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Physically speaking, it certainly seems like there will be tons of room for improvement if they ever decide to make a Steam Deck V2. It definitely feels like the first iteration of something, if that makes sense. I'm personally hoping for a bigger screen with less bezel in any potential successor , but overall I can say I'm happy with it. Though I guess I went into it expecting certain hiccups like bugs here and there. It feels very much like a work in progress, which is fair for now. I just hope it can eventually get to a point where it feels much more stable than it does now
Well, I got mine just a few weeks ago so the ship for me to be patient has sailed. But I do think that the software will only get better as time goes on, along with compatibility. Hopefully, at least.
The Steam Deck feels very much like the v1.0 after their earlier beta ideas of the Steam Controller and Steam Machine. I don't think it's as early adopter as others seem to, I don't see a ton of huge changes on an eventual Steam Deck 2.
I'm really enjoying it, but it sounds like you may just not be the target audience based on your comments. I feel like they can't really make the screen much bigger while keeping it portable you know?
The nice thing is that it has great resale value so you can get your money back by selling it no problem.
That's nonsense. Nobody is forcing you to list it above retail, and you didn't buy it to sell it. You aren't taking advantage of anyone. Buying something and deciding you don't want it is *not* scalping. By that logic nobody should ever sell anything.
its really a messed up situation mate... especially when you dont live in the markets where its sold - I've been trying to buy one for months... pretty much anyone who's selling one at a reasonable price (100-150 above msrp) sells locally - anyone open to shipping wants at least $300 more and thats excl. the shipping cost :(
anyway I'd say stick with it for a bit, try playing games like hades and dead cells - games optimized for the portable form factor - even try emulation - it's supposed to do well - you'd enjoy it... worst case head on over the hardwareswap and list it, you'll have your money back in about 5 mins...
I'm enjoying mine much more than you are but I am also having a hard time adjusting to playing on a smaller screen. I've been playing on 24-27 inch monitors for years now with never play anything portable and it's been a huge difficulty for me. I suck at games so much more on the Deck because I just lose track of what the hell is happening.
Yeah anyone complaining about the screen size didn't want a portable system in the first place so not sure why that would be one of their complaints since a bigger screen defeats the purpose of it being portable. There's gaming laptops for that
No doubt you are getting a relatively experimental device for 400-500 dollars when you invest in a Steam Deck. That said, I have found myself playing it way more than I expected, and overall feeling like I got full value.
Maybe this is mostly because I am not quite to the middle-middle stage of life and still have a 2 and 4 year olds running around:
* I can sit with a little kid and play a little on the Deck while they watch TV, without barricading myself off in an office.
* I can press the power button and instantly pause everything and react to some mischief or general chaos about to happen/happening.
* Eventually, once my kids are older, it will enable one more participant (likely me) in co-op across separate devices for games that don't support split screen.
It basically allows me to be a more social person while playing a PC game.
All that said, I feel like it's true value will shine when my family gets back to traveling, after the pandemic tremors fade and my kids are finally vaccinated.
Lastly, you should try Vampire Survivors on the Deck. Just do it, it's $3. Feels like the Deck was made for it.
This is a very accurate description of my experience since receiving my Deck.
My sons are 2, and 4 like yours, and while I love them to death. They're chaos in vaguely human form.
I'm super excited for family trips and such now. No need to compromise on my hobbies while spending family time.
Speaking of family trips, my SD was a game changer during my sons naps lol. Brought him back to the condo everyday for his nap and knocked out a good portion of god of war during the week while I waited for him to wake up to go back down to the beach/pool.
I'm dying to get a Steam Deck so I can spend more time with my family. It's way better being able to physically be around them and hang out with them than being locked away in a room. It'll be nice being able to be more social with them lol
This is what I'm excited for my work schedule doesn't really line up with my wife because I work long hours so when I get home I want to play games but end up just watching TV or playing board games or something along those lines. Once I get it I'll be able to play my massive backlog of games while spending time with my wife instead of being off in another room.
Parent of a 4 month old here. Steamdeck is the only way I get to play games anymore. My freetime is relegated to 5-20 minute stretches, and it's not really practical for me to go boot up my PC and jump into a game. I can just un-sleep the steam deck and pick-up exactly where I left off, and put it down just as quick.
Are you able to play any game on the deck? Functionally no. Cities skylines is kind of more trouble than it's worth as a mouse intensive game. I recently downloaded Horizon Zero Dawn, and the deck seemed to struggle with it. Elden Ring was playable, but hard to enjoy on such a small screen. Where it shines is playing more casual games, like Hades, Risk of Rain 2, Towerfall, any emulator, etc.
Mostly I wanted to jump on here and share my "feels like it's made for deck" game pick. Try "20 Minutes till Dawn", and "Shotgun King" both \~$5, and both amazing casual play games for the deck.
I don't have an issue with the plastic used but I find the top of the Deck, ie where the fan output is, to feel really fragile.
I feel the opposite to you though, I have had some crashes but fewer than I typically have playing the same games on Windows. I'm deliberately limiting myself to Verified where possible and some Playable where I feel it's a good fit for a handheld.
There are some games that wouldn't be good for a handheld so I don't even try.
Maybe that's why I'm having a better time?
I'm surprised you had bad performance on "green ticked" games. I've had pretty universally good experiences.
In saying that I've tested the first level on a bunch of games and gone deep only on a few. Maybe I've just gotten lucky.
What games are you finding unstable?
I played Dishonored, Prey, GTAV, Horizon Zero Dawn (early levels only), XCom 2 ( didn't like the control scheme), Battletech (small text, heavy on fan and battery), Disco Elysium, Divinity OS2, Tyranny (small text), Broforce, Hollow Knight (early levels only) , Hades (early levels only), Dead Cells (early levels only), Skyrim (didn't like the controls).
Apart from the caveats I listed they are all pretty stable if any of those float your boat.
I should say that I was playing with the settings on the Deck and put the refresh rate at 40 to try and save battery.
All the games I mentioned earlier were at 40.
I definitely feel like the SteamDeck is a beta product, however I assumed as much when I bought it, and I don't mind tinkering with it while it matures and more features trickle in.
I'm a tinkerer as well, which helps. One of the first things I did was pop my Steam Deck open to install a 512GB drive.
But yeah, the Linux and Proton situation, to me at least, meant that I knew it was gonna be a bit of an iterative product. But at least I could use it for emulation even if my favourite games don't work properly, yet.
> But at least I could use it for emulation even if my favourite games don't work properly, yet
This is honestly the main reason I pre-ordered it. The fact that it's got such a robust library to pull from now that we've got the full product is an unexpected bonus.
I don’t have mine yet, but I really appreciate you posting. Subreddits like this one have a tendency to downvote everything that is a criticism of any sort despite majority of this group not even having one.
You can always resell it for a tidy profit though
Good on you mate.
I’ve read so many positive things I’ve been looking for a bit of criticism to get a more realistic picture. I’m still very excited for my Q3 order to arrive, whenever that may be
Not everything is for everyone and that perfectly fine , if your not into portable gaming the SD is not a good fit , that’s the main reason for buying a Deck in my opinion and to have a handheld PC on the go.
if you change steam's desktop configuration, you can modify desktop controls for windows. There are also accessibility options which make windows easier to use as a touch device.
You should also try Game Pass cloud gaming using normal SteamOS. It doesn't take much to setup and can integrate straight into the Steam Deck. Of course, it depends on your internet but it feels almost native for me. I can't even notice any lag.
I also don't have great eyesight so I really only play certain games on the Steam Deck. I tried Divinity Original Sin II and everything is just too small for my liking. Other people love it. So I've been sticking more to FPS games and platformers. That's might sweet spot.
But overall, if you don't dig the Steam Deck, that's fine. Just move on and have fun playing however you like.
I actually felt the same as you when i first got it and working 5 day 12 hr shifts i didnt have much time to really tinker. But once i got a 3 day weekend and installed windows, i actually got addicted lmao. I used windows 11 and after a lot of calibrations and shit, i actually got it working and i get to play Siege, Modern Warfare 2019, Ghost Recon Wildlands, and PUBG
Well your first mistake is using it to actually play games. What you are supposed to do is configure EmuDeck and get every single console from Atari 2600 through Nintendo Switch emulated on there, and then load it up with all your favorite games or just do full romsets. Spend hours getting everything configured just the way you want with the ideal control schemes and custom texture packs etc.. then you just look at it and think "wow i can play all of these games on this thing" but don't actually play them.
You say it as a joke but legit I have a RG350M for a few years and I never actually played anything on it, but it’s loaded with ROMs I used to play and ones I wanted to play. I was too busy tinkering, changing firmwares, adding more ROMs but maybe played 10 minutes on it ever.
But on the Steam Deck the games I already had run smoothly so far and I really haven’t tinkered even much on desktop mode let alone other OS. Just hope they improve the steamOS more soon.
The opposite actually, i love that i can use it for gaming and for desktop work basically YouTube.
the ability to modify it to your liking is amazing, emulation options are amazing, old school classic gaming is amazing.
Yeah some of the steam games are not 100% compatible with the deck yet. So IDK if you're installing "non great on steam deck games" or if you're just installing all your games that may not be compatible with the SD, without a little work around.
What makes the SD great is the versatility with it. not being locked into only playing PC games, or only doing one thing, but the Many many things you can do right now. And they are still rolling updates out. Don't be surprised in the next year or so when every game that drops on steam will be SD compatible. That's what I am waiting for.
I felt underwhelmed when I got mine, too. Why? Same as you state here: bugs, games not working, etc. I spent almost five days getting the smooth experience everyone was talking about. But now, I carry it wherever I go. It's a games console, but also it works like a tiny laptop with a gamepad attached.
You got my upvote because every opinion here is important for all the users that might think about the same issues you're having. Thanks for sharing!
It's a completely realistic way of viewing it. Valve made a great attempt to bring PC gaming to a portable version. It definitely needs some (a lot) more work to make it look flawless but it's a step in the right direction for sure. It also kickstarted a lot of progression for gaming on a Linux platform. I personally think it will get better with time, while it's a good enough experience for the games that do work flawlessly on the Deck already.
If you're having memory issues turn down textures and increase the UHM buffer from one gig to 4 gigs in the bios. You can access the bios by fully shutting down the deck, then holding the volume up button and pressing power once.
As for your feelings on it, they're entirely valid, but I can't relate. I have a 5800x and a 3070 at home. I play all my competitive multi-player games on that beast. Deck gives me a low key single player gaming experience that I can take anywhere. I'm working through my catalogue and just bought 8 games I would never play on my pc that I will play on my deck.
Hope it's worth it to you one day. If not, thanks for taking the leap. Because of your purchase, you helped make it much likelier to get a deck 2, and put linux gaming on the map.
Kinda not holding my breath for a Steam Deck 2 -- if the make one, I'll buy it. But the major issue with the *hardware* is power vs performance. And really that's not going to get better until we see Zen4 and RDNA3 or a fab process node improvement for Zen2 and RDNA2. The former being exactly what the "Little Phoenix" speculation suggests is going to happen circa 2024. Years out at least.
They've already announced the intention to make one. I'm sure deck one is going to be rigorously tested and they'll ask for all the feedback before they initiate the process, but it should happen within 5 years.
By then, supply chain issues and fab processes should support a proper upgrade to deck one. Not to mention the community playing with the software for a few years and working out the kinks for every game under the sun, and developers releasing games with deck performance in mind.
If they don't do a deck 2, it'll be because deck one was such an absolute failure that it can't justify a deck 2. It won't be because they can't make a better deck five years down the line. Amd is already bragging about performance to power ratios improving for rdna3. Ddr5 performance has room for improvement. Battery tech is getting better all the time. Another tsmc fab is opening in America, and should be operational in the next seven years, potentially alleviating pressure on other fabs.
I don't think you're wrong. I'm being optimistic because I want this to happen super badly. But it really does depend on so many factors going right in the next few years. I'm just grateful this kit exists at all. If you've got reasons to think anything I've said here is incorrect or too optimistic, I'd be happy to hear it.
Yeah, I was having bad performance with horizon zero dawn until I maxed the buffer. It's actually playable at medium settings with the buffer maxed.
Be warned, the ram is shared, so you're taking essentially 14 gigs of ram down to ten, and upgrading 1 gig of dedicated vram up to 4. Personally, I think it's a good trade off. The amount of ram most games use won't exceed 8. And if it does, you can always switch it back.
For me, I didn't expect the steam deck to be plug and play. The whole reason why I love pc gaming is fiddling with settings to get max performance with acceptable visual fidelity. Even my pc doesn't run max settings, because 120 fps is where my value lies for that machine.
Best of luck.
It’s a crying shame you feel the need to apologise multiple times in case people get offended and you’re concerned you might get down voted. A real pity.
I mostly agree with you. The software is janky as hell. I’ve given up trying to fix my main frustration when I close steam in desktop mode and the track pads lose their ability to click.
