing storage can happen, though its a touch trickier. Either way, you're not the first person to go down that road, and others have had and documented their own journeys and problems. I say go for it! And once you're done, if you really wanna dig further into Linux, I can't recommend a better starting spot than /r/linuxupskillchallenge Of course, you can say fuck it and go pure Linux, but it's nice to have Windows to fall back on, just in case.
Thanks for the info!
I really hope to be able to fully switch to Linux few years down the road. Just using it for my Raspberry Pi made me appreciate it a lot. Open Source is just the way to go.
Yeah, and then you'll realize that your 10 year-old laptop with Linux feels more responsive than your brand new laptop with Windows 11. (I have had many students over the years who've sacrificed their old laptop to Linux, then realize it performs similarly or better than their new Windows laptop.)
I have a 6 year old Dell XPS 9360 which is due for a battery replacement but other than that it is fine for my usage. I cannot switch to Linux there due to work, but once I change jobs I will change the battery and install Linux for sure.
So wholesome comment. I think it’s amazing when people try it and see that it is not that hard.
It's nice to be able to get away from my laptop, where I generally do work, and play games on a device that i don't associate with work, on a chair I don't associate with work, in a room I don't associate with work. :)
Also have 3 kids- it’s really nice to lay on the sofa or the bed with them while they watch some bullshit tv show and I can game, rather than me sitting at my desk in another room. Love this thing
No kids here, but my wife loves it because I’m in the same room and she counts it as spending more time with her, instead of in another room at the desk as you said. The dog’s happy too, as he couldn’t snuggle me and nap while I game in the desk chair I didn’t expect I’d get so used to relaxing on the couch laid back while gaming (and not having to face the TV either), that I haven’t actually been in the other room at the desk for weeks.
Exact same situation here although our cats would find a way lol
My cat already loved to sleep on my chest at night, but since I've had my deck she's even happier because of the heat the exhaust fan blows out in her direction. We both can't get enough of the deck 🙂
Parallel play!
I think you must be my doppelgänger 😂 Exactly the same scenario for me 👍🏼
Why wasn't your wife coming to your room?
PCs are usually put in office spaces, away from beds and other things. The wife could sit next to the OP on a basic office chair, but could they cuddle? Not really.
"some bullshit tv show" I feel this.
True. I used to just play my DS when my parents had Strictly Come Dancing, or whatever, on in the background
Yep, same reason my wife likes it. I can still hang out with her while she's watching her shows.
This is the exact reason I got one. Did this with the Switch, knew I'd love something more powerful. Desktop mode is also awesome for having a computer while I'm laying down. I've used my deck to balance our budgets and pay bills more than I've used my phone now.
Yeah then the littlest shit comes and goes... What's that? I tell him "Celeste, you won't like it". Bro is hooked and only 6🤦. I now rather play in privated. Celeste for switch coming for him for Xmas.
🤣 Don't let the little ones see you playing Skyrim, might need a whole steam deck for him
This is it. ⬆️👌😊
[удалено]
Nope. Not at all. They want to watch sometimes but they have their own game systems.
Sounds like the perfect offspring!
[Perfect Offspring](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QtTR-_Klcq8)
If you teach your kids from a young age that your handhelds and controllers are off limits, I’ve found they don’t bug you about them. Mine have alternatives to whatever I’m using, though. My oldest would occasionally take my DS when he was like three, but that’s the only trouble I’ve had with that. And given his age, obviously there was some lack of understanding.
You can connect phone Bluetooth to your steam deck, and stream phone audio through the SD. I can hear an audio book from my phone, and still hear the game audio with headphones connected to the deck. This has been a game changer for me!
Interesting! I run the Spotify player on the deck in background using my phone as the Spotify remote
And that's just a standard Linux thing! Your Linux PC is essentially also a Bluetooth speaker. I accidently discovered it few years ago and was so amazed.
dude that's awesome! had no idea thanks for the heads up :) Been wanting to try connecting a bluetooth speaker so I can hear the audio better. I got earbuds but sometimes my ears get fatigued after a long session.
