Deck is great. Beat all ffxiv on it. But then wanted to play dragon quest x online. And that's window only atm... So yea i play meha backlog but bummed no dqx
The deck itself is fine, what makes it really important is actually making linux a viable gaming platform of the future, and breaking the windows stranglehold. No other company could have done that.
I had to RMA my Steam Deck back in April due to a volume bug. The thing was, my warranty expired 2 months prior. Money was tight, so I wasn’t sure if I should even contact customer support, but I contacted them anyways. They said, “We see that you’re outside the warranty period, but as a customer service gesture, we will send you a replacement”. I couldn’t believe it. They sent me a brand new unit free of charge! (all I had to do was ship my old one - they provided a shipping label too) Not only was it a brand new unit, but the unit they sent me was the refresh! Meaning that it had the new heat shield, better shell, better buttons, etc. I bought mine in Feb 2023, so I had the older model with the aluminum shield. Valve are the freaking BEST when it comes to customer service! Which other company would have done that?
I travel for work and work 12 hour days regularly for 10+ days at a time. The Steam Deck is amazing for indies and even triple a titles. Running through Witcher 3 at decent settings again. Such a small screen looks great even at medium and low.
This video is heavily based on my opinion on the device. In fact, I say in the video that if you prefer the competition, then that's great for you! I just don't, Windows on a device like this just doesn't work for me. As I also say in the video, I am aware that the Steam Deck is now probably one of the least powerful PC handhelds on the market. The hardware isn't the only thing that makes this device what it is. The operating system it uses as well as how easy it is to repair makes this the best device for me and tons of other people. The safety of Valve having made this device as well as their technical support also make this a very easy device to use. It ain't all just about the hardware
But windows, on a handheld... The main reason I like Steam OS is because I hate navigating windows. I'll just turn my PC on at that point. Windows is way more user friendly, but with a keyboard and mouse. And I get paranoid enough bringing a $400 handheld to work for during lunch sometimes.
I'm curious in how you got Astral Chain running twice as good on the deck when the lenovo legion go is significantly more powerful than the deck and even that doesnt run it better than switch
I got a 60 fps patch as well as a fix for the cutscenes being sped up. Without that, it'll run at the stock 30 no matter the hardware being used. If you did all of that, however, if have to say that Steam OS definitely helps in this area. It's so lightweight compared to Windows, which definitely allows for a bit more hardware legroom
I just hate that's it's out of the my price range at the moment, 😭 Plan on picking me up one for my birthday next February. I've heard nothing but amazing things about the steam
@@MathewWeaver73 you absolutely could if you installed Windows on it. That's how I used to play CoD portably a year or so ago. You have to understand that people aren't buying this device for CoD. I wouldn't even recommend playing it on the more powerful competition. CoD is just not one of those games really suited to a handheld. If you do buy one for CoD then great! The Deck and other handhelds are just not really meant for more competitive games as they will always lack power and usability over a home console or a desktop PC
I heard that Sexy Red and Bad Bunny are going to be operators in COD 6! So excited! 😮 Na, fuck that wokefest gambler shooter. Much rather play a real FPS like CS or indie offerings like "ready or not."
@GrenadeCeption Also how easy it is to use Game pass on it. I know you can get windows on the deck but I'm a PS5/Series X guy, so not that savvy with a lot of the PC stuff.
@@artvandelayRFC That is very true. Some things that don't work straight out of the box do require some strange and complicated workarounds. The Legion GO is still a fantastic device if you are used to Windows so if that works for you then thats great!
When I was younger I used to be a power user. A specs junkie. I needed the most powerful, the latest and greatest no matter the cost. As an adult with a job and other obligations, I appreciate compromising raw power for user experience and accessibility. From android to iOS and choosing the steam deck, ostensibly the most underpowered of the mainstream PC handhelds. But what it lacks in specs it more than makes up for in ease of use. It gets out of its way and lets me play my library; that’s what’s most important to me. Certainly though, if you want the best graphical fidelity or performance, look elsewhere.
The accessibility is the absolute best thing about this device. Something that might seem daunting to use with the amount of features it offers but is actually really simple once you use it. Somehow, that ease of use really just makes me forget about the fact that it's one of the least powerful handhelds on the market
decades ago the generational jumps used to be much larger, and power was always scarce - now that the improvements are small being humble is much less restricting
That's definitely where it excels. As someone who also got theirs when it became available, it's still doing exactly what I want it to do the way I want to do it. Valve have already said that they're in it for the long haul and so I bet it'll continue doing so for a few years yet!
Sti ll watching this. You made a long video lol. Windows on steam deck isn't the same as windows on Rog Ally and with Bazzite you can have steam OS experience on Rog but you lose access to half your library. The best option is to have both if you can. Imo. But you did make me break out my Steam deck and play Rog Ally. Ooh he's got his gun out now.
