I was on the edge buying the thing and told myself that if I use it 50 hours it’s a reasonable purchase. Now I’m sporting closer to 200h within one year I could not be happier.
Did you have any (self made) goals when buying Steam Deck? Did you achieve those? Or did you buy it and now it’s collecting dust? I’m curious
My Steam Deck is my favorite tech purchase ever.
It beats every console, handheld, TV, smartphone, headphones, PC component… You name it. I’m happy with how much I use it, how well it works, how games run on it, how it makes me actually finish games instead of just collecting a gigantic backlog.
So I don’t have one yet, but it’s on my list and I’m curious: what is it about it that makes you actually finish games?
I’m in the same boat as you. For me, the ability to be with other people not in front of my computer, would be my driver.
Honestly I knew from having a switch that I really enjoyed a portable gaming device. My main gaming PC has been running Linux since ~2015 so I wasn’t worried about compatibility issues with it being a Linux device.
So it was a pretty safe bet that I would like it. It’s honestly exceeded my expectations though, I’ve barely played any games on my PC at all since getting it.
Basically all this.
It’s become my primary gaming medium, and to be honest, it earned it’s price from the amount of time I initially spent setting up shit, which was a blast. Easily 50 hours of setup and installations before I clocked 10~20 hours of gaming, and I loved every second.
I use it every day, so much so that my main gaming PC barely gets used. I’m a dad now and it has made gaming not just possible but easy to do.
Almost every day. Its my primary way to play games or sometimes ill watch something on it. Its a game changer when traveling too. I bought it to support Linux gaming in general and due to its open nature.
How have you found offline mode to work while traveling? I remember hearing early on it was a bear to use without wifi without extra steps.
It works fine. The only thing is you need to be online to go offline so a quick tip is to have your phone as a hotspot and you can quickly hotspot to the phone to swap modes. Or do it before leaving the house.
Also I tend to play a lot of emulated games when flying to get as much from the battery as possible.
Good stuff, that’s not terrible at all, just the tinyest bit of preplanning - the phone hotspot is an excellent idea.
literally every day. I don’t want to sequester myself in my room to play on my PC, and I don’t want to monopolize the living room TV and have a big desktop tower looking ugly in the entertainment center, so the deck essentially gave me PC gaming back. I debated whether to buy it for months and months, and I shouldn’t have. My goal was nothing more than to be able to play PC games and to unlock emulation on a small screen with real controllers. I just finished playthroughs of metal gear solid 2 and fallout new vegas, and I’m starting red dead redemption 2 today (if the damn download ever finishes). The only thing I’d caution a new purchaser about is springing for the big hard drive and/or being willing to install an aftermarket one. SD cards seems like a reasonable sol’n but reports are coming in that the deck is hard on them because it does a lot of writing to the card, and that an SSD is a worthwhile investment.
Yours and my experiences are remarkably similar.
When I first got it, as any new toy, I used it non stop. I recently moved and resetup my office and mainly game on my desktop. Though on vacation playing steam deck in bed or before we went out in the morning was really nice. I have no regrets buying it even if I’m not using it regularly.
I’ve barely used mine. I just didn’t think through what use case I’d have for it and bought it since it was cool. I don’t travel much and I usually only want to game when I’m home anyway, where I use my main gaming rig. I thought I would use the deck in bed, but I find that it’s not as enticing as I thought it would be
been meaning try and sell it while it’s still got some value tbh, it’s basically brand new even though I’ve had it for nearly a year
I could have written this word for word. Haven’t quite gotten to thinking about selling mine, but not really sure why I should keep it either. I thought it would be a good way to motivate me to play older and indie games, but I’ve been staying busy with AAA games on my main rig.
edit to add: it has gotten me into playing Hades every now and then so it worked for that at least.
Why didn’t the gaming in bedpan out? I have the same situation as you except I use it to game for 20 min to maybe an hour max while I’m chilling in bed before sleep
I’ve found some stands to really help that to be comfortable, mainly looking into “belly stands”
Maybe try making it an emulation machine? I use mine for both normal PC gaming and emulation while I’m working out of town.
Well, mine has 100% restored PC gaming which abandoned about 10 years ago, and has improved the experience by light years. At home, I use the deck in my living room and family room docked, and anywhere else as a handheld (pooping has changed forever).
At work, I use it an lunch breaks, and during boring meetings I don’t need ta focus much on.
The library of games available would be unthinkable to me as a kid. Most modern PC games, and everything prior can be played either natively, or via emulation.
I also call mine a Gabe-Boy. lol
If you’re on the fence, GET IT.
Nothing better than loading it full of roms and playing the classics while my partner is playing a game or watching TV. I haven’t done anything too crazy with it but playing OpenRCT2 from the couch in 2023 is amazing.
absolutely still loving it. unlike other gear it is always within reach.
grumpy day? quick terror of hemasaurus on the couch.
heading off to the family? take a steam deck and not a fucking notebook.
stay at a hotel with wifi but no free sportstv? usbc hub+hdmi+strikeout.ws
dude i have bought so many stupid gadgets (e.g. sony mylo) but the steam deck aint one of them.
I’m a sucker for indie games.
Since I’ve bought the Deck, I play Hunt Showdown on PC. Every other game is on the Deck, probably around 30 hours a month on the deck.
This is since februari, so already got my moneys worth.
I’ve got a 2500$ laptop with a 3080m and spend way more time on my deck playing indie titles.
Pretty much daily.
I work from home, and my work computer and personal rig share a desk - by the end of the work day, sitting in the same chair at the same desk to stare at another screen started feeling like a chore and I had all but quit gaming.
The Deck has changed that. Not only am I loving gaming again, but I’ve found myself playing genres I never would have on my PC (things like Vampire Survivors just feel great on it, but I had no interest in them on my PC)
I have had mine since early February and I still prefer it over gaming on my main rig. I bought it with me on my 3 week bike trip through all of Sweden even though it weighs more than my tent. I short, it’s one of my favorite buys of the decade.
I use it mostly docked and play on my TV. I know it is not the primary purpose, but playing PC games on the couch on a big TV is just great.
I started using it a lot more once I got the dock. Before I wasn’t sure if it was the right purchase, because I didn’t use it as much as I would like to.
Of course sometimes it comes with me when I am traveling.
Basically I am using it the same way as my Switch and in the end it was really worth it. I got one with the second batch I believe and I used it many hundredths of hours so far.
Can’t that be done with a steam link though?
Not really. You need another PC running for it and it didn’t really work last time I tested it with Linux. Even when it worked from a Windows machine there were regularly really bad picture artifacts.
Also is the Steam Link even sold anymore?
Anyway, using the Deck is a simple plug and play solution.
Steam Link has been rolled out into software that works of a variety of devices, including phones.
That being said, Moonlight/Sunshine performs better if you’re willing to put in the work to get it set up
Also is the Steam Link even sold anymore?
I believe it was retired several years ago, in favor of software solutions.
Did you go with the official dock?
Yes, I wanted it to just work and it does so without any major problems for the most part. I wish there was an option for remote wakeup with controllers though (keyboard or WoL works though).
I use my main PC more often, but I still think my Steam Deck is worth it. I use it every once in a while I’m over at my parents’ babysitting their dog when they go out. And I’ll bring it out when I take public transit. I just enjoy having the option of using it where ever I go.