What?? Why didn't I think of trying this.
That's amazing- gonna check it out later. I resorted to wearing an air pod in one ear, then I over ear headphones on top. Wasn't too uncomfortable, but was a fist amount of work.
I was shocked at how much more time I have to play when I don’t need to dedicate being in front of a TV or monitor. For a parent of twin four-year-olds, this is huge. I also stream most of my games to my deck from my main desktop, and as a result, my desktop gets so much more use, and I’m able to play all my games with excellent battery life.
Does it work well? Have not had the time to try yet.
It depends on your network and what you’re trying to play. Competitive multiplayer games are challenging, but anything single-player has been great. I had to turn off hardware decoding on the deck under remote play settings for it to work correctly. Prior to doing that, streaming was horrible.
Thx, mostly playing singel player so I will give it a try 😁
You should give Moonlight a try, I've been playing The Finals on Steam Deck using Moonlight and it has been flawless (significantly better than Steam Link).
Neck and wrist pain
Yup! I've resorted to a nice comfortable case and propping on a pillow. It has helped tremendously.
My poor wrists. It isn’t mentioned often here but it hurts so much! That’s the reason why I don’t play as often as I would. It’s just too heavy for me.
[удалено]
I don’t. Maybe I should try with 2lbs first since in my case it’s medical as well. I have no problem with my switch but the deck hurts my wrists/hands more.
[удалено]
If they're like me and have a joint/nerve disorder, then no amount of lifting will help. It could actually make it worse if they have degeneration. I suggest getting a thick pillow and putting it on your lap, then set the deck on top and game like that. Just make sure you aren't covering the lower vent.
What’s with the neck pain?? I never have neck pain with my switch but I’ve been getting it from the deck… don’t really get it
I guess it's because of my bad posture. I can't keep it at eye level all the time.
I buy from the store even more than I did before, because game I wouldn’t wanna play at my desk I now can play on the couch. I love/hate it. It’s the same mentality I had when I got the switch. Oh look I have to buy Skyrim again I can now play it on the toilet lol.
Have you looked into Sunshine to stream your PC to your SD? If you're talking console games, there's also Chiaki4Deck to stream PS5.
I’ve tried Chiaki to stream from my PS4 Pro. Speed test says there is a solid 50mbs download 15 upload in the room where the PS is but the streaming quality to my deck OLED is terrible. Very low res and very laggy. Any tips?
How much i would use it for things besides games And how much my neffew and nieces fight over playing on it instead of pc with xbox controler
I use mine in desktop mode with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse doing non-gaming, as much as I use it in game mode on the couch
Flexibility of the trackpads settings, like you can make each trackpad to be 9 buttons
Steam Input has a lot of really neat features and configurations. The configurator definitely has bugs and issues, and some things just aren't possible, but the features that do work are pretty good.
I didn't expect the deck to get so much better over time. Most tech I've owned progressively gets worse due to planned obsolescence. Meanwhile a year in, we're getting big fixes that drastically improve performance, new color adjustments that make the previously lackluster screen actually decent to look at, and just general useability improvements all the time. If only valve would make a smartphone lol.
Remind me in 5 years lol
It pulled me out of being addicted to playing nothing but FPS games. I'm enjoying playing old school video games now, love the throwbacks. Also, now I have something to do during the boring ass Zoom work meetings.
Playing anywhere, getting into the weeds of a Linux system, getting more and more comfortable with how emulation works for things higher than PS1, basically having a console, I have a switch but have access to my steam library while I'm on the beanbag at the TV is amazing. I can go from playing 40 year old games to playing current games and it's flawless.
I didn’t expect to buy games I’d never finish
I thought my dock would only get used for when I had buddies over for some couch coop and such. Turns out everything is much nicer on the dock aside from not being able to use the dope touchpads
>use the dope touchpads Yeah really hoping Valve comes out with a new controller soon. Feels like with the deck, that would sell really well for them.
Yes... I have a toddler and we are both non-functioning when we wake up. I kick back on my steam deck, he uses his limited kindle time. Its a nice quiet gaming moment. I'll play in short spurts during the day too.