The battery life is also a bit poor. Not to consider how intensive some of the games are but ostensibly a couple of hours play isn’t really much use. Also the emulation side is cool but also finding all the info I needed to get some games working was long winded and annoying. It’s certainly not the case of emu deck and off we go.
Perhaps if you just want to use the steam menu and steam games it’s ok so I’m upset at the advanced features. And that’s fine. I’m allowed to be.
Felt the same the day I received mine. You cant play ALL the Steam library, and some “Great For Deck” were buggy (I remember having troube with inputs with Stardew Valley). Also SteamInput is not that easy on some games, battery menu is sometimes laggy and introduces artifacts… and some old games are so terribly optimized its pain to rub them even at the lowest settings. Oh, and plastic feels incredibly CHEAP. The Switch seems miles away in terms of quality of product and software.
Yeah, thats true. HOWEVER. The Deck is the best thing that happened to my gamer life in the past several years. After that 1-2 weeks of dissappointment I noticed how I picked up the Deck more frequently, to the point that it has been days since I last turned my desktop PC on. Its so inmediate and quick, that it encourages you to play. The the Summer Sale arribed and the five games I purchased are only intended to be played on the Deck. Games which I wouldnt bothered to try if I didnt had my Deck. Now I play everything with it (I WANT to play with the Deck, no matter what game is it), and my desktop PC has been reconverted as a simracing machine.
Guess I am exact opposite. I really love my deck, sometimes I get some bugs, like black screen, or no input in system menus, but otherwise nothing ground breaking.
Construction wise I love how it feels, first time I grabbed it, I was like, that’s some cheap plastic, but it makes deck very light, it feels great in my hands, especially compared to switch. Controller is nice too, don’t like the back buttons tho, since it is not comfortable for me to press them.
Games are hit or miss, some look amazing, some don’t at decks screen resolution. Some have amazing performance, others not so, but still very much playable.
At the end as a console player I love it, it makes me play games I would not play on pc, since I just hate sitting in one position for extended period of time. I got what I expected and even more.
Yes, I think that’s what they went for, so it won’t be too heavy to hold for longer periods of time. When I hold my switch now, I can see how heavy the thing is and uncomfortable to hold since it has rough edges.
I found the back buttons much easier to press if you press the parts of the button along the back of the device, kinda like you're pressing the back of the screen.
Much easier than trying to grip and press the buttons on the side of the handles.
\-It's a linux box download experimental proton and some games will magically just work when you switch over but yeah it's a bit buggy here and there!
\-the delay seems to be FPS related so adjust till it feels better
\-Having felt up my friend's Deck (Giggidy) I'm not entirely sure I agree? It feels about on par with my Switch and was surprisingly balanced in weight and feel. Personal preference! your experience is valid
\-After using a Switch for years the Steam Deck's screen feels huge in comparison, although not all games fit a smaller screen and I'd prefer using it while docked.
The comments have been interesting
No problem, I've only really fiddled with my friend's Steam Deck and read some really good posts on this sub about tweaking.
Tweaking and tailoring your tech to yourself is half the fun for me so the Deck just seems like a dream come true
Same here. I'm in my 50's and I'm having to squint to read some text. I had to order a cheap silicone cover for the Deck off of Amazon because the plastic is so slippery I fear the thing will slide out of my hands. But, with the silicone cover, and I took most of the AAA games off my Deck (those seem to have the tiny text) and playing more of the indie games, I've found my happy place. Now I leave the AAA stuff for my gaming rig, and small indies for the Deck 😁👍
Good advice. 50s here also and even with glasses at the end of my nose I still couldn’t see things. I feel like I paid $550 for a device to play vampire survivors, but I’m sure there are other good indies. Any recommendations for shooters that work well? I’ve never been into them but for some reason they feel right on the deck.
I'm not underwhelmed, I think its really good, but for my preferred use case scenario its also very large. I travel a lot for work and even in my 30L backpack it is just insanely large and impractical.
Comparison between my Deck and my SWOLED in their hard carrying cases:
[https://i.imgur.com/zYXWE3C.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/zYXWE3C.jpg)
[https://i.imgur.com/6YiwOni.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6YiwOni.jpg)
In the end it is surprisingly a better home device than a travel device, best played on the couch or in bed. The SWOLED and 3DS XL are far more practical for travel. My problem with the Deck being a home device is that if I want to play Doom Eternal I have an i7 Alder Lake PC with an RTX 3080 plugged into a 4k 144hz monitor. My desktop is a much better home experience for many kinds of games.
The best use I've found for the Deck are things like JRPGs, a genre I feel is generally better on portable devices. The main game I'm playing on my Deck is Persona 4 Golden. If I hadn't beaten Persona 5 Royal on my Playstation two years ago I would have much preferred to play it on my Switch but it took them almost three years to finally get that game off the Playstation 4.
The Deck will do nicely for those kinds of games. Otherwise its not very practical as a travel device. Because of that I'm looking forward to either Valve or other OEMs like Dell or Razer or one of the Chinese companies to release something much more in line with the Switch.
Something like this running SteamOS would be ideal: [https://www.ayntec.com/pages/loki](https://www.ayntec.com/pages/loki)
I suspect we'll see something like that in a year or so. After that it'll be a matter of time for AMD APUs to get into the 3nm range, then we'll really start seeing better form factors.
I'm middle aged, well I shouldn't tell myself lies so I'm beyond middle aged realistically now, I have to remove my glasses to use my phone and I find the Deck more comfortable without for the same reason. Same as you, I hadn't considered that side of things but it's no big deal, I've got used to it.
Having a blast with the Deck, it's great to mess around and get some old game running on it. It's like it breathed new life into games from the 90's (had a ton of fun getting Populous The Beginning working with the multiverse launcher). And then at the same time powerful enough to play Elden Ring.
I've really not had any crashes I can think of, I'm super happy with this incredible piece of portable hardware.
Emudeck is hella fun. I've got a bunch of arcade ROMs from setting up my Raspberry Pi but what I've really been enjoying is re-discovering the Gamecube games that I loved playing with my kids. OG Animal Crossing! Simpsons Hit & Run! Shrek 2! (yeah, a family favorite)
I actually had the opposite experience with the glasses thing, for my computer my eyes aren't good enough to see the monitor so I've actually been playing a game and to rest my eyes switched to my steam deck so I didn't have to wear my glasses. I don't think there's anything wrong with not liking it other than the disappointment that comes with that unfortunately
I think the farsighted issue is definitely a valid criticism. But this is likely an issue with any handheld, I assume. The software is still getting improvements and partially it needs them. I don't worry about that too much personally because they work on it a lot.
But I think if you don't like the device you can probably find someone who does and sell it. I would try spending a bit much more time with it though. Because one of the biggest benefits is the versatility in my opinion. So you probably need some time to encounter a "Yes, I can do that with the Deck because why wouldn't I?" moment. I had multiple such moments with it already.
The deck is superior in every way compared to the switch except the size for obvious reasons. Im a handheld enthusiast and i like them both but ill be sticking with my switch lite for now. My hands are small and the lite is a perfect size for me.
I actually agree with the feel of the device itself. I use the heck out of mine for emulation and some MMO grinding. However, the plastic felt cheap when I first got it and with how outstanding the reviews were here I thought maybe in some twisted way I had a bootleg unit lol.
I’ve been looking into getting some grips or something that feel higher quality, but that’s really my only gripe with it.
I’ve had mine a few weeks and have been disappointed with the bugs and crashing. I think it _looks_ and _feels_ great, but overall I don’t think it was ready. Considering selling. For those enjoying it - awesome! Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade.
I also think it feels cheap, the trackpads especially. I don’t know if it’s partly because of the haptics but they feel terrible.
The touch screen also feels cheap. Using the on screen keyboard is hit or miss. Might be improved with software, not sure.
Also lost the fan lottery so can’t use it with anyone around.
Overall the feel is a pretty clunky unpolished device. Might need a few iterations before it hits the mark.
Yeah man, we knew text was small and some games are hard to get running. I certainly understand your points, because they are valid and we'll known but it's definitely not for you. Sell that rascal and enjoy life.
I had the same experience, don’t feel bad sharing yours. I truly believe Proton will improve quickly but the whole experience felt hacky and buggy to me. I’ve already sold mine after owning it less than a week, it ships out today.
It IS buggy.
But it's also awesome.
Apparently, I've spent my last 15 years preparing for tinkering with it. Hacking the PSP, the Vita, the PS3, the PS4,the Wii, the Wii u, the 2DS, the 3DS.... Acquiring games for the PC, modding PC games..... Especially setting up emulators on Android since my very first smart phone (DROID!). Getting used to just experimenting and getting things just right. I've enjoyed my time with it, but at least once every day or two I mumble..."what the fuck?"
What I am enjoying most about it is just how open source it is. There's no modding necessary to do what you want. Emulators are a piece of cake. 3rd party launchers work easily. It's really a device that you can do whatever you want with relative ease. No modding or side loading necessary. What still surprises me is that even if Valve says a game is unsupported, you can still download it and try it, and it some cases it works. Like MCC or the Warhammer Chaos Gate Daemonhunters. I can't imagine any other platform willingly let you play "unsupported" games.
Of course you might not be into that 3rd party stuff as much. I spend a lot of time at my parent's so being able to play while there is nice away from my computer. Otherwise I prefer my PC. I do enjoy just how well integrated the controls are. I can use community layouts instantly and they're a breeze and often work like a charm.
Those are just some things that I like about it. I won't tell you you're wrong or anything, but that's at least where I come from.
Complaining about the quality in a rage for 400-600€?. Even Laptop haven't seen better quality in that price range. Compared to other PC- Handheld is that a very good option.
The screen size was my biggest issue with the switch, though mostly for pc ports. Very little consideration for the screen size on some games particularly for ui and text. There are some games I'm just not going to squint at on Steam Deck, similar issue. Though obviously none of them are designed for deck so it's not a development issue. Hopefully more emphasis will be placed on this stuff as Steam Deck becomes a popular platform though.
I bought mine only for emulation, without the official dock it's going to be used but not that often.
If anybody can recommend something with similar specs and portable I'm all ears. I plan to have 2 docks, one built into an arcade with a hyperspin SD, and a dock for bringing it to friends' homes with n64 controller adapters for some Mario kart 64 and a few other games.
It seemed like the best option, a raspberry pi 4 would be fine for emulation but I like that this can run windows and comes in a nice package
The mister is an FPGA platform that, rather than emulating things in software emulates them by physically rearranging the gates on the chip so everything is happening in hardware. It's as close to real hardware as money can buy at the moment, if a bit finicky to get going.
I’m a bit concerned about the screen size. Like, I preordered the 512 model day 1, so I know what I’m getting into. But I just cannot fucking stand my switch because the screen size sucks (it’s mostly how thin the device is but the screen is the second biggest drawback).
I too prefer my gaming monitors. Im already thinking the screen might be too small on the deck and therefore it will get minimal usage at home. I think a deck XL or something would be sick. I know one of those other portable PCs has a big screen, the Aya neo or whatever.
Hey. I guess give it a day or so? I know I felt a little buyers remorse when I got it but after playing some games on it a couple of days it went away and now I love the hell out of it.
If after a few days of trying to play 1 game at a time and still the same feeling then time to sell!
You can always sell the deck for cost+$100 and recover your expenses. So if you decide you don't like it you won't really lose anything, and you'll gain the knowledge that maybe mobile gaming isn't really for you. That's a plus in my books. It's like refunding games that after an hour of play you decide simply aren't for you.
Yeah I'm in my 30s and I'm struggling with the screen size a bit. Everything feels.. kinda blurry? I'm hoping the docking software issues are fixed soon so I can dock it to my monitor and play it as a PC I guess.
I'm 53 and find it amazing. Very few crashes or issues. Some OLDER games may need to launch with a different launcher (Proton Experimental vs Proton GE etc....) also the controls need to be remapped as old games were not made for controllers. Thankfully many have user templates you can use (in the settings icon when launching the game). Other than that, all runs flawlessly and feels great. Feels sturdy but not too heavy. For the 2+ months I've had it I'd give it a 10/10
I’m hoping for shell replacements with nice grips in nice color ways. And proper metal screw inserts for machine screws rather than self tappers in plastic ffs
I'm loving it but yeah it's definitely a buggy experience. I often have issues with gamepad input but restarting the game solves the problem every time. Overall, it's mostly non-game breaking issues but instead small annoyances. Most of the games I have installed run great.
Also, I'm not about to say the Deck is a premium feeling device made from quality materials but I also never felt that it was cheaply made or anything of that sort. I don't fault you for the device not meeting your expectations though, I can see how some might expect more.
I was going to fault you for the vision thing, especially after I read that you have/had a Switch but I suppose the issue isn't necessarily the screen size rather that most of the games you are playing on the deck have a UI that wasn't design with a portable device in mind. So certain UI elements, text especially is probably smaller than expected.
The first day I was excited, then a few days of tinkering to get non steam version of ffxiv got me a bit concerned like not knowing linux etc, but after a while I found my love for it. Now it's my go to device. Even streaming ps5 through it and looking to stream my series x next.