I'd never actually heard of Bazzite before I made this video, I might give it a look! I'm glad I got you to take another look at the Steam Deck. As you say in one of your other comments, neither device is perfect, and they excel at different things. I would say in some cases, the Ally is actually better but can be a bit more difficult to use over something as simple as Steam OS. The Deck is fantastic for people to just pick up and play without many or even any alterations other than in-game settings
Why don't I use mine then I have a 2 terabyte one and mostly use my 2 terabyte ROG Ally for gaming or my Quest 3. The steam deck just gets switched on when I have to remember how to use the thing when my nephew has problems with my 2nd steam deck I gifted to him for his birthday. Nah Rog Ally is the king. Steam deck struggles to run anything high end. Fact
That's fair enough. If the Ally works better for you, then that's great! It's a great device at doing what it does, and people definitely prefer windows on a device of this form factor. I will argue the fact that the Steam Deck can't run anything high-end. My Steam Deck has run things like RDR 2, Cyberpunk and Death Stranding, etc, at a steady 45-50 fps with them sometimes being able to reach 60 fps after adjusting the settings. Also, with FSR 3 Frame Generation being made available in more and more games, these devices can run these high-end games a lot easier, especially now that it's available in Cyberpunk. Easy 60 fps on some higher settings
@@GrenadeCeption yeah can run that but not starfield shattered space and a lot of other games least at playable frame rates. I forget the ones I tried that performed badly but there are a few. It is a good device don't get me wrong. I just like the extra power in the Rog and with my 2 power banks battery life is good. It's all the games that steam deck can't play. I am always having to tell my nephew sorry mate but that one isn't supported and it makes me feel kinda shitty tbh. I give him a device and he can't play his games one after the other. I tell him stick to the green ticks. But ten year olds ain't going to remember that lol.
@@GrenadeCeption I just shared my Library with him in the end lol. He has 100s of games now and I went and took out all the ones that aren't supported or take a lot of tinkering so he has plenty to play now. 😀
@@GrenadeCeption haven't tried cyberpunk since FSR3 was added. But that is a good point actually hopefully things get better. It didn't really help starfield on the steam deck though did it. Saying that.
I'm glad you're finding that the LCD is great for you! It's still an amazing device, and the fact that it can be far cheaper means the price to performance ratio is a lot better than the OLED in some circumstances
@@GrenadeCeption honestly I almost buckled for the beautiful OLED screen but my 512 lcd works so well for the games I enjoy there was no need. I def will update to a SD2 or a powerful revision if they do one.. yes to you point from a price ratio just incredible
@nickk3403 I agree with you for the LCD. It works so unbelievably well in the games that play on it. If it was so much of a worthwhile upgrade, then I think you'd see waaay more people jump ship. There are plenty of things you can do with your LCD to make it worth it. There's even another Decky Loader plugin that can increase colour vibrance a little bit. It's hardly noticeable after a little while of play, but it's a great addition if you want to maximise that LCD screen. It's called Vibrant Deck, if I remember correctly. It should allow you to customise colour correction per game, which is nice for an LCD screen
Absolutely love this device. The 1 TB Deck OLED has been my primary gaming device since March, when my husband got it for me as a birthday gift. It's honestly shocking to me how this tiny thing can run some games better than my gaming laptop which cost twice as much. The only times I game on my laptop these days are to check something I got on Epic or that the Deck can't handle at all, like Dragon's Dogma 2. Otherwise, I play everything on the Deck whereas I just have my laptop on to browse the web, google some information I might need about a game, and browse Steam's storefront, which is a bit of a nightmare to navigate on the Deck. Also, thanks for the plugin tips! I've seen some of those when browsing Decky Loader, but didn't give them much thought. Well, I installed Audio Loader and I think that was the last thing I needed to make the Deck feel truly mine. I definitely recommend anyone who gets a Deck to fiddle around with CSS Loader until they can make Steam OS uniquely theirs. It's so satisfying!
Your husband clearly has amazing taste in gifts! I'm glad I could help with making your Steam Deck personalisation experience better though. As I say, maximising your deck in any way, whether it be personalising it or getting the best performance profile for you, can make it all feel so much more worth it! The power this device has is amazing and can make playing anything on it feel new and fun!
I picked up my steam deck a year and a half ago and I have put many of hours into it. Play through the entirety of Red Dead Redemption 2, elden ring, Street fighter 6, cyberpunk 2077, add breath of the wild. I really love steamos if there weren't for just a tiny selection of applications that are locked to Windows I would ditch it entirely. I built myself a PC a little under a year ago, using the 7900 XT, I installed an operating system called Bazzite, which is a recreation of steamos that can run on any basic PC with an AMD GPU. Anyone that says that couch gaming isn't possible on pc, I'll gladly show them with mine can do. You can even steam link your deck to the main PC and use it as a controller
I read todays article by forbes, "deck wont survive 2025 without serius upgrade", its somewhere true but i love this machine, i returned ally just after using 2 days, performance of z1 extreme is good but pathetic battery life. Unrefined haste hardware.
Honestly an upgrade at this point is pretty pointless. Valve themselves said that they wont be releasing another until they can get a major boost in battery and performance, while also keeping it affordable.