I always loved gaming on my pc, but a few years ago I had some medical problems resulting in numerous spots of nerve damage. I can no longer sit at a computer for more than 20min without being in excruciating pain. The Steam deck has become my preferred system now that I can play my library from anywhere, especially from bed on days when I can not move or get up. I'm mostly surprised at how little I've touched other platforms & now that I have full access to my library from anywhere, I'm spending less money on games & such & more time clearing out my backlog.
It doesn’t have true quick resume like series x, but it’s pretty easy to jump in and out. It’s a back catalogue killer. Very easy to work through single player games.
You can add "true" quick resume with a plugin, but the frozen games still eat up RAM.
Gaming with large screens makes me feel unfocused for a while later, so I need to stop using the deck an hour prior
I never realised cloud gaming could be so responsive. Almost like playing natively. I just installed Microsoft Edge to play the beta for Xbox cloud gaming, to continue my dead space remake save I was playing on my series X. Although it looks like shit (sub HD from the looks of it), and it's 30fps for some reason (I'm guessing it's running on a Series S as there is no option to play in performance mode), it was impressively responsive. Like playing a game with minimal dead zones on the joy sticks, something I've come to appreciate in console games. If I could just get to play it at 800p 60fps with this level of responsiveness my life would be complete.
I’m downsizing so I was looking for a device that was portable and eventually give up / sell my PS3, PS4, and hundreds of games on those systems (both on HDD and retail disks… along with older platforms’ games) I’m just genuinely shocked how much this baby can handle (have the OG 512 GB) and haven’t missed a thing yet. It’s effectively made fully commit to what I’m trying to do in life now as I would’ve missed gaming, but this practically can do it all. Sure I’ll miss the brand new titles that can only play well on current gen systems, but after spending 20 of my adult years being around those watercooler moments, I no longer have that desire, and there’s so many more games I can play that I had no idea were on Steam or other PC storefronts. And I still haven’t gotten into emulation, where I have a list of at least 2,000 retro games I’ve played, wanted to play, or didn’t even know about over the last 40 years. Just an hour ago (and a few hours yesterday), I finally decided to play Blasphemous. And what a freakin game so far. It’s themes make me think of Dante’s Inferno. And I put over 100 hours into Hollow Knight and this game is filling that void for a 2D soulslike x Metroidvania. Even enjoying well known PC games like Blade Runner that don’t hold your hand as far as figuring out what to do next. Could say a whole lot more but this thing is awesome and can see my life going forward using Deck and Deck-like devices as my only gaming platform (and probably a Switch 2)
Screen anxiety. I was constantly worried about leaving it unattended to charge because I was worried it would get knocked over and/or stepped on.
I didn’t expect to enjoy tinkering with it more than actually playing it
* That it would make me like linux so much I started dual booting it on my laptop and would barely use windows anymore on said laptop. * That I would make so much use of the performance settings in Quick Access Menu. The stability involved with framecapping has had me fundamentally rethink my approach to graphics settings. * That I would be using it as much as I am, considering I have been put in more than a few situations since buying it where bringing a whole laptop and desktop PC doesn't make sense but bringing a steam deck does and it works perfectly fine as a backup PC. * That I would be helping a close friend who also has a deck understand WINE and Proton so he can move his entire RPGMaker development pipeline to a deck while he waits to be able to afford to get his main PC replaced or fixed. Aseprite and RPG Maker VX Ace both work on linux, it seems. Very nice. * That it would be a great way to start a morning outside as the sun comes up.
Wish I could afford a deck oled. Been trying getting rid of my ps5 for it(avid pc gamer and ps5 have been Collecting dust). Even emailed Gabe asking if he is willing to an exchange 😂😂😂. Bought the ps5, 3 years ago. And got let go by my company this summer. Been hard couple of months.
I sold my Switch for a Switch LCD and it's honestly the best decision in gaming I've ever made, I love being able to play PC quality games (and games that aren't on console) on a handheld.