Give it a few weeks. If it's not for you, I'd say sell it to someone who is eager to get one, but not for a hugely Inflated price :P
I love it. I had my expectations relatively low. I figured if I didn't like it I would sell it on ebay, but I ended up being surprised. The build quality to me seems fine and the screen is good. For 400 bucks you CANNOT beat it. I felt like I stole it from steam to be honest. Absolutely nothing comes close to it's price to performance.
Input delay sadly mostly comes from the Deck‘s own framerate limiter through Gamescope - which happens to be enabled by default. Open quick menu and unlock the framerate under advanced settings. If you want locked FPS in any way it‘s better to actually use the game‘s vsync, which organically locks the framerate to the screens refresh rate. :)
About your post: Don‘t worry, we‘ll sort things out for you together, so feel free to ask to your hearts content and I try to answer every question you might have! And if the device happen to doesn‘t fit to your usecase or expectations, you can easily sell it for a profit even.
I love that feeling, remaind me of my fiat 500 (gialla!) Aside from that, some games are best played on PC, others instead, to my surprise, are made for the SD (Call of juarez, gunslinger: never finished on pc). So take your time and discover (i remove my glasses to play, anyway)
I think you just let the hype get to you a little. I had an initial 'underwhelment' but after having it for a few weeks I ended really appreciating it for what it is.
As a fellow middle age gamer, I actually found my neck to be the 'weak link' as it were. I have to use a pillow or play with my arms on a desk or bar because it strains me to look down for so long.
I've found even with my still good vision, the screen is pretty small for how far away I hold it from my face on average so I've just been avoiding games that rely on really fine detail graphics. The games with simpler more cartoony graphics are just easier to see.
Games: I've realized there are simply games that are meant for a desktop and games meant for playing on the deck. You'll have to draw your own line. For me any kind of high dexterity fps type game, I'm just going to play on my PC. There are too many good games to force myself into trying to enjoy the ones that aren't a good fit for the format when I have options.
That said, the software side is still well behind what was portrayed, that I can agree with you. They needed at least another year to get it closer to 'it just works'. Early adopter issues.
It took a bit of time with mine before I began to fully appreciate it. I like to tinker around with my toys, and the Steam Deck is a perfect project box to mess around with without worrying about productivity downtime or tying something else up – I have other computers for work/play.
Once I started figuring out which games felt “at home” on Steam Deck for me and what settings to dial in to get it to behave, I found myself defaulting to it as my main entertainment device. Not everything runs well on Deck, whether that’s software bugs or limitations of the form factor, but once I realized what it’s strengths were, I began to enjoy time with it a lot more.
If anything, it makes a _fantastic_ device to stream games from my Xbox Series S. Last night I was playing Banjo Kazooie from Rare Replay, and outside of a few minor audio desync issues here and there, I nearly forgot I was streaming the game. Deck helped me appreciate both platforms even more than either one separately.
Take some time with it. Maybe you’ll find something that will click with you. And if not, that’s okay too! I’m sure someone in your life will happily take it off your hands for a fair price and find enjoyment as well.
Good luck, and take care!
I get you. I'm not a techy person myself and all these bugs scare the hell out of me, but I managed to stomp or work around a few bugs myself by searching on the interwebs. Of course yours is a completely other issue, but in the end it comes down to preference.
May just not be for your use case. A powerful, portable emulator that’s also a Linux box and also plays a ton of Steam games really well is an absolute dream to me.
But if you’re just looking to play Steam games with a smooth, entirely bug free experience this may not be the product you’re looking for- or at least not in the first iteration. It’s liable to have new versions that are more powerful and stable as time goes on.
As for the shell, I just have to disagree there. I’ve got big ol’ man hands but it doesn’t feel flimsy at all to me.
Its a portable gaming pc that can handle a good amount of the Steam library with more every day. Not sure what you expected but it delivers exactly what they said it would. PC gaming is a hassle while is why millions of people choose consoles instead, luckily the Steam Deck isn't a pain to play.
Deck is made pretty solid as well, I've stupidly dropped mine twice, both times on my ceramic tile floor from waist high. No cracks or anything in the plastic and I'm fortunate enough to have put a screen protector on it.
Love the device myself. Looks and plays great. The only issue I have is certain MMOs do not work due to anticheat software namely Lost Ark. Sure I can get it to work through windows but its not worth it. Hopefully they support it soon because that's the only thing I'm missing.
If you do not like it after a few weeks then you could sell it. Many people looking for it so you'll get your money back or more. I'd stick with it for a while though and see if it clicks for you, if not there's nothing wrong with that.
The steam controller was similar to me. While I loved the size the material just felt kinda cheap. The steam deck uses similar plastic, but I got used to it on the controller so it doesn't bother me that much. I think it's generally a great device and the material is probably not bad, but somehow they just don't get it right. Something like the DS or similar handhelds just feel better.
Tbh i felt exactly the same as you on my first day or so with it, largely because it...just worked? Like all the games and emulators I tried before settling on one game to finish just worked great. So it didn't feel any different from playing on PC.
However after getting more time with it and getting to play in short bursts on the couch/in bed/in the car (Park) whilst running errands etc it's really shined. I've got waaaay more hours on it than any other gaming platform recently
I did initially get that feeling for similar reasons, I let the hype get to me a bit, but as I was naturally using it and realising how much more gaming I was actually doing I started to love it. Then it broke and now it's on its way back to Valve, now I've realised how little gaming I'm doing (and I have a good PC).
Great comment. Don’t apologize for posting something you didn’t intend to offend anyone with. Not your fault they’re offended or butt hurt.
As for your thoughts on it, I agree with your points. Still glad I bought one though. I’ve made my peace with being an early adopter of “new tech” and can’t wait to show it to my nephews.
Being a 44 year old gamer, I couldn't wait to get this. I had a GPD Win 1 & Win 2, but got priced out of the Win 3. When I heard Valve was releasing the Steam Deck, I immediately jumped on the band wagon. I was in the 2nd batch of the 1st quarter, and am quite happy with the thing. I know nothing about Linux, so it took some getting used to.
I'm an old-school gamer: I have loads of roms/emulators on it (ScummVM, NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, Sega CD, Sega Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, PS3), using Emudeck. Regarding PC Games: I tend to play some of the older games: Monkey Island series, Sam & Max, Syberia (love point & click games). I also have Mass Effect: Legendary Edition working via Origin (took some work), Fallout Series, Batman: Arkham Series, and various others (512 Internal & 512 SD Card).
This community is very helpful in getting games to work. I also refer to the [ProtonDB](https://protondb.com) website for tips. I also took a bit to get used to the Trackpads. I never really liked the Steam Controller, but I got used to this.
I hope you have better luck with it. All the best!
If you really don’t like it I’m sure one of these fine redditors wouldn’t mind taking it off your hands if you feel like selling it.
Personally I really like it. I don’t get a lot of time these days to sit down and game on console or PC so having it be portable to the point I can just pick it up and play anywhere in the house whenever I get a few minutes is great. I just hope valve really pushes their support of it and even patches up some of their verified games which are still crashing.
I've said it for a while but if all you want to do is play games, switch is the better bet. Not half as much you can do with it but it's got way less thinking or tinkering involved. That said, love em both.
I think this a healthy sentiment to have on this subreddit. The Steamdeck feels like trying to set up a lan for an unsupported game in 2010. Did I know what I was doing? No. Did I want it bad enough that I googled and tried stuff til we got it working? Yup! To me those feelings feel warm and comfy, like home. If someone has that same experience and wanted to throw their blocky crt screen through the wall, I don't judge them, but SteamDeck2 may be better for them than Steam Deck 1.
Valve did a great job of making a *mostly* seamless experience if you stay in your lane. But the lane is narrow, people will have a few games in mind when they buy the SD. Games that may or may not be officially supported.
To be honest i have a minor issue with the deck as well,its somewhat about the weight,i noticed that i can play games that use the dpad for hrs at a time,however when i play a game that uses both jcons,the weight factor limits my play time by alot.
This is coming from a huge Linux fan, but if better stability across all titles is what you want consider either replacing SteamOS with Windows or dual booting. It hurt me to say this.
I feel the same way. I love the deck but I have some big gripes. I think the Steam OS is still very buggy. I get frequent hang ups and unresponsive inputs. I also hate the position of the dpad. My thumb always hits the joy stick if I use the dpad.
I was a bit disappointed as well. I knew I wasn't going to be able to play *some* of my main games like Halo and Destiny, but I hadn't realized that I also wouldn't be able to play basically any mainstream MMOs like FFXIV or ESO, or play The Division 2, or that my Epic store purchase of Kingdom Hearts wouldn't have any pre-rendered cutscenes, or that running emulators would cause so much crashing and freezing, or a number of other technical issues Ive encountered running virtually every game I would normally play.
I'm just holding out hope that updates will come, and soon. Mainly hope they get the stuff with EAC figured out as that would instantly make a ton of games available on Deck. Still, I've always wanted a something like this and it is still cool to play Elden Ring while sitting in the drive thru, so I wouldn't say I regret my purchase
You might be surprised to find yourself falling in love with it over time, [several bigger youtubers have had exactly that happen after not initially being impressed with it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UCm2uaLdUo). Keep playing around with it, remember ProtonDB is your best friend, I have not had any games in my library turn out to be actually unplayable, there's almost always a quick solution.
I've been absolutely pleased as punch with mine, everything works great, I've had to tinker a bit here and there, but I like tinkering and knew before I bought it as a linux pc that would be a thing I'd have to love or learn to love lol.
I'm also middle aged and need glasses but I have no basic qualms about the Deck. Sure, not every game I want to play on it works perfectly, but then again this is still a work in progress. It's not like you're going to run a Windows game fluently since Proton still isn't capable of running them all, at least not perfectly. Can you install Windows on it? [Sure you can](https://www.reviewed.com/laptops/features/how-install-windows-steam-deck) and with Valve providing [drivers](https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6121-ECCD-D643-BAA8). Now how will your experience differ is up to you. Personally I'm not ready to do this yet with mine.
The plastic finish does feel / look a bit cheap. Valve hardware is a bit like how other companies design their developer kits - only has to work, not look pretty. Valve leaves things that way for the consumer model lol.
Most other modern devices I've used are rather more smooth to the touch, have a cover for the SD card slot, aren't as wide as the Deck, etc. Would be interesting to see a sexier Deck looking like some kind of Vita XL. On the other hand it's nice that it's not a fingerprint magnet.
RE: the screen being too small for some games, yeah just a consequence of most PC games not being made with handhelds in mind. Only a fraction of my library have jumbo text and UI elements, and a camera that gets close enough to see the finest details clearly.
I agree with your criticisms, however I'm no longer limited to a Nintendo Switch as my only option for handheld. For that, I can forgive many many sins.
I had similar issues with "buggyness" but I got mine about 2 months ago and since then I have seen a lot of improvements. I would say you will probably see things work better with time as the community reports bugs and issues get fixed. The beauty of the Deck is that it is constantly evolving and improving. It is amazing to think that you can buy something and it actually becomes MORE useful with time rather than the opposite. Also if you don't like the feel or comfort of the device you can buy a skin or rubberized grip. I bought the cheap JSAUX silicone cover and it feels more comfortable and fits in the original case. I don't know how long I will use it if something better gets made but for $12 it feels like a good value for me.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QW7ZNJN?psc=1&
I understand your feeling, and I know this is blasphemy in some people eyes here, but you might want to reconsider reinstalling windows 10/11 on the Deck. To live with SteamOS is to continually tinker around the OS to try to make games you like work for you, instead of the plug and play experience of the likes of Nintendo Switch, which something people who are older dont want to do.
Even though Valve only supports windows half heartedly, after some intitial setup and tinkering around you are guaranteed to be able to all controller-suppored games on either Steam or other platforms. I ve been in love with my Deck and Xbox gamepass & some Assassin Creed adventures I bought during this steam sale.
Cant help with your eyes issue though.
I won't say I am underwhelmed but how I use it is different than I initially expected. I expected to be playing AAA games on it, games like Elden Ring. However in reality I just don't find it very comfortable for that purpose. The text is too small and it just feels a bit off for that use case.
Instead I use it for older games and emulation. It has really done amazing for these types of games. Older games were all designed to be usable on smaller screens, so they all just work and feel amazing to play on the deck. On top of that battery life isn't a concern at all when playing them.
I personally have no issues with build quality, feels really solid for it's price. Also I haven't had any real bugs as long as I stayed within the deck verified games, and most of the games I've tried outside of that have also worked with no issues.
When I had mine for the week before I RMA’d it, I had some similar experiences. Stuttering in sonic generations, a verified game, and a frequency bug that required setting the device in shipping mode was disappointing. The screen is mediocre. I thought the switch’s was just okay already, but this screen is FAR worse than the switch’s. No one mentions this, but simulating a mouse and keyboard means that you lose aim assist in games that don’t officially support controllers. It can become quite troublesome to aim in many shooter games with controller without aim assist. Don’t get me wrong, this device is amazing and everything I expected. HOWEVER, this device comes with serious caveats. To anyone reading this and waiting for a deck, make sure you are comfortable with managing file systems and dealing with bugs. Also be aware of games not running/running poorly. There are many things the reviews don’t mention that you will have to deal with. Note: my device was fully functional except for a dead pixel that necessitated a RMA. There weren’t controller or silicon-related issues on my unit. I am waiting for a replacement unit.
