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[BadBurger]

Ergonomics also includes things like weight, you honestly think that something that's nearly twice the weight of a switch is going to be even remotely comfortable for prolonged gaming. Also cooling as well, that thing better have amazing cooling so you're not holding a huge heater in front of your face as well. In winter that would be a nice perk to stay warm hehe but not in summer.

The Steam Deck is 1.47 pounds. I think I'll be alright

The heat we'll just have to wait and see. I've listened to two podcasts now with journalists who had long hands on sessions with it, and watched several videos of others doing the same, and no one even mentioned heat, so I am assuming it's not an issue.

 

[spons]

I've been out of PC gaming since 2013. I was anning to buy a small laptop or micro mini PC for office use.

For the price range of the 500GB Steam Deck how much more powerful laptop/minipc/micropc can I get now. If it's the same power for that price then I think I will keep my pre order if for that price I can get a much more powerful device then I may just not bother with this.

You want to dock it? The closest thing is an Intel NUC. And that will not be much faster if at all.

 

[KAL2006]

You want to dock it? The closest thing is an Intel NUC. And that will not be much faster if at all.

So to clarify. For the price of a Steam Deck 500GB you won't be able to get a laptop or PC as powerful? If that's the case isn't this a no brainer if you just lookih for any PC or laptop.

 

[spons]

So to clarify. For the price of a Steam Deck 500GB you won't be able to get a laptop or PC as powerful? If that's the case isn't this a no brainer if you just lookih for any PC or laptop.

I'm sure some laptops are comparable, but it's a different form factor. Also there are no AMD laptop CPUs with RDNA 2. If you take into account the entire package, the Deck is actually a unique product.
That said, if you even have 100 bucks more you can definitely get better.

 

[CrustyBritches]

I have a little htpc with a Ryzen 2400g(4c/8t, RX Vega 11 graphics) and I was curious what type of performance bump you can get at 800p using AMD FSR. I tested Riftbreaker, and at native 800p it had 45fps avg, while at FSR 'Quality' 800p it had 60fps avg. Made a quick video to compare what that looks like on a Steam Deck screen...

 

[spons]

Guess what. They updated my date from nothing to:

Your expected order availability: December 2021

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Following a long line of rumors and anticipation, Valve has finally unveiled the previously known Steam Pal - now confirmed to be named the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck is a handheld PC running on SteamOS, that claims to be capable of handling most of the games available on the Steam marketplace.

The Steam Deck's form factor makes it an obvious target for drawing comparisons to the Nintendo Switch, whose popularity is part of the reason why Valve aims to enter this space at all. However, it's a great deal more powerful than the Switch and should be able to stand on its own two feet against next-gen consoles - to an extent, of course.

 

[Speedwagon]

I wonder if it's possible to install SteamOS on a PS5 Digital Edition.

 

[Marty-McFly]

Guess what. They updated my date from nothing to:

Your expected order availability: December 2021

BOMBA

j/k glad you got your hands on one

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[CrustyBritches]

I noticed that they changed the estimated availability for the 512GB from 'Q3 2022' to 'Q2 2022'(I live on west coast in the US). My orders are still Q1, but I'm wishing on a star that at least 1 will show up before my son's birthday in mid January. He'd be stoked.

 

[dolabla]

I don't even game on PC (although I do have a few older games on Steam), but I decided I want this thing so just pre-ordered the 256gb. I noticed it didn't ask for a shipping address. Will that come in a separate email?

 

[IFireflyl]

Guess what. They updated my date from nothing to:

Your expected order availability: December 2021

How early did you get your order in? My email says my order completed at 12:10 PM (Central) and I'm sitting at a Q1 2022 ETA still. I was refreshing my page right at launch time and it still took me 10 minutes to check out due to the Steam checkout crashes.

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

I think I'll be alright

Spoiler

 

[Speedwagon]

How early did you get your order in? My email says my order completed at 12:10 PM (Central) and I'm sitting at a Q1 2022 ETA still. I was refreshing my page right at launch time and it still took me 10 minutes to check out due to the Steam checkout crashes.