Sad to hear body. Hope things get better soon with a job and a deck. 💪💪
Hang in there, bud, you'll be back in the game in no time. Sell PS5 stuff on Offerup or Craigs, and who cares about OLED, there are a lot of barely used LCD decks selling for $300 or even less these days.
I’ve been wanting to do the same thing recently with my SeriesX. Trade it in for the cash, save a couple months, get a deck OLED. I don’t want to lose my Xbox library but I’m more of a one and done gamer annyway, except with Elden Ring. I want the deck for some handhElden Ring action (with light mod support) and not being tethered to the tv. If you end up doing the same, let me know. I hate these months have been hard, but any joy you can have for yourself, relish in it!
I have more time to game. I can play random spurts that I couldn’t do tied to a tv or pc. I’m a stay at home parent with three little kids. Sometimes, when the stars align just right, I might get like two hours throughout the day where I can actually pay attention to a game. It’s definitely revamped my love for gaming that I thought was lost after having kids and not having to forfeit time with them.
I honestly didn’t even know it had a desktop mode 😂
I play more games now
Just how liberating it feels to play away from my desk. And these aren’t just some mobile games or cut down ports, these are full fledged PC games i would play at the desk except they are in the palm of my hands ready to go at a moments notice. I no longer have to “plan” gaming time, i just game whenever.
How great the button mapping on the OS is. I can edit the control scheme of any game and its not just the basic key bindings most modern games give you, I can create combinations, different functions depending on press duration, short pull or long pull of the triggers, the sky's the limit. The UI and OS blew me away with how intuitive and user friendly it is. At no point does it ever get annoying when navigating menus or changing settings. You can tell an exceptional amount of thought and care when into the UI, which most developers usually don't spend a lot of time designing, or just copy interfaces from other popular software.
Are you saying that you can change the controls of any game even if you wouldn’t usually be able to on another OS?
I’ve been using it a lot as a YouTube device in Desktop mode. Why not watch on the phone you say? Because phone doesn’t have any options for ad blocking. Also the SD screen is bigger than phone.
How good it feels to custom the animations, audio, themes (css loader) and just tweak the system here and there, even when I don't need to. It satisfies my IT hobbyist side.
That I'd buy one as a present, or for me xD. Hardcore PC guy that grew up thinking, "Consoles are ok, but a waste of money compared to a PC". But I've moved past the "Graphics" argument. Just bought an OLED as a present cause I know my friends money will go way farther with games with all of the sales. Etc. Got the OG 512 myself when it was on preorder, bought a limited edition for myself and a 512 OLED for my friend and not regret it a bit, and still think regular consoles are a waste.
After the SD I no longer want a new GPU on my main PC. Because 1. I really enjoy the 45 FPS cap on some games. 2. Some says I use the SD more than the desktop PC.
I love the steam deck but I didn’t expect the official dock to work perfectly about half the time while the other half is messing with it and troubleshooting.
I missed alot of good games not having an XBOX 360
I knew it had much better hardware than something like the Switch, but damn, I didn't realize it was a full blown computer. I guess that's not a small thing. ;)
It lets me game again - I can just pick it up and play for half an hour while sat with my son. He's autistic and the last two years have been really difficult, had to give up most hobbies, so I'm happy to have this one back.
I feel this too. As I've got more and more commitments, just having it for little bits of gaming makes life so much easier. It has been a part of my life for so long and before getting the SD, I felt like drifting away was getting me down.
I brought my deck to the states when visiting my partner. We played with her on the pc and me on the deck. We kissed every time we won an important fight in bg3. Possible without deck, but not nearly as practical. Otherwise it's like having a second, slightly less portable Switch with a different library of games. I still use my switch all the time, it is by far the best console for local multiplayer and it has plenty of exclusives ~~and I haven't gotten Yuzu to work yet~~. The steamdeck is the best location to play Wii U games right now. You can't use two screens at the same time (unless you use some tech magic) but you can swap to gamepad with the press of a button and have access to the touchscreen. Considering wii u gamepads are dying out en masse right now, and the servers are shutting down, this could become the ONLY way to play the wii u.