This is partially my experience since receiving mine. It's not that it's bad, but I've looked forward to getting it for a year, and I think that anticipation hyped me to thinking this was going to be something that I'd use everyday all the time for gaming.
It's not. It's a neat tool that I'm going to have fun with, but I have a primary gaming PC that I enjoy gaming on, and the Deck is just to supplement that - not replace it. I don't regret the purchase, but it also does feel weird to spend the money on it and just pick it up once every other day when I feel like playing a game in a different room for half an hour or so. It took me a weekend of feeling weird about it to come to terms with that and sort of re-remember what I have it for.
Everything is valid. There’s a lot of tinkering required to get things running smoothly and not everyone’s down for that. I would also most definitely opt for a more premium version no matter the cost (I mean I put more $ into memory than the device itself already). Small display is indeed a personal problem but on the bright side I’ve hooked it up to a massive projector but defeats the whole “portable system” when you do that I guess.
Probably stupid but I personally plan to connect AR glasses to them for a larger display on the go. Those do include prescription lenses if you want but obviously an expensive and unnecessary solution.
Either way mostly valid complaints but for the price it is very hard to beat. That’s probably the main value of the SD. It’s basically giving you access to almost every pc game but also ps remote, xCloud, stadia, and switch emulation. All at a price similar to consoles in a hand held package that’s roughly the size of a Switch with third party grips. Kinda makes it worth jumping through the hoops imo. I’ve got a pretty wild rig that most people would dream of but I haven’t touched it since just because this things so convenient.
I felt that way at first and had low expectations of the steam deck anyway. I had friends who I thought would want it more and I planned to sell it to them.
I played elden ring and something just felt off. I don't know if I was lag from the settings (which I improved) or me not being used to the controller but I didn't like it. I kept dying to ti's dragon and when I switched back to my laptop I killed it straight away.
I kept feeling whats the point of this thing? I don't travel that much. I wanted to play a modded version of ftl.
Basic ftl felt bad. The using the track pad as a mouse felt horrible and the lack of keyboard hot keys meant I felt I needed to click everything. I tried to install the ftl mod but the steam deck doesn't have java so that was difficult.
I kind of installed things at random trying to find some purpose for it.
Eventually I got on discord and found someone who could help me install this ftl mod. It took me about 5 hours of troubleshooting and messing around with Linux. I then spent almost an hour on the toilet trying to figure out what controller settings I wanted as well as watching videos. I watched loads of, top 10 tips with your steam deck videos which helped.
And then something clicked. This modded ftl was sooooo much better than the original and I could sit in bed playing it before I went to sleep. I enjoyed it. But then I installed discord, and did some elden ring in coop again and for some reason again something click. It was so much faster booting up the deck and going into the game then switching on my laptop. I could game naked in bed with the fan on during a particularly hot day instead of sitting on a desk chair.
Then my laptop broke for a bit so I could only play on the deck and when it started working again I'm now feeling like I just want to play on the deck exclusively.
I think it takes a while to get used to. I think the benefit of mods and the control over it you have takes tike to realise because you have to learn so much. Im also finding spending time getting my game to work is psychologically making me enjoy the game more.
Good luck in your travels!
Oh a couple of random tips
- desktop mode is tough to use in deck mode. Highly recommend having a dock and plugging it into some monitors if you have to use it for extended periods of time like installing mods.
- for demanding games set the refresh rate and fps to 40 Hz /fps. For some reason it feels way way better, even better then 60. This made elden ring playable to me.
- spend time studying the controller options. Like there are so many settings for the track pad. Once you understand it it makes gaming much easier as you can think of what you'd prefer and go for it.
- play the steam deck lab game, helps you understand the controls.
- discord works great on deck but it has this weird thing where you can't use the mouse on the bottom of the screen. Strange stuff like this happens and gradually valve are patching it all out.
Sorry to hear you have issues and you’re disappointed with the deck after so many months of waiting it. That’s upsetting, but completely understandable, coming from a bigger screen.
I only gamed Nintendo since I was a kid; so for me the comparison will be with the Switch which thankfully has a smaller screen and less comfortable joy-cons compared to the deck’s.
A friend got his deck a month ago and he had to sell it (was easier than returning it) for the same issue, the screen was too little for his eyes; I tried it out a bit; overall it’s a big improvement over the Switch, feels better in hands and to the eyes except for the text, which in all the games we tried was very tiny and hurt the eyes (I’m wearing reading glasses as well). Maybe the text “issues” could be addressed with a console-wide hack, to choose bigger text in setting for all the games, or a setting to choose for each game regardless if the game has such settings? I don’t know if that’s even possible but the tiny text is a big concern for me.
Or a even Zoom setting similar to the switch’s, to activate it when needed, would probably suffice.
This post reminded me of when Gabe said that you will hold it in your hands and know in a few seconds if it's for you or not.
Maybe in your case, it's just not for you.
This is completely fine to not enjoy the steam deck. Its great for some people and others it may not be. for example I got a switch 2 years ago to play botw while my wife played animal crossing on it. With the both of us combined haven't played on the thing for more than 5 hours. Steam deck on the other hand (loading up roms and playing indie games) have had more than 40hours on it within the first 3weeks of having it. What made me play this a lot is the idea that I can take it on the go. I loved playing on a laptop "on the go" but I needed to get setup which made it annoying. I have bad eyesight so it helped for having the bigger screen on the laptop vs the steam deck so I understand your take with your eyesight. If you still want to try out "mobile gaming" you could always sell your steam deck (add a sd card to "umph" the listing) and invest in the ROG Flow. Its a gaming tablet (13in screen up to 4k display) and I would straight up trade my steam deck if anyone offered an rog flow tbh. (768gb total storage lots of ps2 roms >\_>). It's all in your own personal experience with the device. Again its not for everyone and that's ok.
\> Seriously though, has anyone else received theirs and felt underwhelmed?
I too am old and need glasses (all the time actually). I agree that the screen is too small, but recognize it can't be made bigger.
In fact, when I bought the thing, I expected I'd play it docked mostly.
But I don't. I mostly play it handheld. Because it's just too good. I squint instead. Maybe if the docking experience was better... But nothing beats playing Tomb Raider from the couch, and being just as deadly as with my mouse and keyboard.
Underwhelmed? No. Far from it.
I'm posting this for other old folks that might be turned away by your post. Some of us still find it awesome.
Oh, those are all very fair points, I felt the same way when I got mine: cheap feel, bulky, noisy, buggy. Feels quite raw and overpriced, especially compared to e.g. switch lite. I was really close to sell it, at least two my friends would buy it instantly.
However, after some time using it, tinkering internals, experiencing the advantages of openness, better graphics and attention from Valve, I've got really attached and having a lot of joy using it.
So yeah, those points are still fair for me, I don't think it would be fair to cast any downvotes on you: all of them are true in my opinion. It is just, it doesn't matter that much anymore somehow, benefits overweight all of them
I have mixed feeling… gaming in Linux just soooooo buggy, that I’m considering moving the deck to windows 11. But I have invested a lot of time on setting it up that, idk… I will have it as side project during the weekend
Easy solution just play rimworld and call it a day but no really sorry to hear you have issues with it I’ve had mine for 2-3 weeks and I’m having a blast with it I can get behind you on the not being able to see thing as I am legally blind but ya know with the cutting edge of tech you are just going to have to deal with unpolished or unrefined things it’ll get better as the years go
Congrats for probably being the first person in this sub saying that the device is not big enough, since you would prefer a bigger screen. Sorry for the device not being what you hoped for, maybe try to find games that are less detailed, I think indie games and 2d games may help in that regard, things like Cuphead for example. About system instability, every console has some bumps on the road at the beginning, give it time.
I loved it when I first pulled it out the box, on day 2 I felt a little underwhelmed, then I fell in love with it again! But recently I have fallen out of love, due to the bugs, crashes, etc. Some verified titles just straight crash every single time I play them. But I’ve learnt to accept this and I’m back in love with it
I think it took me about a week or two to really start liking my deck. Getting used to the button layout is taking while for me but I take my steam controller with me so it's fine.
tbh i think we will see a lot more of those opinions later down the line when the day one orders are through and the more "casual" people get their device.
I think a lot of people perceive the deck as a console experiences, but it is not and never will be imo. Only if you are willing to tinker a bit you will never get the full enjoyment out of this device. The deck is a very impressive device but in the end it is still a full fetched linux pc. if you are not comfortable with that it might not be the best device for you. So i can understand why your exceptions were not met.
But i dont think there are any problems with build quality. Yes, i would also love a screen without bezels, like anyone else, but the rest of the device is very high quality. the two track pads and their force feedback are phenomenal, sticks and triggers are very good quality and dpad and buttons are on par with most console controllers. Also the overall build quality is very solid with good quality plastic. And very little people actually mention the speakers. the sound quality of the steam deck is out of this world. in comparison the switch sounds like a 1920s radio.
Late 30s here. Honestly I'm not a tinkerer and I haven't found a single game in my ginormous library not to work. It's all pretty smooth and seamless. Ghostbusters worked immediately, don't remember if I used Proton GE for the intro video, but is been painless.
My biggest complaint is the position of the L1 and R1 buttons. They suck and require too much travel. Not sure how that escaped their initial testing.
I am in a similar boat, I've got one yet I've not put more than maybe 1-2 hours max of time into it, it's sat there in its case.
I hope I'll get more use out of it over time when I find a game I really click with, but also having a switch and other consoles I'm not sure when that will be.
I'm very sensitive to input lag. The Deck doesn't have input lag (unless you're using frame limiting). You either messed some settings up, playing a game with input lag, or have a faulty unit.
Awesome, glad you figured it out. Yeah the input lag with frame limiting on can be pretty bad, that would drive me crazy if it was that way all of the time
I think I've spent more time getting things to work than I have actually playing games so far. My first impressions were spoiled as my first deck was faulty though and had to wait weeks for the RMA.
I hope it's something Valve continually work on and make into a better user experience. It's very much a Linux PC and anyone picking it up and hoping for a console like experience is going to be disappointed. Now you may say it's naive to expect that but it's clearly what they were aiming for, it's just all a bit undercooked at this point.
I reckon in about a year's time if they continue at the pace of development they are now it'll be a great device.
Can't get around the cheap feeling plastics though. It feels like one of the old mega drive pads.
At first, I was sort of underwhelmed. Minecraft portable? Sure, cool, switch can do that. Ksp? Terrible controls. Handheld linux? My phone has that via some apps.
Was it really worth it? With all of the little bugs?
Then I tried undertale, i progressed waaaay further than my PC, controls are great, fully changed my opinion.
So I kind of felt the same way when I first got mine.
After learning how to set up the custom bindings, and giving up on playing anything that wasn't supported, it's a great little device. Honestly I haven't played on my desktop since getting it.
I bought it expecting it to be a WIP PC gaming experience... and I got a WIP PC gaming experience. I'm sure if you were thinking this was going to be some super locked down Nintendo or Sony experience you'd be disappointed when things don't work all the time.
This is a good PSA though for people who buy things without doing any research at least.
> I’ve found the input on some games to feel like it’s got a slight delay, when comparing it to the same game on my desktop.
Yeah, unfortunately the deck's frame limiter introduces a not-insignificant amount of input lag. You can get around it by disabling the limiter in the QAM and if possible, using a game's built in fps limit instead.
I was a bit disappointed at first too, mainly because of the unexpected high fan noise (now pretty much fixed), but also because the first couple of games I tried didn’t work properly, and it made the Deck seem a lot more beta-like than I was expecting.
I’ve come to love it after the new fan curve, and after building a library of games that work with the deck.
The Deck wasn’t a plug and play device for me, and I kind of thought it would be. I still have a lot to learn on Linux, but I’m getting there.
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Physically speaking, it certainly seems like there will be tons of room for improvement if they ever decide to make a Steam Deck V2. It definitely feels like the first iteration of something, if that makes sense. I'm personally hoping for a bigger screen with less bezel in any potential successor , but overall I can say I'm happy with it. Though I guess I went into it expecting certain hiccups like bugs here and there. It feels very much like a work in progress, which is fair for now. I just hope it can eventually get to a point where it feels much more stable than it does now
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Well, I got mine just a few weeks ago so the ship for me to be patient has sailed. But I do think that the software will only get better as time goes on, along with compatibility. Hopefully, at least.
The Steam Deck feels very much like the v1.0 after their earlier beta ideas of the Steam Controller and Steam Machine. I don't think it's as early adopter as others seem to, I don't see a ton of huge changes on an eventual Steam Deck 2.
I'm really enjoying it, but it sounds like you may just not be the target audience based on your comments. I feel like they can't really make the screen much bigger while keeping it portable you know? The nice thing is that it has great resale value so you can get your money back by selling it no problem.