It really is such a magnificent little device for portable gaming. I play almost everything I used to play on my Switch on this and its so much better. especially when its portable
As a busy father that works full time , sitting at my PC feels very unappealing these days , going to bed an hour early with my steam deck is my favourite thing to do in the evening now .lol
@@ruggerprogavlar8866 preaching to the choir brother enjoy after a long day some gaming portable. Sitting on the chair on the pc seems too much effort lol
What about the bigger fan and better thermals on the OLED? Would that change your opinion about purchasing a LCD vs. OLED? Also, sorry I didn't understand, is OLED more sensible if one is to mainly play less straining games on the Deck?
Honestly, I didn't realise that the OLED had any adjustments or improvements to the thermals in any capacity. I feel like I would've heard huge things about it if the differences were major. Still though, the thermals aren't really gonna be overly better over the LCD model. They are both gonna run very hot in almost all scenarios if you are running the max power draw. I still personally wouldn't upgrade if it had better thermals as there are things I can do with the LCD model that allow it to run slightly cooler such as changing the thermal pads on the APU etc. I would personally say that the OLED is better for the less straining games as that is where the extra 30hz is gonna make a huge difference. Also with the art styles some of these less demanding games have, the OLED is really going to make colours pop and make everything seem way more vivid to look at. I can't speak for everyone but I personally think that the OLED isn't going to be great in the more modern and intensive titles. The performance you are going to get in more demanding titles means you are going to have to lower settings if you want to take advantage of the higher refresh rate, at which point the games are going to look much worse and then not take full advantage of the OLED screen. Your best bet if you want to truly take advantage of the new hardware is to play games which can comfortably perform at 60fps or over but at the end of the day, it is all down to personal preference. I hope this helps!
Well if u use boosteroid install it with edge browser. And set it to 900p on docked + add there fsr to expand the picture to full. You can get all the top games with 60 fps full graphics docked on a 4 k TV. I think the image in real time is around 1440p. You can also get the amazing steam impute wit the stupid dualsense edge controller there is no better console experience. Soon the capture feature will come to stable I will make some videos.
Absolutely I'd agree with that. There are so many fantastic games that run amazingly on it. Even going back and playing some things that I once played on a desktop just felt so much better on the Steam Deck with its unique form factor
The Steamdeck's resolution is turned down, and some games make it obvious how washed out the graphics can be. I'm happy Steam made Linux a more viable gaming platform, proton is amazing. But the Linux experience on the handheld was rough for me. It wasn't difficult to overwhelm the low clock speed ram in desktop mode. I learned to enjoy Linux more going through the trials and tribulations of distro hopping. The reality is that most of the components inside are throttled in some way to control how bad battery life can be, and it's still pretty bad. It's truly the nintendo Switch of PC gaming by optimizing the games to the limits of the hardware.
You do make some valid points. As I say, It isn't perfect in many ways but I suppose like the Switch, it came along at such a perfect time that people just see it as an amazing device despite its glaring shortcomings
Having used both a Deck and Ally X, the individual use-case is extremely important. I absolutely hate the Ally X and Windows handhelds. Sure it’s more powerful and would suffice as a desktop replacement for most users, but the user experience is maddening with Armory Crate and Steam constantly fighting for Overlay and Controller input control. I have a desktop built for gaming, when I use a mobile / portable device, it is meant to be a dedicated mobile device with a mobile UI, regardless of whether it’s docked to my TV so I can step away from my desk, or in handheld mode. The Steam Deck does this, supports wake from wireless controller, and supports suspending games quickly so I can resume play later - making it equivalent to using a typical console, albeit with slightly worse graphics. The Ally doesn’t support ANY of these, and neither device is comfortable to use handheld long-term. The beauty in the Deck is how simple it is to use, the hardest thing to do is check protonDB and swap between proton versions. On the Ally, plugging my laptop into my TV is easier and more reliable than plugging in the Ally.
Great video! Your justification for recommending the lcd over the oled is definitely cope (jk). It's amazing how low cost steam decks can be had for and I agree that windows on a handheld is an abomination.
10:32 I would that these new special models feel more like the virus went TOO out of control to be terrifying tbh. I feel like the fact that they are so deformed removes the sense that they were once human. there's barely any clothes remaining on any of them (except surprisingly the tank), to the point where it just feels like you're fighting animals monsters or aliens rather than former fellow humans, sort of taking away the body horror from some of the specials.
Angela is present in Up Your Arsenal, attending Clank's new movie. The now-not-mutated protopet is also there. Moreover, Angela is referenced in Rift Apart by Rivet, and I think her name is spelled out in A Crack In Time in the Lombax language.
I had a where u on 9/11 moment when you said how fast Rivet rule 34 was created within the hour the first teaser trailer for rift apart dropped back in 2020.
I was kinda expecting a segment at the end where you do a chapter showcase with no commentary just to see every mod and add-on harmonize as one. if it is good as it seems. I was wanting to hear the ambiance and environment as well