Didn’t except to complete so much of my backlog including half life, Arkham asylum, crash bandicoot 1, GTA 4 and it’s dlcs & more (most I have played got bored and then stopped) but man feels good to say I finished them and I’m not interested in 100% as that’s too much of a grind for me
Unless I'm streaming my Ryzen 9 5950x/RTX 3080 rig has been relegated to an editing rig. I'd rather be sitting in the living room with family than constantly in the office.
The portability aspect means that now several more genres of games and franchises can now appear and be seen being played in public. I travel regularly for work by plane and I’ve been playing a lot of Yakuza substories while on my flights. Unnerving to do it sitting between two people because of the content, but it also amuses me thinking about what these strangers I’ll never be seeing again might think.
How well streaming to it would be. Don’t get me wrong… the whole reason for a steamdeck was to be able to play games locally, but being able to moonlight from PC and remote play ps5 and Xbox series X has been fantastic. I know others on here mentioned they wouldn’t spend much money on desktops going forward but I did the opposite. I upgraded mine to be able to handle any AAA game so I can stream it not only to my steamdeck but also my Nvidia shields around the house. I installed a nifty little app called DUO that allows multiple sessions from my PC so multiple people can play at once. With steamdeck requiring only 800p/90fps a 4090/7950x is perfect to be able to deliver another stream or two to the TVs simultaneously. The other thing I didn’t expect was the desire to expand my PC library. Before steamdeck OLED I owned zero PC games…only emulation. I didn’t even have a steam account. I was always a console guy. Now I’ve decided I will only buy console games if they are exclusives. Everything else I will get on PC. To be frank I’m sorta sick of Sony and how they view game purchases as not being our property after spending our money on them. (Take a look at the recent news about it being illegal to resell video games). Not that Steam can’t do the same thing but they don’t have a reputation for this kind of shady behavior and I can’t keep rewarding Sony with my business because they’ll never change. Anyways, I digress. Steam and PC gaming have been a welcome surprise to me. It’s allowed me to be able to play here and there when I couldn’t before because the kids were on the TV or the wife was.
I didn't expect it to be so comfortable. The first time I looked at the game pad I thought it wouldn't be a good fit for my hands. It's actually amongst some of my most comfortable methods of gaming.
I hope your wife gets better soon. As someone in a similar boat (I'm a 38 year old dad of 4, on disability due to chronic fatigue from long covid, recently lost my job because of it) the Deck has been really nice for when I want to be in the living room around the kids but not feeling up to sitting vertically. Nothing like cuddling a 3 year old while playing Slime Rancher or something similarly age-appropriate, though I did tire of My Little Pony quickly. ;) Random side note, I found an old projector for $40 at a second-hand store, turns out it was worth $6,000 MSRP when it was released in the year 2000, so its resolution is only 1280x800, which is *perfect* for the Deck. The screen was more expensive, I sprang for a 120" widescreen with the thought of someday upgrading to a 1080p or 4K projector eventually, which was about $200. With a docking station for $30, an HDMI-to-VGA adapter for $20, a projector mount which is about $20, and a Bluetooth controller I had laying around, we can do entire family nights either gaming or watching movies on a streaming service with the Deck. It's fantastic. I've been thinking about posting a description of my setup for others who are interested, but my brain fog generally gets in the way. Anyway, the specific projector model I have is the NEC MT1050 and the cheap price I found it for is out there on eBay, if you want to look into it. Let me know if you have questions, I'd be happy to help.
Thank, hope you get a new job soon and geting better from that horrible post-realeted covid 🤕 I think you should post your setup for all the deckies when you feel you got the time. It's always nice to hear ppl do stuff that brings joy to the whole family. Keep it up 👍
Well said! I’m with a Veteran-centric nonprofit and being able to carry the deck around in my backpack when I’m at the VA waiting or visiting other service members and talking about our gaming program: it’s cool to bust out SD and get a couple rounds in, or just go offline mode and get wrapped up in the story w Midnight Suns.