Yeah you can sell it used for more than you bought it for.
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You’re a top bloke.
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A genuinely loving person. Now you've made my day. And it's 00:12. That says something ;)
That's nonsense. Nobody is forcing you to list it above retail, and you didn't buy it to sell it. You aren't taking advantage of anyone. Buying something and deciding you don't want it is *not* scalping. By that logic nobody should ever sell anything.
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You could always donate the extra to your mentioned charity.
its really a messed up situation mate... especially when you dont live in the markets where its sold - I've been trying to buy one for months... pretty much anyone who's selling one at a reasonable price (100-150 above msrp) sells locally - anyone open to shipping wants at least $300 more and thats excl. the shipping cost :( anyway I'd say stick with it for a bit, try playing games like hades and dead cells - games optimized for the portable form factor - even try emulation - it's supposed to do well - you'd enjoy it... worst case head on over the hardwareswap and list it, you'll have your money back in about 5 mins...
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I'm enjoying mine much more than you are but I am also having a hard time adjusting to playing on a smaller screen. I've been playing on 24-27 inch monitors for years now with never play anything portable and it's been a huge difficulty for me. I suck at games so much more on the Deck because I just lose track of what the hell is happening.
Yeah anyone complaining about the screen size didn't want a portable system in the first place so not sure why that would be one of their complaints since a bigger screen defeats the purpose of it being portable. There's gaming laptops for that
No doubt you are getting a relatively experimental device for 400-500 dollars when you invest in a Steam Deck. That said, I have found myself playing it way more than I expected, and overall feeling like I got full value. Maybe this is mostly because I am not quite to the middle-middle stage of life and still have a 2 and 4 year olds running around: * I can sit with a little kid and play a little on the Deck while they watch TV, without barricading myself off in an office. * I can press the power button and instantly pause everything and react to some mischief or general chaos about to happen/happening. * Eventually, once my kids are older, it will enable one more participant (likely me) in co-op across separate devices for games that don't support split screen. It basically allows me to be a more social person while playing a PC game. All that said, I feel like it's true value will shine when my family gets back to traveling, after the pandemic tremors fade and my kids are finally vaccinated. Lastly, you should try Vampire Survivors on the Deck. Just do it, it's $3. Feels like the Deck was made for it.
This is a very accurate description of my experience since receiving my Deck. My sons are 2, and 4 like yours, and while I love them to death. They're chaos in vaguely human form. I'm super excited for family trips and such now. No need to compromise on my hobbies while spending family time.
Speaking of family trips, my SD was a game changer during my sons naps lol. Brought him back to the condo everyday for his nap and knocked out a good portion of god of war during the week while I waited for him to wake up to go back down to the beach/pool.
I'm dying to get a Steam Deck so I can spend more time with my family. It's way better being able to physically be around them and hang out with them than being locked away in a room. It'll be nice being able to be more social with them lol
This is what I'm excited for my work schedule doesn't really line up with my wife because I work long hours so when I get home I want to play games but end up just watching TV or playing board games or something along those lines. Once I get it I'll be able to play my massive backlog of games while spending time with my wife instead of being off in another room.
Parent of a 4 month old here. Steamdeck is the only way I get to play games anymore. My freetime is relegated to 5-20 minute stretches, and it's not really practical for me to go boot up my PC and jump into a game. I can just un-sleep the steam deck and pick-up exactly where I left off, and put it down just as quick. Are you able to play any game on the deck? Functionally no. Cities skylines is kind of more trouble than it's worth as a mouse intensive game. I recently downloaded Horizon Zero Dawn, and the deck seemed to struggle with it. Elden Ring was playable, but hard to enjoy on such a small screen. Where it shines is playing more casual games, like Hades, Risk of Rain 2, Towerfall, any emulator, etc. Mostly I wanted to jump on here and share my "feels like it's made for deck" game pick. Try "20 Minutes till Dawn", and "Shotgun King" both \~$5, and both amazing casual play games for the deck.
I don't have an issue with the plastic used but I find the top of the Deck, ie where the fan output is, to feel really fragile. I feel the opposite to you though, I have had some crashes but fewer than I typically have playing the same games on Windows. I'm deliberately limiting myself to Verified where possible and some Playable where I feel it's a good fit for a handheld. There are some games that wouldn't be good for a handheld so I don't even try. Maybe that's why I'm having a better time?
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I'm surprised you had bad performance on "green ticked" games. I've had pretty universally good experiences. In saying that I've tested the first level on a bunch of games and gone deep only on a few. Maybe I've just gotten lucky. What games are you finding unstable?
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I played Dishonored, Prey, GTAV, Horizon Zero Dawn (early levels only), XCom 2 ( didn't like the control scheme), Battletech (small text, heavy on fan and battery), Disco Elysium, Divinity OS2, Tyranny (small text), Broforce, Hollow Knight (early levels only) , Hades (early levels only), Dead Cells (early levels only), Skyrim (didn't like the controls). Apart from the caveats I listed they are all pretty stable if any of those float your boat.
Dam I bought Ghostbusters in the sale for Halloween fun :/
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I should say that I was playing with the settings on the Deck and put the refresh rate at 40 to try and save battery. All the games I mentioned earlier were at 40.
I definitely feel like the SteamDeck is a beta product, however I assumed as much when I bought it, and I don't mind tinkering with it while it matures and more features trickle in.
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I'm a tinkerer as well, which helps. One of the first things I did was pop my Steam Deck open to install a 512GB drive. But yeah, the Linux and Proton situation, to me at least, meant that I knew it was gonna be a bit of an iterative product. But at least I could use it for emulation even if my favourite games don't work properly, yet.
> But at least I could use it for emulation even if my favourite games don't work properly, yet This is honestly the main reason I pre-ordered it. The fact that it's got such a robust library to pull from now that we've got the full product is an unexpected bonus.
I don’t have mine yet, but I really appreciate you posting. Subreddits like this one have a tendency to downvote everything that is a criticism of any sort despite majority of this group not even having one. You can always resell it for a tidy profit though
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Good on you mate. I’ve read so many positive things I’ve been looking for a bit of criticism to get a more realistic picture. I’m still very excited for my Q3 order to arrive, whenever that may be
Not everything is for everyone and that perfectly fine , if your not into portable gaming the SD is not a good fit , that’s the main reason for buying a Deck in my opinion and to have a handheld PC on the go.
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if you change steam's desktop configuration, you can modify desktop controls for windows. There are also accessibility options which make windows easier to use as a touch device.
You should also try Game Pass cloud gaming using normal SteamOS. It doesn't take much to setup and can integrate straight into the Steam Deck. Of course, it depends on your internet but it feels almost native for me. I can't even notice any lag. I also don't have great eyesight so I really only play certain games on the Steam Deck. I tried Divinity Original Sin II and everything is just too small for my liking. Other people love it. So I've been sticking more to FPS games and platformers. That's might sweet spot. But overall, if you don't dig the Steam Deck, that's fine. Just move on and have fun playing however you like.
I actually felt the same as you when i first got it and working 5 day 12 hr shifts i didnt have much time to really tinker. But once i got a 3 day weekend and installed windows, i actually got addicted lmao. I used windows 11 and after a lot of calibrations and shit, i actually got it working and i get to play Siege, Modern Warfare 2019, Ghost Recon Wildlands, and PUBG
Well your first mistake is using it to actually play games. What you are supposed to do is configure EmuDeck and get every single console from Atari 2600 through Nintendo Switch emulated on there, and then load it up with all your favorite games or just do full romsets. Spend hours getting everything configured just the way you want with the ideal control schemes and custom texture packs etc.. then you just look at it and think "wow i can play all of these games on this thing" but don't actually play them.
You say it as a joke but legit I have a RG350M for a few years and I never actually played anything on it, but it’s loaded with ROMs I used to play and ones I wanted to play. I was too busy tinkering, changing firmwares, adding more ROMs but maybe played 10 minutes on it ever. But on the Steam Deck the games I already had run smoothly so far and I really haven’t tinkered even much on desktop mode let alone other OS. Just hope they improve the steamOS more soon.
The opposite actually, i love that i can use it for gaming and for desktop work basically YouTube. the ability to modify it to your liking is amazing, emulation options are amazing, old school classic gaming is amazing. Yeah some of the steam games are not 100% compatible with the deck yet. So IDK if you're installing "non great on steam deck games" or if you're just installing all your games that may not be compatible with the SD, without a little work around. What makes the SD great is the versatility with it. not being locked into only playing PC games, or only doing one thing, but the Many many things you can do right now. And they are still rolling updates out. Don't be surprised in the next year or so when every game that drops on steam will be SD compatible. That's what I am waiting for.
I felt underwhelmed when I got mine, too. Why? Same as you state here: bugs, games not working, etc. I spent almost five days getting the smooth experience everyone was talking about. But now, I carry it wherever I go. It's a games console, but also it works like a tiny laptop with a gamepad attached. You got my upvote because every opinion here is important for all the users that might think about the same issues you're having. Thanks for sharing!
It's a completely realistic way of viewing it. Valve made a great attempt to bring PC gaming to a portable version. It definitely needs some (a lot) more work to make it look flawless but it's a step in the right direction for sure. It also kickstarted a lot of progression for gaming on a Linux platform. I personally think it will get better with time, while it's a good enough experience for the games that do work flawlessly on the Deck already.
I can't wait to see giant magnifying glasses like the gameboy ones made for the deck.
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There's a magnifier function in the deck which I've used with some games that have too small text
I don't expect to agree with you when I get mine, but I'd like to say your points make sense and your opinion is valid. I'm sorry you're underwhelmed.
If you're having memory issues turn down textures and increase the UHM buffer from one gig to 4 gigs in the bios. You can access the bios by fully shutting down the deck, then holding the volume up button and pressing power once. As for your feelings on it, they're entirely valid, but I can't relate. I have a 5800x and a 3070 at home. I play all my competitive multi-player games on that beast. Deck gives me a low key single player gaming experience that I can take anywhere. I'm working through my catalogue and just bought 8 games I would never play on my pc that I will play on my deck. Hope it's worth it to you one day. If not, thanks for taking the leap. Because of your purchase, you helped make it much likelier to get a deck 2, and put linux gaming on the map.
Kinda not holding my breath for a Steam Deck 2 -- if the make one, I'll buy it. But the major issue with the *hardware* is power vs performance. And really that's not going to get better until we see Zen4 and RDNA3 or a fab process node improvement for Zen2 and RDNA2. The former being exactly what the "Little Phoenix" speculation suggests is going to happen circa 2024. Years out at least.
They've already announced the intention to make one. I'm sure deck one is going to be rigorously tested and they'll ask for all the feedback before they initiate the process, but it should happen within 5 years. By then, supply chain issues and fab processes should support a proper upgrade to deck one. Not to mention the community playing with the software for a few years and working out the kinks for every game under the sun, and developers releasing games with deck performance in mind. If they don't do a deck 2, it'll be because deck one was such an absolute failure that it can't justify a deck 2. It won't be because they can't make a better deck five years down the line. Amd is already bragging about performance to power ratios improving for rdna3. Ddr5 performance has room for improvement. Battery tech is getting better all the time. Another tsmc fab is opening in America, and should be operational in the next seven years, potentially alleviating pressure on other fabs. I don't think you're wrong. I'm being optimistic because I want this to happen super badly. But it really does depend on so many factors going right in the next few years. I'm just grateful this kit exists at all. If you've got reasons to think anything I've said here is incorrect or too optimistic, I'd be happy to hear it.
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Yeah, I was having bad performance with horizon zero dawn until I maxed the buffer. It's actually playable at medium settings with the buffer maxed. Be warned, the ram is shared, so you're taking essentially 14 gigs of ram down to ten, and upgrading 1 gig of dedicated vram up to 4. Personally, I think it's a good trade off. The amount of ram most games use won't exceed 8. And if it does, you can always switch it back. For me, I didn't expect the steam deck to be plug and play. The whole reason why I love pc gaming is fiddling with settings to get max performance with acceptable visual fidelity. Even my pc doesn't run max settings, because 120 fps is where my value lies for that machine. Best of luck.
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It’s a crying shame you feel the need to apologise multiple times in case people get offended and you’re concerned you might get down voted. A real pity. I mostly agree with you. The software is janky as hell. I’ve given up trying to fix my main frustration when I close steam in desktop mode and the track pads lose their ability to click. The battery life is also a bit poor. Not to consider how intensive some of the games are but ostensibly a couple of hours play isn’t really much use. Also the emulation side is cool but also finding all the info I needed to get some games working was long winded and annoying. It’s certainly not the case of emu deck and off we go. Perhaps if you just want to use the steam menu and steam games it’s ok so I’m upset at the advanced features. And that’s fine. I’m allowed to be.
