Valve Steam Deck OLED
512GB
dbrand Killswitch case
background
first handheld for Steam games was the ROG Ally
enjoyed it very much
changed the battery to a larger one
eventually got the ROG Ally X Z1 Extreme
again, very much enjoyed it
got the dbrand Killswitch for it
made it feel better
picked up the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus
third time is the charm, loved it
the problem with all of these was the hand ergonomics
eventually a more annoying problem emerged
Windows sucks on portables
keyboard and mouse are the bane of my existence on them
retired the first ROG Ally
must have gotten a bad battery because it was never staying charged
MSI Claw
sold it
ROG Ally X Z1 Extreme
kept it, but was using it less and less
always saw the Steam Deck, but it never really interested me because the ergonomics didn't look good, and the specs seemed weaker
randomly saw the Steam Deck on sale on eBay, so i picked one up
love at first sight really
steam deck thoughts
bought on eBay
came with a Killswitch case too
feeling
ergonomics
surprisingly good
worried that it would be too wide
triggers
fine
trackpads
haptics are nice
very useful
buttons
tactile for me
l1/r1
really good
i enjoy the click
overall
with my hands it is a really good fit
would suggest that people try and hold one before buying
hopefully you have a friend that has one, so you can use it for a day or two
software
SteamOS
awesome
ease of use
Steam Input
just like on Windows, it is awesome
ease of use to change layouts
games
most of the games i play are playable on SteamOS
Bazzite is on my main desktop, living room pc, and i have a Steam Machine
though for others it is all about the games you play
genres i like to play on portables
jrpgs
turnbased
roguelites
i have not had to use any custom boot settings yet, or do any fiddling
games that you expect to work, do work
roguelikes are annoying for me
only have tried CoQ and PoA
mindset
the one thing that i would say if you are interested in a Steam Deck is this
if you care about numbers, as in fps
turn it off, and it will be a much better experience
if there is an obsession to chase numbers for some reason, then you will be disappointed
if you play games that are not well optimized, then you will be disappointed
this one mindset has improved my Steam Deck experience and Steam Machine experience
it has also increased my enjoyment of games on desktops too