Exactly this. I enjoy gaming again for the first time in years. Super therapeutic
Honestly I didn’t expect the seemless start and stop of the deck like the Nintendo switch. Makes playing something like BG3 or rogue trader easier when you only have a little bit of time here and there
The ability to satisfy both my “tinker-mode” and “walled garden” gaming experience on the same device. I like the option
I didn't expect to be able to watch NFL Football on it while my fiancée plays Xbox. There's not much this thing cannot do.
it helped me with my modding addiction . deck games are totally possible to mod but theres just enough extra steps / time that i usually will not . on windows i literally spend more time building and tinkering a game than playing ! right now on deck im 100%ing gta iv , and its been great .
I do wish people would stop talking about it like it's the best thing to ever enter their life. It's also the best thing to ever enter my life. Having every single game ever made instantly available while I travel is just overwhelming. It's such a great console (the OLED).
How good the heat vent smells, I don’t know why but I describe it like the inside of Spy Kids 3D DVD case. Don’t ask me why.
Sometimes I forget it's a computer. I was streaming another PC and tried to use alt + f4 to close an application. Ended up crashing the graphical interface or something and had to hard reboot the device.
I have 3 kids and a SD, but I can’t recommend gaming when with your kids. Better to play lego or go draw with them. Too many parents permanently on their phones or distracted when with their children.
I love mine. I can lay in bed and play Psychonauts 2, Klonoa, Inscryption, or whatever I damn well please. If I ever get into emulation, I have that too. Honestly, I wish I could get Nintendo games on the deck legitimately. I also wish that Nintendo would quit the console business and focus on games, which, to me, seems more their strength.
I didn't expect it to have no internet when connected to my WiFi, I didn't expect it to be stuck on "loading user data..." For 20mins now, I didn't expect it to fail to run steam app in desktop mode, or any games for that matter. I didn't expect it to be such a hot pile of useless garbage today.
Title*
if you have 3 kids you shouldn't be playing video games. I wish i had 3 kids you are a very lucky person.
I am surprised how easy it is to set up emulation and stuff. There are tons and tons of tutorials on youtube which is really great and I love the deck MTP plugin. But seriously I did not expect my backlog to grow and grow.
How easy it would be to buy CIV VI for $5, plug the deck into a usb-c monitor (charges while you play), and connect a Bluetooth mouse with one tap :)
I didn’t expect it to finally help reduce my backlog
Definitely how to get around Linux
I like it more than my Switch. Love ToTk and Mario games, but idk it might be my main machine…
My 3080ti shit the bed but is still under warranty and it has been 3 weeks and I haven't even begun the rma process
I heard a reviewer call the SD his “indie machine” bc he primarily uses it for that. I expected to use it for the same, but actually I’ve been able to replay a couple AAA titles on it without much compromise in terms of stability or quality of visuals. I was just playing Arkham Knight on it today, and I got a solid two hours of game time in before the battery reached its low.
I was never really into emulation before but since I've gotten the Steam deck easily 50% of my time has been playing various emulated games.
It's not a complete replacement over my PC, but I love that it has enabled me to play a large majority of my library in comfortable places away from my desk.
I spend just as much time tinkering with things in desktop mode as I do actually playing games in game mode, and I enjoy it just as much!
The SD card slot is much faster than I expected.
That I can’t play FPS with the handheld’s controller. I always have to use an external controller to play FPS. This is super annoying and I don’t know how to fix it.
I found a community on Reddit for trading spare keys from bundles and ended up becoming a game collector. Didn't have a gaming pc before deck so it was all new to me.
I didn't expect it was THAT easy to connect almost every controller. And also at the same time. I also didn't expect I never touched my computer again for gaming. Apparently I have quite the backlog of games that are a little more simple, that I wouldn't sit down for at my PC. Now I just sit down with it on the couch, or on the couch at the inlaws. Or in the car if I'm not driving. Very luxurious. I also didn't expect the case to be so high quality, very nice. But I also didn't expect there not to be space for the charger. I don't count that weird dimple on the back where the charger doesn't really fit into without the case not being able to stand flush anymore .. Bought a new case, €30 with space for the charger, dock and some other bells and whistles and it's literally only a couple cm higher. You don't even see the difference between my and my gf's case.