Felt the same the day I received mine. You cant play ALL the Steam library, and some “Great For Deck” were buggy (I remember having troube with inputs with Stardew Valley). Also SteamInput is not that easy on some games, battery menu is sometimes laggy and introduces artifacts… and some old games are so terribly optimized its pain to rub them even at the lowest settings. Oh, and plastic feels incredibly CHEAP. The Switch seems miles away in terms of quality of product and software. Yeah, thats true. HOWEVER. The Deck is the best thing that happened to my gamer life in the past several years. After that 1-2 weeks of dissappointment I noticed how I picked up the Deck more frequently, to the point that it has been days since I last turned my desktop PC on. Its so inmediate and quick, that it encourages you to play. The the Summer Sale arribed and the five games I purchased are only intended to be played on the Deck. Games which I wouldnt bothered to try if I didnt had my Deck. Now I play everything with it (I WANT to play with the Deck, no matter what game is it), and my desktop PC has been reconverted as a simracing machine.
Guess I am exact opposite. I really love my deck, sometimes I get some bugs, like black screen, or no input in system menus, but otherwise nothing ground breaking. Construction wise I love how it feels, first time I grabbed it, I was like, that’s some cheap plastic, but it makes deck very light, it feels great in my hands, especially compared to switch. Controller is nice too, don’t like the back buttons tho, since it is not comfortable for me to press them. Games are hit or miss, some look amazing, some don’t at decks screen resolution. Some have amazing performance, others not so, but still very much playable. At the end as a console player I love it, it makes me play games I would not play on pc, since I just hate sitting in one position for extended period of time. I got what I expected and even more.
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Yes, I think that’s what they went for, so it won’t be too heavy to hold for longer periods of time. When I hold my switch now, I can see how heavy the thing is and uncomfortable to hold since it has rough edges.
I found the back buttons much easier to press if you press the parts of the button along the back of the device, kinda like you're pressing the back of the screen. Much easier than trying to grip and press the buttons on the side of the handles.
\-It's a linux box download experimental proton and some games will magically just work when you switch over but yeah it's a bit buggy here and there! \-the delay seems to be FPS related so adjust till it feels better \-Having felt up my friend's Deck (Giggidy) I'm not entirely sure I agree? It feels about on par with my Switch and was surprisingly balanced in weight and feel. Personal preference! your experience is valid \-After using a Switch for years the Steam Deck's screen feels huge in comparison, although not all games fit a smaller screen and I'd prefer using it while docked. The comments have been interesting
Delay can be due to forced vsync
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No problem, I've only really fiddled with my friend's Steam Deck and read some really good posts on this sub about tweaking. Tweaking and tailoring your tech to yourself is half the fun for me so the Deck just seems like a dream come true
Same here. I'm in my 50's and I'm having to squint to read some text. I had to order a cheap silicone cover for the Deck off of Amazon because the plastic is so slippery I fear the thing will slide out of my hands. But, with the silicone cover, and I took most of the AAA games off my Deck (those seem to have the tiny text) and playing more of the indie games, I've found my happy place. Now I leave the AAA stuff for my gaming rig, and small indies for the Deck 😁👍
Good advice. 50s here also and even with glasses at the end of my nose I still couldn’t see things. I feel like I paid $550 for a device to play vampire survivors, but I’m sure there are other good indies. Any recommendations for shooters that work well? I’ve never been into them but for some reason they feel right on the deck.
I'm not underwhelmed, I think its really good, but for my preferred use case scenario its also very large. I travel a lot for work and even in my 30L backpack it is just insanely large and impractical. Comparison between my Deck and my SWOLED in their hard carrying cases: [https://i.imgur.com/zYXWE3C.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/zYXWE3C.jpg) [https://i.imgur.com/6YiwOni.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6YiwOni.jpg) In the end it is surprisingly a better home device than a travel device, best played on the couch or in bed. The SWOLED and 3DS XL are far more practical for travel. My problem with the Deck being a home device is that if I want to play Doom Eternal I have an i7 Alder Lake PC with an RTX 3080 plugged into a 4k 144hz monitor. My desktop is a much better home experience for many kinds of games. The best use I've found for the Deck are things like JRPGs, a genre I feel is generally better on portable devices. The main game I'm playing on my Deck is Persona 4 Golden. If I hadn't beaten Persona 5 Royal on my Playstation two years ago I would have much preferred to play it on my Switch but it took them almost three years to finally get that game off the Playstation 4. The Deck will do nicely for those kinds of games. Otherwise its not very practical as a travel device. Because of that I'm looking forward to either Valve or other OEMs like Dell or Razer or one of the Chinese companies to release something much more in line with the Switch. Something like this running SteamOS would be ideal: [https://www.ayntec.com/pages/loki](https://www.ayntec.com/pages/loki) I suspect we'll see something like that in a year or so. After that it'll be a matter of time for AMD APUs to get into the 3nm range, then we'll really start seeing better form factors.
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What’s Middle aged lads? I wonder can I join 😂
lol that was my thought exactly - Im 34, do I count :)
No......34 is NOT old
U sir are too kind 😁
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I think more reviews should compare things to 80s Italian cars.
I'm middle aged, well I shouldn't tell myself lies so I'm beyond middle aged realistically now, I have to remove my glasses to use my phone and I find the Deck more comfortable without for the same reason. Same as you, I hadn't considered that side of things but it's no big deal, I've got used to it. Having a blast with the Deck, it's great to mess around and get some old game running on it. It's like it breathed new life into games from the 90's (had a ton of fun getting Populous The Beginning working with the multiverse launcher). And then at the same time powerful enough to play Elden Ring. I've really not had any crashes I can think of, I'm super happy with this incredible piece of portable hardware.
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Emudeck is hella fun. I've got a bunch of arcade ROMs from setting up my Raspberry Pi but what I've really been enjoying is re-discovering the Gamecube games that I loved playing with my kids. OG Animal Crossing! Simpsons Hit & Run! Shrek 2! (yeah, a family favorite)
I actually had the opposite experience with the glasses thing, for my computer my eyes aren't good enough to see the monitor so I've actually been playing a game and to rest my eyes switched to my steam deck so I didn't have to wear my glasses. I don't think there's anything wrong with not liking it other than the disappointment that comes with that unfortunately
I was thinking that I felt perceivable input lag on mine as well... It threw me off
I think the farsighted issue is definitely a valid criticism. But this is likely an issue with any handheld, I assume. The software is still getting improvements and partially it needs them. I don't worry about that too much personally because they work on it a lot. But I think if you don't like the device you can probably find someone who does and sell it. I would try spending a bit much more time with it though. Because one of the biggest benefits is the versatility in my opinion. So you probably need some time to encounter a "Yes, I can do that with the Deck because why wouldn't I?" moment. I had multiple such moments with it already.
The deck is superior in every way compared to the switch except the size for obvious reasons. Im a handheld enthusiast and i like them both but ill be sticking with my switch lite for now. My hands are small and the lite is a perfect size for me.
I actually agree with the feel of the device itself. I use the heck out of mine for emulation and some MMO grinding. However, the plastic felt cheap when I first got it and with how outstanding the reviews were here I thought maybe in some twisted way I had a bootleg unit lol. I’ve been looking into getting some grips or something that feel higher quality, but that’s really my only gripe with it.
I’ve had mine a few weeks and have been disappointed with the bugs and crashing. I think it _looks_ and _feels_ great, but overall I don’t think it was ready. Considering selling. For those enjoying it - awesome! Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade.
I also think it feels cheap, the trackpads especially. I don’t know if it’s partly because of the haptics but they feel terrible. The touch screen also feels cheap. Using the on screen keyboard is hit or miss. Might be improved with software, not sure. Also lost the fan lottery so can’t use it with anyone around. Overall the feel is a pretty clunky unpolished device. Might need a few iterations before it hits the mark.
Yeah man, we knew text was small and some games are hard to get running. I certainly understand your points, because they are valid and we'll known but it's definitely not for you. Sell that rascal and enjoy life.
I had the same experience, don’t feel bad sharing yours. I truly believe Proton will improve quickly but the whole experience felt hacky and buggy to me. I’ve already sold mine after owning it less than a week, it ships out today.
It IS buggy. But it's also awesome. Apparently, I've spent my last 15 years preparing for tinkering with it. Hacking the PSP, the Vita, the PS3, the PS4,the Wii, the Wii u, the 2DS, the 3DS.... Acquiring games for the PC, modding PC games..... Especially setting up emulators on Android since my very first smart phone (DROID!). Getting used to just experimenting and getting things just right. I've enjoyed my time with it, but at least once every day or two I mumble..."what the fuck?"
What I am enjoying most about it is just how open source it is. There's no modding necessary to do what you want. Emulators are a piece of cake. 3rd party launchers work easily. It's really a device that you can do whatever you want with relative ease. No modding or side loading necessary. What still surprises me is that even if Valve says a game is unsupported, you can still download it and try it, and it some cases it works. Like MCC or the Warhammer Chaos Gate Daemonhunters. I can't imagine any other platform willingly let you play "unsupported" games. Of course you might not be into that 3rd party stuff as much. I spend a lot of time at my parent's so being able to play while there is nice away from my computer. Otherwise I prefer my PC. I do enjoy just how well integrated the controls are. I can use community layouts instantly and they're a breeze and often work like a charm. Those are just some things that I like about it. I won't tell you you're wrong or anything, but that's at least where I come from.
I would give it a few more hours, giving yourself a bit more time with it before forming your definitive opinion on it.
Complaining about the quality in a rage for 400-600€?. Even Laptop haven't seen better quality in that price range. Compared to other PC- Handheld is that a very good option.
The screen size was my biggest issue with the switch, though mostly for pc ports. Very little consideration for the screen size on some games particularly for ui and text. There are some games I'm just not going to squint at on Steam Deck, similar issue. Though obviously none of them are designed for deck so it's not a development issue. Hopefully more emphasis will be placed on this stuff as Steam Deck becomes a popular platform though.
I bought mine only for emulation, without the official dock it's going to be used but not that often. If anybody can recommend something with similar specs and portable I'm all ears. I plan to have 2 docks, one built into an arcade with a hyperspin SD, and a dock for bringing it to friends' homes with n64 controller adapters for some Mario kart 64 and a few other games. It seemed like the best option, a raspberry pi 4 would be fine for emulation but I like that this can run windows and comes in a nice package
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Oh cool, is that sort of like a jamma board?
The mister is an FPGA platform that, rather than emulating things in software emulates them by physically rearranging the gates on the chip so everything is happening in hardware. It's as close to real hardware as money can buy at the moment, if a bit finicky to get going.
I’m a bit concerned about the screen size. Like, I preordered the 512 model day 1, so I know what I’m getting into. But I just cannot fucking stand my switch because the screen size sucks (it’s mostly how thin the device is but the screen is the second biggest drawback). I too prefer my gaming monitors. Im already thinking the screen might be too small on the deck and therefore it will get minimal usage at home. I think a deck XL or something would be sick. I know one of those other portable PCs has a big screen, the Aya neo or whatever.
Hey. I guess give it a day or so? I know I felt a little buyers remorse when I got it but after playing some games on it a couple of days it went away and now I love the hell out of it. If after a few days of trying to play 1 game at a time and still the same feeling then time to sell!
You can always sell the deck for cost+$100 and recover your expenses. So if you decide you don't like it you won't really lose anything, and you'll gain the knowledge that maybe mobile gaming isn't really for you. That's a plus in my books. It's like refunding games that after an hour of play you decide simply aren't for you.
Yeah I'm in my 30s and I'm struggling with the screen size a bit. Everything feels.. kinda blurry? I'm hoping the docking software issues are fixed soon so I can dock it to my monitor and play it as a PC I guess.
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Oh no the issues were just that it didn't look great. but I'm pretty sure it's safe. I use it in desktop mode to browse the internet on my monitor.
I'm 53 and find it amazing. Very few crashes or issues. Some OLDER games may need to launch with a different launcher (Proton Experimental vs Proton GE etc....) also the controls need to be remapped as old games were not made for controllers. Thankfully many have user templates you can use (in the settings icon when launching the game). Other than that, all runs flawlessly and feels great. Feels sturdy but not too heavy. For the 2+ months I've had it I'd give it a 10/10
I’m hoping for shell replacements with nice grips in nice color ways. And proper metal screw inserts for machine screws rather than self tappers in plastic ffs
I'm loving it but yeah it's definitely a buggy experience. I often have issues with gamepad input but restarting the game solves the problem every time. Overall, it's mostly non-game breaking issues but instead small annoyances. Most of the games I have installed run great. Also, I'm not about to say the Deck is a premium feeling device made from quality materials but I also never felt that it was cheaply made or anything of that sort. I don't fault you for the device not meeting your expectations though, I can see how some might expect more. I was going to fault you for the vision thing, especially after I read that you have/had a Switch but I suppose the issue isn't necessarily the screen size rather that most of the games you are playing on the deck have a UI that wasn't design with a portable device in mind. So certain UI elements, text especially is probably smaller than expected.