Well it also depends on which model you ordered. My 64GB at 10:11 AM is slated for December 2021.

 

[Kupfer]

Guess what. They updated my date from nothing to:

Your expected order availability: December 2021

Oh you're right! That's new

Ordered the minute reservations went online and received the email confirmation 1 minute later.

 

[Masterbrew]

Put it in a backpack and have it drive and power a Valve VR headset via a single cable and we have smth like Quest but with more power and better library.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

My order (512gb) was at 10:05 and still shows as Q1. I am hoping I will still get one in Dec

 

[CrustyBritches]

I was curious about what loading games from SD/USB would be like on Steam Deck, but didn't want to mess with my only large capacity micro sd in the 2DSXL, so I tested an old USB 3.0 WD external hard drive that has ~60MB/s read speed and ~30MB/s write. Did Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, Fallout New Vegas, and Burnout Paradise. Each game usually has the initial load up, then after you start the game from the menu there's a secondary loading time. I loaded each game a first time to get any forced cinematics or auto-optimization out of the way. My micro sd card says 100MB/s, so this external drive is slower, it's just a test.

Game followed by initial load into game menu, then secondary load into gameplay. Lastly is the time from when you pick it in Steam/GP to playing the game, or immediacy/convenience:

Forza Horizon 4: 37secs, 14secs, 120secs | 3min52secs from GP to gameplay. Stutter-free gameplay.
Sea of Thieves: 11secs, 38secs | 1min34secs from GP to gameplay. Minor stutters on island, no stutter on sea.
Fallout New Vegas: 2secs, 6secs | 19secs from Steam to gameplay. Stutter-free gameplay.
Burnout Paradise: 14secs, 7secs | 59secs from Steam to gameplay. Stutter-free gameplay.

Loading times for 360/PS3-era games is trivial. Sea of Thieves is borderline, but acceptable. FH4 is just too long, even off a faster micro sd card, imo.

 

[BennyBlanco]

really smart gyro implementation

 

[ColdAfternoon]

Can someone explain to me how will the steam deck work in term of developer support, given that nobody is officially supporting proton?

Case in point, I tried Master Of Orion 3 the other day. The game is rated gold on proton. It works, but you need to change your screen resolution to 800x600 before playing.
So if I were to have bought the game on deck and installed after a few hours and noticed this issue (which for me is unacceptable), how would I even get a refund?

Furthermore what happens if a game runs fine with proton initially but you can't pass a certain point due to some error?

 

[Ultradsa]

The Gyro implementation seems like a pretty big deal since it looks like it will work in every game. In console land the gyro has to be coded in by the game developer so this is kinda nuts that it will work with just about every game automatically.

 

[Kupfer]

I'm curious to see if you can really master the gyro-aim and have it work quickly, well and intuitive. In fact, I found the gyro-aim feature in Killzone Mercenary and Uncharted Golden Abyss to be great, as you could really shoot much more accurately than with the Vita's joysticks.
Looking forward to the threads of some crybabies : "BAN GYROAIMING IN ONLINEGAMES", because a "new" way of input and accuracy must not be allowed. Everything must remain as it is

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Still super salty that, because of their store problems, I couldn't get my reservation to complete until almost an hour after they opened it up (I tried non-stop that whole time, on two different computers/accounts), so my due date is showing as Q2 2022.

 

[BigBooper]

So to clarify. For the price of a Steam Deck 500GB you won't be able to get a laptop or PC as powerful? If that's the case isn't this a no brainer if you just lookih for any PC or laptop.

If you look for sales, yes you can easily get a more powerful laptop for less. At least before the big chip shortage, when I bought mine. You could say that this includes a controller though, where a laptop doesn't. Also, it seems very well balanced in it's hardware, where if you shop around for a good deal on a laptop, you may need to buy more ram or replace the hdd with ssd.