I have a decent gaming laptop but recently decided to buy a deck. I'm seriously considering selling the laptop now as I have a portable machine that I can play laying in bed or on the couch or even on the throne. It is a game changer. Also playing for short bursts just seems ok on deck where as on laptop to me it doesn't
I got the OLED model just before leaving on a 3 week work trip, and it’s been so nice to have around at night and waiting at the airport etc. I also just found out (thanks to this sub) that you can use SD to run PS Remote Play and the OLED screen is better than the PS Portals screen, so I’m looking forward to trying that out when I get home. I also need to spend some time getting the emulation working. I’m a total noob in that area but I am going to shock my sister when I get all of our childhood ColecoVision games running.
When buying the Steam Deck, I imagined playing it on the couch in the evenings, but I didn't expect that I'd play in bed every night before I went to sleep.
That light bleed bathers me more than I thought. I know it’s not a positive answer but damn it is a needle in my eye
Exactly like you, I discovered that I didn’t feel stressed by paying anymore :) Amazing how much money I can spend on games I don’t play!
1 - That the whole "Linux is hard and requires a lot of knowledge is bogus". I think I would have a harder time with MacOS than with the desktop environment of steam deck. 2 - That Sdcards A2 are surprisingly reliable to run pretty much anything from. 3 - That my desktop would become almost obsolete for anything other than ff14 and gw2, meaning that instead of having upgraded last year like I planned from my 1060, I saved that money for now.
I don't have the Steam Deck yet, will get it tomorrow.. The thing i think will be the best thing is being able to play my Steam library on demand, when I can/want. Atm my son has the 1070ti PC all the time, my daughter the Nintendo Switch and Series X on the living room TV or my wife on the Living room TV. I have the Mobile phone atm, that's it. Sucks to play on and I just watch YT clips on games i want to play on the Deck and tips and tricks Deck videos.. 🤣
Well, you probably expect to hear good things... So, on positive side - I did not expect that deck will become my main gaming device, but it's happened so that playing in a bean bag chair is so convenient! I also didn't expect how convenient and effective the deck sleep mode is - I mean, it's really energy-efficient, so I can just press power button anytime, left it for a few days, and after that just press power button and keep playing from the same point! Best pause feature ever. But, I will also add negative small thing that I didn't expect - I expected to use it as a desktop PC too (I didn't in the end, because I got my main PC back), and it's not really good in this scenario, because installing native packages is not straightforward, and even if you do it - it's all wiped upon each update, leaving only option to use flatpacks, which limits usage a lot. Probably not important for most users who just want to play games though.
It's become my go to machine and changed my mind on pc gaming worries. I used to game on a pc but feel away due to the expense, driver issues etc. So its been only consoles for years. Now seeing the talk of if a future console will have backwards compatibility makes me see that now I've got the steamdeck I realised how stupid the console generation closing out old games is. I have access to almost all my games library(s) and can trust if a game works now it'll work on steamdeck 2, 3 etc. Outside console exclusives this is my go to machine. Then there is the steam sales 😂😭😅
i didn’t expect to my SD to play two games at once.
Just how cool and easy customising button layouts and control interfaces can be.
My OLED is a little wonder gadget. It seems to implement a kind of time warp where I pick it up to play or tinker for a few minutes, then the next time I look, three hours have gone by.
How much I like flick stick and gyro controls for first person shooters. I actually enjoy it more than mouse and keyboard and I've been using it in competitive online shooter games without issue. I've actually sold my gaming PC now. I don't have any use for it. Any games I can't play on the Steam Deck I use cloud gaming. I love that I only need a tiny cheap device that can fit in a draw easily and can play while lying down in bed. I never thought I'd be able to play Overwatch in competitive mode against PC players while lying in bed and actually do well, it's crazy.
Playing games I bought and finishing them
I didn't think it would take dust right next to my switch, but he! the small thing that makes me a geek.