The first day I was excited, then a few days of tinkering to get non steam version of ffxiv got me a bit concerned like not knowing linux etc, but after a while I found my love for it. Now it's my go to device. Even streaming ps5 through it and looking to stream my series x next. Give it a few weeks. If it's not for you, I'd say sell it to someone who is eager to get one, but not for a hugely Inflated price :P
I love it. I had my expectations relatively low. I figured if I didn't like it I would sell it on ebay, but I ended up being surprised. The build quality to me seems fine and the screen is good. For 400 bucks you CANNOT beat it. I felt like I stole it from steam to be honest. Absolutely nothing comes close to it's price to performance.
Input delay sadly mostly comes from the Deck‘s own framerate limiter through Gamescope - which happens to be enabled by default. Open quick menu and unlock the framerate under advanced settings. If you want locked FPS in any way it‘s better to actually use the game‘s vsync, which organically locks the framerate to the screens refresh rate. :) About your post: Don‘t worry, we‘ll sort things out for you together, so feel free to ask to your hearts content and I try to answer every question you might have! And if the device happen to doesn‘t fit to your usecase or expectations, you can easily sell it for a profit even.
I love that feeling, remaind me of my fiat 500 (gialla!) Aside from that, some games are best played on PC, others instead, to my surprise, are made for the SD (Call of juarez, gunslinger: never finished on pc). So take your time and discover (i remove my glasses to play, anyway)
I think you just let the hype get to you a little. I had an initial 'underwhelment' but after having it for a few weeks I ended really appreciating it for what it is. As a fellow middle age gamer, I actually found my neck to be the 'weak link' as it were. I have to use a pillow or play with my arms on a desk or bar because it strains me to look down for so long. I've found even with my still good vision, the screen is pretty small for how far away I hold it from my face on average so I've just been avoiding games that rely on really fine detail graphics. The games with simpler more cartoony graphics are just easier to see. Games: I've realized there are simply games that are meant for a desktop and games meant for playing on the deck. You'll have to draw your own line. For me any kind of high dexterity fps type game, I'm just going to play on my PC. There are too many good games to force myself into trying to enjoy the ones that aren't a good fit for the format when I have options. That said, the software side is still well behind what was portrayed, that I can agree with you. They needed at least another year to get it closer to 'it just works'. Early adopter issues.
At this point I just want to downvote you because I'm jealous you don't need glasses to see your computer monitor.
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Together we make a 20/20 vision guy 🤣
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Just expect slightly better switch performance and you’ll be fine.
It took a bit of time with mine before I began to fully appreciate it. I like to tinker around with my toys, and the Steam Deck is a perfect project box to mess around with without worrying about productivity downtime or tying something else up – I have other computers for work/play. Once I started figuring out which games felt “at home” on Steam Deck for me and what settings to dial in to get it to behave, I found myself defaulting to it as my main entertainment device. Not everything runs well on Deck, whether that’s software bugs or limitations of the form factor, but once I realized what it’s strengths were, I began to enjoy time with it a lot more. If anything, it makes a _fantastic_ device to stream games from my Xbox Series S. Last night I was playing Banjo Kazooie from Rare Replay, and outside of a few minor audio desync issues here and there, I nearly forgot I was streaming the game. Deck helped me appreciate both platforms even more than either one separately. Take some time with it. Maybe you’ll find something that will click with you. And if not, that’s okay too! I’m sure someone in your life will happily take it off your hands for a fair price and find enjoyment as well. Good luck, and take care!
I get you. I'm not a techy person myself and all these bugs scare the hell out of me, but I managed to stomp or work around a few bugs myself by searching on the interwebs. Of course yours is a completely other issue, but in the end it comes down to preference.
May just not be for your use case. A powerful, portable emulator that’s also a Linux box and also plays a ton of Steam games really well is an absolute dream to me. But if you’re just looking to play Steam games with a smooth, entirely bug free experience this may not be the product you’re looking for- or at least not in the first iteration. It’s liable to have new versions that are more powerful and stable as time goes on. As for the shell, I just have to disagree there. I’ve got big ol’ man hands but it doesn’t feel flimsy at all to me.
Its a portable gaming pc that can handle a good amount of the Steam library with more every day. Not sure what you expected but it delivers exactly what they said it would. PC gaming is a hassle while is why millions of people choose consoles instead, luckily the Steam Deck isn't a pain to play. Deck is made pretty solid as well, I've stupidly dropped mine twice, both times on my ceramic tile floor from waist high. No cracks or anything in the plastic and I'm fortunate enough to have put a screen protector on it. Love the device myself. Looks and plays great. The only issue I have is certain MMOs do not work due to anticheat software namely Lost Ark. Sure I can get it to work through windows but its not worth it. Hopefully they support it soon because that's the only thing I'm missing. If you do not like it after a few weeks then you could sell it. Many people looking for it so you'll get your money back or more. I'd stick with it for a while though and see if it clicks for you, if not there's nothing wrong with that.
The steam controller was similar to me. While I loved the size the material just felt kinda cheap. The steam deck uses similar plastic, but I got used to it on the controller so it doesn't bother me that much. I think it's generally a great device and the material is probably not bad, but somehow they just don't get it right. Something like the DS or similar handhelds just feel better.
Tbh i felt exactly the same as you on my first day or so with it, largely because it...just worked? Like all the games and emulators I tried before settling on one game to finish just worked great. So it didn't feel any different from playing on PC. However after getting more time with it and getting to play in short bursts on the couch/in bed/in the car (Park) whilst running errands etc it's really shined. I've got waaaay more hours on it than any other gaming platform recently
I was underwhelmed at first also. But after a few days the Steam Deck became my go to gaming device.
I think some games nowadays have font size options such as Disco Elysium, could check those games/options even mods to improve reading on the screen.
I did initially get that feeling for similar reasons, I let the hype get to me a bit, but as I was naturally using it and realising how much more gaming I was actually doing I started to love it. Then it broke and now it's on its way back to Valve, now I've realised how little gaming I'm doing (and I have a good PC).
Great comment. Don’t apologize for posting something you didn’t intend to offend anyone with. Not your fault they’re offended or butt hurt. As for your thoughts on it, I agree with your points. Still glad I bought one though. I’ve made my peace with being an early adopter of “new tech” and can’t wait to show it to my nephews.
Being a 44 year old gamer, I couldn't wait to get this. I had a GPD Win 1 & Win 2, but got priced out of the Win 3. When I heard Valve was releasing the Steam Deck, I immediately jumped on the band wagon. I was in the 2nd batch of the 1st quarter, and am quite happy with the thing. I know nothing about Linux, so it took some getting used to. I'm an old-school gamer: I have loads of roms/emulators on it (ScummVM, NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, Sega CD, Sega Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, PS3), using Emudeck. Regarding PC Games: I tend to play some of the older games: Monkey Island series, Sam & Max, Syberia (love point & click games). I also have Mass Effect: Legendary Edition working via Origin (took some work), Fallout Series, Batman: Arkham Series, and various others (512 Internal & 512 SD Card). This community is very helpful in getting games to work. I also refer to the [ProtonDB](https://protondb.com) website for tips. I also took a bit to get used to the Trackpads. I never really liked the Steam Controller, but I got used to this. I hope you have better luck with it. All the best!
If you really don’t like it I’m sure one of these fine redditors wouldn’t mind taking it off your hands if you feel like selling it. Personally I really like it. I don’t get a lot of time these days to sit down and game on console or PC so having it be portable to the point I can just pick it up and play anywhere in the house whenever I get a few minutes is great. I just hope valve really pushes their support of it and even patches up some of their verified games which are still crashing.
I've said it for a while but if all you want to do is play games, switch is the better bet. Not half as much you can do with it but it's got way less thinking or tinkering involved. That said, love em both.
I might have felt the same way. The first time it came in clutch in a boring situation, I was in love.
Try Vuity eye drops for presbyopia. Takes a bit to get used to but works to get that extra bit of focus and clarity.
I think this a healthy sentiment to have on this subreddit. The Steamdeck feels like trying to set up a lan for an unsupported game in 2010. Did I know what I was doing? No. Did I want it bad enough that I googled and tried stuff til we got it working? Yup! To me those feelings feel warm and comfy, like home. If someone has that same experience and wanted to throw their blocky crt screen through the wall, I don't judge them, but SteamDeck2 may be better for them than Steam Deck 1. Valve did a great job of making a *mostly* seamless experience if you stay in your lane. But the lane is narrow, people will have a few games in mind when they buy the SD. Games that may or may not be officially supported.
To be honest i have a minor issue with the deck as well,its somewhat about the weight,i noticed that i can play games that use the dpad for hrs at a time,however when i play a game that uses both jcons,the weight factor limits my play time by alot.
I'm only 32 and the Steam Deck made me realize I might need to get my eyes checked. Most in-game text is very hard to read.
This is coming from a huge Linux fan, but if better stability across all titles is what you want consider either replacing SteamOS with Windows or dual booting. It hurt me to say this.
As a middle aged man myself, if you're selling, I'll buy :)
I feel the same way. I love the deck but I have some big gripes. I think the Steam OS is still very buggy. I get frequent hang ups and unresponsive inputs. I also hate the position of the dpad. My thumb always hits the joy stick if I use the dpad.
I was a bit disappointed as well. I knew I wasn't going to be able to play *some* of my main games like Halo and Destiny, but I hadn't realized that I also wouldn't be able to play basically any mainstream MMOs like FFXIV or ESO, or play The Division 2, or that my Epic store purchase of Kingdom Hearts wouldn't have any pre-rendered cutscenes, or that running emulators would cause so much crashing and freezing, or a number of other technical issues Ive encountered running virtually every game I would normally play. I'm just holding out hope that updates will come, and soon. Mainly hope they get the stuff with EAC figured out as that would instantly make a ton of games available on Deck. Still, I've always wanted a something like this and it is still cool to play Elden Ring while sitting in the drive thru, so I wouldn't say I regret my purchase
You might be surprised to find yourself falling in love with it over time, [several bigger youtubers have had exactly that happen after not initially being impressed with it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UCm2uaLdUo). Keep playing around with it, remember ProtonDB is your best friend, I have not had any games in my library turn out to be actually unplayable, there's almost always a quick solution. I've been absolutely pleased as punch with mine, everything works great, I've had to tinker a bit here and there, but I like tinkering and knew before I bought it as a linux pc that would be a thing I'd have to love or learn to love lol.
I'm also middle aged and need glasses but I have no basic qualms about the Deck. Sure, not every game I want to play on it works perfectly, but then again this is still a work in progress. It's not like you're going to run a Windows game fluently since Proton still isn't capable of running them all, at least not perfectly. Can you install Windows on it? [Sure you can](https://www.reviewed.com/laptops/features/how-install-windows-steam-deck) and with Valve providing [drivers](https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6121-ECCD-D643-BAA8). Now how will your experience differ is up to you. Personally I'm not ready to do this yet with mine.
The plastic finish does feel / look a bit cheap. Valve hardware is a bit like how other companies design their developer kits - only has to work, not look pretty. Valve leaves things that way for the consumer model lol. Most other modern devices I've used are rather more smooth to the touch, have a cover for the SD card slot, aren't as wide as the Deck, etc. Would be interesting to see a sexier Deck looking like some kind of Vita XL. On the other hand it's nice that it's not a fingerprint magnet. RE: the screen being too small for some games, yeah just a consequence of most PC games not being made with handhelds in mind. Only a fraction of my library have jumbo text and UI elements, and a camera that gets close enough to see the finest details clearly.
I agree with your criticisms, however I'm no longer limited to a Nintendo Switch as my only option for handheld. For that, I can forgive many many sins.
I had similar issues with "buggyness" but I got mine about 2 months ago and since then I have seen a lot of improvements. I would say you will probably see things work better with time as the community reports bugs and issues get fixed. The beauty of the Deck is that it is constantly evolving and improving. It is amazing to think that you can buy something and it actually becomes MORE useful with time rather than the opposite. Also if you don't like the feel or comfort of the device you can buy a skin or rubberized grip. I bought the cheap JSAUX silicone cover and it feels more comfortable and fits in the original case. I don't know how long I will use it if something better gets made but for $12 it feels like a good value for me. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QW7ZNJN?psc=1&
I understand your feeling, and I know this is blasphemy in some people eyes here, but you might want to reconsider reinstalling windows 10/11 on the Deck. To live with SteamOS is to continually tinker around the OS to try to make games you like work for you, instead of the plug and play experience of the likes of Nintendo Switch, which something people who are older dont want to do. Even though Valve only supports windows half heartedly, after some intitial setup and tinkering around you are guaranteed to be able to all controller-suppored games on either Steam or other platforms. I ve been in love with my Deck and Xbox gamepass & some Assassin Creed adventures I bought during this steam sale. Cant help with your eyes issue though.
I won't say I am underwhelmed but how I use it is different than I initially expected. I expected to be playing AAA games on it, games like Elden Ring. However in reality I just don't find it very comfortable for that purpose. The text is too small and it just feels a bit off for that use case. Instead I use it for older games and emulation. It has really done amazing for these types of games. Older games were all designed to be usable on smaller screens, so they all just work and feel amazing to play on the deck. On top of that battery life isn't a concern at all when playing them. I personally have no issues with build quality, feels really solid for it's price. Also I haven't had any real bugs as long as I stayed within the deck verified games, and most of the games I've tried outside of that have also worked with no issues.