 

[Kenpachii]

The Gyro implementation seems like a pretty big deal since it looks like it will work in every game. In console land the gyro has to be coded in by the game developer so this is kinda nuts that it will work with just about every game automatically.

I was pretty amazed by how smooth it looked, could make shooters a lot more valid.

 

[Bojanglez]

Can someone explain to me how will the steam deck work in term of developer support, given that nobody is officially supporting proton?

Case in point, I tried Master Of Orion 3 the other day. The game is rated gold on proton. It works, but you need to change your screen resolution to 800x600 before playing.
So if I were to have bought the game on deck and installed after a few hours and noticed this issue (which for me is unacceptable), how would I even get a refund?

Furthermore what happens if a game runs fine with proton initially but you can't pass a certain point due to some error?

Yes it is an interesting question, I mean in theory developers don't have to explicitly support proton, that is the point of it. But things like resolutions not being options in the game will be interesting, I wonder if at the Proton layer the resolution can be scaled if it is not available in the game.

Proton itself is not a silver bullet, particularly for mixed hardware profiles that exist in the wild. The fact that the Steam Deck is a fixed profile may mean that they can ensure Proton is optimised for the specific hardware they are using. This may be why they have boldly stated that almost everything they have tested it with just works.

In general I think Steam/Valve will be quite happy to refund if an issue specifically arises in a game on the Steam Deck, they are generally one of the better companies for refunds, but time will tell.

 

[myfriendtim]

Here is the full interview with Gabe from which they released clips.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

If you look for sales, yes you can easily get a more powerful laptop for less. At least before the big chip shortage, when I bought mine. You could say that this includes a controller though, where a laptop doesn't. Also, it seems very well balanced in it's hardware, where if you shop around for a good deal on a laptop, you may need to buy more ram or replace the hdd with ssd.

But then you can get an even more powerful desktop instead of a laptop.

The point is that the form factor matters, and that compared to existing equivalent handheld PCs, the Deck is the cheapest by far. If you just want the most power for the cost, then just buy a desktop.

 

[KAL2006]

Is the PS5 Remote Play app available for Linux. I just discovered it for my phone, ive seen alot of complaints about lag but for kenits works great. I can obviously but a Kishi and play on my phone but would be cool if I can play all my PS5 games on the Decks bigger screen.

 

[FStubbs]

So to clarify. For the price of a Steam Deck 500GB you won't be able to get a laptop or PC as powerful? If that's the case isn't this a no brainer if you just lookih for any PC or laptop.

I don't think a gaming laptop exists that could beat the 500GB steam deck at its price in CPU/GPU. I could be wrong through.

 

[KAL2006]

I don't think a gaming laptop exists that could beat the 500GB steam deck at its price in CPU/GPU. I could be wrong through.

Yeah I've tried finding one and can't seem to find any gaming laptop that's as powerful as 500GB Steam Deck at that price.

If anyone finds one can you link on this forum.

Also few days ago Samsung has announced a price increase for there chip manufacturers that will affect APU and GPUs so maybe Steam Deck will be the best bang for your buck for a small computer in a while.

 

[KAL2006]

Quick question guys will the Steam Deck be able to handle PS3/360 Generation games in 1080p/60fps. I'm planning to mainly game on the Steam Deck portably but would be nice to be able to connect it up on my 1080p dual screen work monitor setup and play games from that generation like Sonic Generations, Portal 2, Binary Domain, Bayonetta, Spec Ops, DmC and etc in 1080p/60fps. I'm talking about PC ports not emulators.

 

[Ultradsa]

Quick question guys will the Steam Deck be able to handle PS3/360 Generation games in 1080p/60fps. I'm planning to mainly game on the Steam Deck portably but would be nice to be able to connect it up on my 1080p dual screen work monitor setup and play games from that generation like Sonic Generations, Portal 2, Binary Domain, Bayonetta, Spec Ops, DmC and etc in 1080p/60fps. I'm talking about PC ports not emulators.