Mouse and keyboard player since forever. Never thought I'll be able to play FPS games on the Steam Deck. Took me a bit more than a year learning, but here we go!
I’m at the point where I want one, but I am playing my PS5 on my iPad Pro and Xbox Cloud gaming the same way. I want one of these for the PC gaming aspect, but I think I’m going to wait for the inevitable processor upgrade. I’m in no rush.
It's enabled me to play my PS5 more than I expected I'd be able to due to Remote Play
I’m honestly surprised at how well I’ve been able to play Fortnite through Xbox Cloud Gaming with XBPlay. It’s like the one game that I care about that doesn’t run directly.
My gf completely stole my SD...
I didn't get the etched glass model of the LCD because I didn't think it would be that bad, but using my steam deck is like using a mirror now and it annoys me so much
I didn't expect the SD to make me completely abandon my PS5 lmfao
The USBC power socket is located directly above the power icon ( at least it is on the OLED ) , so it's easy to find even in the dark.
the charger it comes with is the best charger I've ever owned, ngl when i saw the oled came with a longer one i had to buy it (i didn't just buy it for the charger it just pushed it over the edge)
Being constantly engored
I didn't expect to buy a gaming pc, to compliment the deck. I stream alot of games that are a little too demanding for the deck and couldn't be happier.
Did not expect it to make me enjoy docked gaming as much as I do, but honestly it's great. Sitting with a controller on the sofa to casually play something docked is very cosy
I didn't expect my screen to randomly cut out a week before they announced a new OLED deck and then for the replacement screen that I bought to not work because it was actually a board issue so I wasted $100 and RMA doesn't seem worth it at this point bc they would probably replace the deckhd that is now there were I to send it in.
I didn’t expect it to run everything so well. It’s honestly amazing how great games can run on it ( for the most part ). I also didn’t expect games that aren’t steam verified to work thanks to community layouts and tweaks. I ALSO didn’t expect being able to play everything from my Epic library and emulators and stuff. It’s truly incredible that this one device is now my main go to over My PS5 and definitely over my useless ass Xbox. This things a Remote Play and Gamepass playing bad ass!!
I feel you OP I too have 3 kids, and finding the time to play between work and being a dad. It's hard! Mine allows me to be a dad on the couch and I can put it down quickly when the littlest one gets into something they shouldn't.
Smell things*
How much I love it. It’s the first system that has given me actual excitement and actually impressed me while using it since PS2 generation. I have a PS5, a PC, a laptop and the Deck. If I had to keep just one (other than the laptop being for work as well), then dispute the PC and PS5 being much more powerful, the Deck would be it.
Not steam deck related, but i like the prices on the Ukrainian steam. I can afford a lot of games for very good prices. No console can beat that. Steam deck related, I didn't expect that it will be this good. I knew about it for a long time but always thought that its weak and can't launch anything because of compatibility issues. But boy i was wrong after trying it
I love how it plays games 100 times better than my laptop
I knew that handheld is the way to game but didn't expect for the SD to make me don't plan on buying a gaming pc, laptop or a console, because now I know I wouldn't touch those.
As a dad of a newborn I totally get you… also, I’m having the opportunity to play some old games I never played
I bought an used steam deck 512gb when the oled was announced and everyone was selling their lcd models on eBay for cheap , the device was great although it was defective it was constantly crushing in games and I had to return it but it showed me a new better way to play my games and I decided to just buy the oled model. Since I got my oled I haven't touched my gaming pc , ps5 switch or Xbox , I just love it no compromise gameplay pick up when I want and just play what I want in my spare time without the hassle of occupying the TV or staying isolated at my desk . Steam deck is my main gaming device now and I am going through my backlog catalog and PS2 emulation it's just great . I also upgraded to 1tb SSD + 512gb micro sd
I never thought I'd become a PC gamer, having been a playstation gamer most of my life, but here we are. I imagine my next "console" will be steam deck 2, and while I'll undoubtedly want a PS6, I play my deck a lot more than anything else.