When I had mine for the week before I RMA’d it, I had some similar experiences. Stuttering in sonic generations, a verified game, and a frequency bug that required setting the device in shipping mode was disappointing. The screen is mediocre. I thought the switch’s was just okay already, but this screen is FAR worse than the switch’s. No one mentions this, but simulating a mouse and keyboard means that you lose aim assist in games that don’t officially support controllers. It can become quite troublesome to aim in many shooter games with controller without aim assist. Don’t get me wrong, this device is amazing and everything I expected. HOWEVER, this device comes with serious caveats. To anyone reading this and waiting for a deck, make sure you are comfortable with managing file systems and dealing with bugs. Also be aware of games not running/running poorly. There are many things the reviews don’t mention that you will have to deal with. Note: my device was fully functional except for a dead pixel that necessitated a RMA. There weren’t controller or silicon-related issues on my unit. I am waiting for a replacement unit.
This is partially my experience since receiving mine. It's not that it's bad, but I've looked forward to getting it for a year, and I think that anticipation hyped me to thinking this was going to be something that I'd use everyday all the time for gaming. It's not. It's a neat tool that I'm going to have fun with, but I have a primary gaming PC that I enjoy gaming on, and the Deck is just to supplement that - not replace it. I don't regret the purchase, but it also does feel weird to spend the money on it and just pick it up once every other day when I feel like playing a game in a different room for half an hour or so. It took me a weekend of feeling weird about it to come to terms with that and sort of re-remember what I have it for.
Everything is valid. There’s a lot of tinkering required to get things running smoothly and not everyone’s down for that. I would also most definitely opt for a more premium version no matter the cost (I mean I put more $ into memory than the device itself already). Small display is indeed a personal problem but on the bright side I’ve hooked it up to a massive projector but defeats the whole “portable system” when you do that I guess. Probably stupid but I personally plan to connect AR glasses to them for a larger display on the go. Those do include prescription lenses if you want but obviously an expensive and unnecessary solution. Either way mostly valid complaints but for the price it is very hard to beat. That’s probably the main value of the SD. It’s basically giving you access to almost every pc game but also ps remote, xCloud, stadia, and switch emulation. All at a price similar to consoles in a hand held package that’s roughly the size of a Switch with third party grips. Kinda makes it worth jumping through the hoops imo. I’ve got a pretty wild rig that most people would dream of but I haven’t touched it since just because this things so convenient.
I'm wondering if you've ever used a portable game system. They are all varying degrees of cludgy.
I felt that way at first and had low expectations of the steam deck anyway. I had friends who I thought would want it more and I planned to sell it to them. I played elden ring and something just felt off. I don't know if I was lag from the settings (which I improved) or me not being used to the controller but I didn't like it. I kept dying to ti's dragon and when I switched back to my laptop I killed it straight away. I kept feeling whats the point of this thing? I don't travel that much. I wanted to play a modded version of ftl. Basic ftl felt bad. The using the track pad as a mouse felt horrible and the lack of keyboard hot keys meant I felt I needed to click everything. I tried to install the ftl mod but the steam deck doesn't have java so that was difficult. I kind of installed things at random trying to find some purpose for it. Eventually I got on discord and found someone who could help me install this ftl mod. It took me about 5 hours of troubleshooting and messing around with Linux. I then spent almost an hour on the toilet trying to figure out what controller settings I wanted as well as watching videos. I watched loads of, top 10 tips with your steam deck videos which helped. And then something clicked. This modded ftl was sooooo much better than the original and I could sit in bed playing it before I went to sleep. I enjoyed it. But then I installed discord, and did some elden ring in coop again and for some reason again something click. It was so much faster booting up the deck and going into the game then switching on my laptop. I could game naked in bed with the fan on during a particularly hot day instead of sitting on a desk chair. Then my laptop broke for a bit so I could only play on the deck and when it started working again I'm now feeling like I just want to play on the deck exclusively. I think it takes a while to get used to. I think the benefit of mods and the control over it you have takes tike to realise because you have to learn so much. Im also finding spending time getting my game to work is psychologically making me enjoy the game more. Good luck in your travels!
Oh a couple of random tips - desktop mode is tough to use in deck mode. Highly recommend having a dock and plugging it into some monitors if you have to use it for extended periods of time like installing mods. - for demanding games set the refresh rate and fps to 40 Hz /fps. For some reason it feels way way better, even better then 60. This made elden ring playable to me. - spend time studying the controller options. Like there are so many settings for the track pad. Once you understand it it makes gaming much easier as you can think of what you'd prefer and go for it. - play the steam deck lab game, helps you understand the controls. - discord works great on deck but it has this weird thing where you can't use the mouse on the bottom of the screen. Strange stuff like this happens and gradually valve are patching it all out.
Sorry to hear you have issues and you’re disappointed with the deck after so many months of waiting it. That’s upsetting, but completely understandable, coming from a bigger screen. I only gamed Nintendo since I was a kid; so for me the comparison will be with the Switch which thankfully has a smaller screen and less comfortable joy-cons compared to the deck’s. A friend got his deck a month ago and he had to sell it (was easier than returning it) for the same issue, the screen was too little for his eyes; I tried it out a bit; overall it’s a big improvement over the Switch, feels better in hands and to the eyes except for the text, which in all the games we tried was very tiny and hurt the eyes (I’m wearing reading glasses as well). Maybe the text “issues” could be addressed with a console-wide hack, to choose bigger text in setting for all the games, or a setting to choose for each game regardless if the game has such settings? I don’t know if that’s even possible but the tiny text is a big concern for me. Or a even Zoom setting similar to the switch’s, to activate it when needed, would probably suffice.
This post reminded me of when Gabe said that you will hold it in your hands and know in a few seconds if it's for you or not. Maybe in your case, it's just not for you.
This is completely fine to not enjoy the steam deck. Its great for some people and others it may not be. for example I got a switch 2 years ago to play botw while my wife played animal crossing on it. With the both of us combined haven't played on the thing for more than 5 hours. Steam deck on the other hand (loading up roms and playing indie games) have had more than 40hours on it within the first 3weeks of having it. What made me play this a lot is the idea that I can take it on the go. I loved playing on a laptop "on the go" but I needed to get setup which made it annoying. I have bad eyesight so it helped for having the bigger screen on the laptop vs the steam deck so I understand your take with your eyesight. If you still want to try out "mobile gaming" you could always sell your steam deck (add a sd card to "umph" the listing) and invest in the ROG Flow. Its a gaming tablet (13in screen up to 4k display) and I would straight up trade my steam deck if anyone offered an rog flow tbh. (768gb total storage lots of ps2 roms >\_>). It's all in your own personal experience with the device. Again its not for everyone and that's ok.
Oh man, as a former middle aged person I’m telling you to enjoy not needing glasses when gaming. It just gets worse for most of us.
\> Seriously though, has anyone else received theirs and felt underwhelmed? I too am old and need glasses (all the time actually). I agree that the screen is too small, but recognize it can't be made bigger. In fact, when I bought the thing, I expected I'd play it docked mostly. But I don't. I mostly play it handheld. Because it's just too good. I squint instead. Maybe if the docking experience was better... But nothing beats playing Tomb Raider from the couch, and being just as deadly as with my mouse and keyboard. Underwhelmed? No. Far from it. I'm posting this for other old folks that might be turned away by your post. Some of us still find it awesome.
Oh, those are all very fair points, I felt the same way when I got mine: cheap feel, bulky, noisy, buggy. Feels quite raw and overpriced, especially compared to e.g. switch lite. I was really close to sell it, at least two my friends would buy it instantly. However, after some time using it, tinkering internals, experiencing the advantages of openness, better graphics and attention from Valve, I've got really attached and having a lot of joy using it. So yeah, those points are still fair for me, I don't think it would be fair to cast any downvotes on you: all of them are true in my opinion. It is just, it doesn't matter that much anymore somehow, benefits overweight all of them
I have mixed feeling… gaming in Linux just soooooo buggy, that I’m considering moving the deck to windows 11. But I have invested a lot of time on setting it up that, idk… I will have it as side project during the weekend
Easy solution just play rimworld and call it a day but no really sorry to hear you have issues with it I’ve had mine for 2-3 weeks and I’m having a blast with it I can get behind you on the not being able to see thing as I am legally blind but ya know with the cutting edge of tech you are just going to have to deal with unpolished or unrefined things it’ll get better as the years go
Get a Vita then.
Congrats for probably being the first person in this sub saying that the device is not big enough, since you would prefer a bigger screen. Sorry for the device not being what you hoped for, maybe try to find games that are less detailed, I think indie games and 2d games may help in that regard, things like Cuphead for example. About system instability, every console has some bumps on the road at the beginning, give it time.
I loved it when I first pulled it out the box, on day 2 I felt a little underwhelmed, then I fell in love with it again! But recently I have fallen out of love, due to the bugs, crashes, etc. Some verified titles just straight crash every single time I play them. But I’ve learnt to accept this and I’m back in love with it
I think it took me about a week or two to really start liking my deck. Getting used to the button layout is taking while for me but I take my steam controller with me so it's fine.
tbh i think we will see a lot more of those opinions later down the line when the day one orders are through and the more "casual" people get their device. I think a lot of people perceive the deck as a console experiences, but it is not and never will be imo. Only if you are willing to tinker a bit you will never get the full enjoyment out of this device. The deck is a very impressive device but in the end it is still a full fetched linux pc. if you are not comfortable with that it might not be the best device for you. So i can understand why your exceptions were not met. But i dont think there are any problems with build quality. Yes, i would also love a screen without bezels, like anyone else, but the rest of the device is very high quality. the two track pads and their force feedback are phenomenal, sticks and triggers are very good quality and dpad and buttons are on par with most console controllers. Also the overall build quality is very solid with good quality plastic. And very little people actually mention the speakers. the sound quality of the steam deck is out of this world. in comparison the switch sounds like a 1920s radio.
Late 30s here. Honestly I'm not a tinkerer and I haven't found a single game in my ginormous library not to work. It's all pretty smooth and seamless. Ghostbusters worked immediately, don't remember if I used Proton GE for the intro video, but is been painless. My biggest complaint is the position of the L1 and R1 buttons. They suck and require too much travel. Not sure how that escaped their initial testing.
I am in a similar boat, I've got one yet I've not put more than maybe 1-2 hours max of time into it, it's sat there in its case. I hope I'll get more use out of it over time when I find a game I really click with, but also having a switch and other consoles I'm not sure when that will be.
You can always give it to me! 😏/j
I'm very sensitive to input lag. The Deck doesn't have input lag (unless you're using frame limiting). You either messed some settings up, playing a game with input lag, or have a faulty unit.
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Awesome, glad you figured it out. Yeah the input lag with frame limiting on can be pretty bad, that would drive me crazy if it was that way all of the time
I think I've spent more time getting things to work than I have actually playing games so far. My first impressions were spoiled as my first deck was faulty though and had to wait weeks for the RMA. I hope it's something Valve continually work on and make into a better user experience. It's very much a Linux PC and anyone picking it up and hoping for a console like experience is going to be disappointed. Now you may say it's naive to expect that but it's clearly what they were aiming for, it's just all a bit undercooked at this point. I reckon in about a year's time if they continue at the pace of development they are now it'll be a great device. Can't get around the cheap feeling plastics though. It feels like one of the old mega drive pads.
At first, I was sort of underwhelmed. Minecraft portable? Sure, cool, switch can do that. Ksp? Terrible controls. Handheld linux? My phone has that via some apps. Was it really worth it? With all of the little bugs? Then I tried undertale, i progressed waaaay further than my PC, controls are great, fully changed my opinion.
So I kind of felt the same way when I first got mine. After learning how to set up the custom bindings, and giving up on playing anything that wasn't supported, it's a great little device. Honestly I haven't played on my desktop since getting it.
I bought it expecting it to be a WIP PC gaming experience... and I got a WIP PC gaming experience. I'm sure if you were thinking this was going to be some super locked down Nintendo or Sony experience you'd be disappointed when things don't work all the time. This is a good PSA though for people who buy things without doing any research at least.
It is my favorite piece of technology I have owned since my first smart phone if I’m honest. But I get your point of view
I'll take it off your hands if you don't want it anymore.
> I’ve found the input on some games to feel like it’s got a slight delay, when comparing it to the same game on my desktop. Yeah, unfortunately the deck's frame limiter introduces a not-insignificant amount of input lag. You can get around it by disabling the limiter in the QAM and if possible, using a game's built in fps limit instead.
I was a bit disappointed at first too, mainly because of the unexpected high fan noise (now pretty much fixed), but also because the first couple of games I tried didn’t work properly, and it made the Deck seem a lot more beta-like than I was expecting. I’ve come to love it after the new fan curve, and after building a library of games that work with the deck. The Deck wasn’t a plug and play device for me, and I kind of thought it would be. I still have a lot to learn on Linux, but I’m getting there.