Without a doubt. The specs for external displays are "USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 Alt-mode support; up to 8K 6 60Hz or 4K @120Hz, USB 3.2 Gen 2".

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Waiting for this thing is torturous. I've got a few work trips coming up and I would love to have this in my hands for them.

 

[Speedwagon]

It says "After Q2 2022" for the availability if you preorder one now.

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

Still super salty that, because of their store problems, I couldn't get my reservation to complete until almost an hour after they opened it up (I tried non-stop that whole time, on two different computers/accounts), so my due date is showing as Q2 2022.

I didn't pre-order until late the next day and mine says the same, if it makes you feel any better.

 

[WitchHunter]

What happened to the Gabe Newell VR is da future prognosis? No moar VR? How come? What about the idiots who bought the Half Bonkers headset for 1000 bucks?

 

[Kenpachii]

What happened to the Gabe Newell VR is da future prognosis? No moar VR? How come? What about the idiots who bought the Half Bonkers headset for 1000 bucks?

Well he's busy with brainwaves and honestly thinks its the next big revolution. Dude is a bit of a day dreamer.

 

[Zannegan]

What happened to the Gabe Newell VR is da future prognosis? No moar VR? How come? What about the idiots who bought the Half Bonkers headset for 1000 bucks?

Do you honestly think that their investing in a hybrid form factor PC is an admission that premium VR has failed? Talk about grasping at straws.

 

[WitchHunter]

Do you honestly think that their investing in a hybrid form factor PC is an admission that premium VR has failed? Talk about grasping at straws.

Nah, you missed the point.

 

[WitchHunter]

Well he's busy with brainwaves and honestly thinks its the next big revolution. Dude is a bit of a day dreamer.

Nah, he is a stone cold, calculating human being ...

 

[CuteFaceJay]

I'm so hyped for it I ended up impulse purchasing a Valve index in anticipation. Can't wait for the Deck.

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[lachesis]

Since I have a ton of older games on my Steam library - lots of JRPGs to be specific - I'm rather intrigued now.

Edit: Looks like if I reserve now, delivery will be in Q2 22... oh well. I'll then just wait for any reviews first...

 

[Esppiral]

The only thing I really dislike about this device is the aspect ratio of the screen, what didn't they add a standard 16:9 screen instead of a 16:10? Games will look like ass...

 

[SScorpio]

The only thing I really dislike about this device is the aspect ratio of the screen, what didn't they add a standard 16:9 screen instead of a 16:10? Games will look like ass...

16:10 was around from before 16:9 was the standard. For all we know that's the cheapest screens they could get. Even before widescreens, computer monitors could be 4:3 or 5:4 so there was never a single standard. And many modern phones aren't 16:9 either.

16:9 content will look just fine, you'll have 40px on the top and bottom that are black. It will be way less noticeable than running a 21:9 movie on a 16:9 TV. Maybe we'll get some sort of OSD controls where you have a 16:9 game, and touch buttons across the top or bottom to access system functions. Game don't need to change their UI scaling, just give you a small vertical+ bump.

 

[Kenpachii]

The only thing I really dislike about this device is the aspect ratio of the screen, what didn't they add a standard 16:9 screen instead of a 16:10? Games will look like ass...

16:10 is superior aspect ratio. We should have never moved away from it.

More height is win.

 

[octiny]

16:10 is superior aspect ratio. We should have never moved away from it.

More height is win.

For game support? No.

Nearly all newish games are vertically fixed in aspect. They are hor+. So when playing on 16:10, you are losing natural fov all around as it's zooming in to fit the aspect ratio correctly.

Desktop work, most definitely can agree on that.

 

[spons]

It says "After Q2 2022" for the availability if you preorder one now.

Seems like people are moving up the queue if posts on reddit are to be believed, possibly because we're inching closer to people actually having to shell out half a grand.
Honestly if you're still on the fence just reserve a unit. If anything the temporary hype has died down, people are left to wonder whether they actually want one, and cancel their reservation in the coming two months. Shit you might even get Q1 2022 that way.