Which Steam Deck should I get?
Right. Here I am, with a 13 year old account and 12k games - and they dare to tell me this! xD
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Few weeks ago. But doesn't matter. The rule is you have to have made a purchase before June 30th. So even if that was years ago, you should still be eligible.
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I wonder what they mean by in good standing...
Your Steam account must be in a valid country. Additionally for the first 48 hours of reservation availability your account must be in good standing, and have made a purchase on Steam prior to June 2021.
Or is it just a bug
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Hm, good question. I guess good standing just means you have no negative balance or anything like that. I doubt they mean stuff like community bans.
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As suspected, it was just a hiccup due to server overload. After a few minutes of reloading the page I was able to get my reservation through. :)
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4eur left from my wallet. and then steam crash :D 512 gb version
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i ve read about index was not possible to buy with steam money (due to regional pricing) and so maybe deck is too?!
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Thanks to everyone who posted in a timely manner, you've given me a lot of perspective before the preorder and fair warning NOT to go with the lowest-end $399 model. I have incorporated this into my outlook and have preordered ($5 down at the moment) that 64GB model, but thanks to everyone here I have tempered my expectations and am going into it from a point moreso of curiosity since this device is almost exactly what I wanted, so if it is not serviceable for my needs why would they even have bothered to make one at this price point (marketing ploy?).
Thank you to everyone who commented and for being a great community, and congrats on everyone else who got their preorders too!!
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On one hand, 64GB seems like it wouldn’t be enough, especially as there are several games that take up more space. On the other hand, if you have a primary desktop, you can install the bigger games there and use steamlink to play on the steam deck. I’ve been doing that for a while, because my laptop is old and has limited storage, while the desktop was built last year and therefore has much greater processing power (not to mention larger storage.
For most games that should work perfectly fine, but there might be a handful where the latency might be problematic (online shooters come to mind; personally I’m not good enough for it to make a difference. Fighting games might be in the same boat, but robust rollback can adjust for that)
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Or get a sd as external space, they are relatively cheap.
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Not trying to double post on doctorofjournalism's "post" about this but I wanted to have an actual discussion instead of just a hand full of words.
Just want to point out that I purposely do so with things of this sort. I think it's disingenuous for product announcement to have any bias, opinion, or any other ancillary remarks from the OP. You'll also notice that I haven't (and won't) participate in the thread beyond the original post.
I find it's best for the community to drive the discussion.
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That's totally fine, just giving credit to your post so it doesn't seem like I'm doing the same thing.
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I admit, it seems like a cool gadget (broad variety of games, and access to the many huge sales that PC games get), but this is the first generation of the device, so not only will it be pricey, it might have a few unseen issues that only crop up after live worldwide usage. Plus some of the details aren't quite there yet, like the exact speeds of the storage, which may make it better to just use a big SDcard for most usage. The raw specs are a good guide for what to expect, but sometimes how they're implemented can reveal unexpected bottlenecks.
In exchange for the better pricing of games and flexibility of the device, we pay for that with a lot of the bigger titles coming with far bigger space requirements. It'll be cool alright, but it'll also be a bit frustrating to not be able to have several of the bigger games ready at one time. Probably amazing for smaller titles though. Its also hard to gauge how big a games space requirements will be, as it varies so much. I suppose it also depends on what you plan on playing. I'd be more about the more arcadey stuff, but if you're happy running a bigger story-related title then the space requirements will be more of a sticking point. Running games from an SD-card is fine, though cards are far more prone to spontaneous failure than traditional HDDs and SSDs. So long as the save files and configs are stored on the device and not the card then a failure shouldn't mean lost progress. Also way less of an issue if you have a strong internet connection to get fresh installs whenever you want to mix things up, though downloading wirelessly will burn through battery quicker so you might want it on charge whenever you do that. My internet connections have generally been bad or middling, so installing new games that are more than 10gb is usually a little event to itself.
If you can stomach the wait, I'd honestly wait for a second generation device, or someone selling theirs on ebay after finding they aren't as interested in it as they thought they were (early discount essentially, at cost of wobbly warranty issues). Though on the flipside if you're willing and able to fork out for a new console, then perhaps this is all peanuts compared to your current budget allowance. I don't have a lot of spare cash so I'm usually more patient.
Good luck resisting the impulse buys though ;D
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I'm totally the type to wait, for all the reasons you mention and more, waiting is my go-to. I've always been the one to pick up someone else's used stuff off craigslist or ebay, but for the firs time every I might actually be the one to be the seller!! (jk I'll probably keep this forever even if it does suck).
I preordered the lowest model for the $5 down, so depending on this when the second gen comes out I might go for a better one then, but for now, interesting new toy.
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I am really worried about the chip problem, i think if one waits too long with a preorder, they can easilly wait 2 years and maybe the chip problem can't be solved anytime soon (and then it still has to pick up the slack).
Because it's not just computers, it's cars too and what not, it's a lot of things that got a chip these days.
Why maybe even a handful will ever get to enjoy the ps5.
My preorder got stuck in payment limbo (trying to pay with steam wallet...), but eventually got through. :p Going for the expensive one, probably combined with a 512gb sd card for space overkill.
I don't got a superb amount of steam friends, but i noticed about 10 in my timeline that ordered one, i am guessing there really is a big demand.
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I'm the only one on my timeline that has that post.... good for you on the top tier model!!! I hope it's great!!
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Well, its been a rough few years, it won't hurt to treat yourself this one time and be able to lounge while you play something ;)
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I would not pre-order this at all. Fancy introductory sites and videos notwithstanding, I wouldn't consider pre-ordering any hardware from Valve at all. Ever.
Just for a second; Put aside the fact that I am a pissy old man that hate new technology, and just hear me out.
In my eyes, when it comes to hardware, Valves approach doesn't work at all. They come up with a largely decent idea, then they produce a testosterone filled ''early access'' model that they portray as the future, only when it's finally produced, it largely sucks.
How many have and frequently use Steam Link? Is it still being updated, new versions produced?
How many have and frequently use Steam OS machines? Is it still being updated, new versions produced?
How many have and frequently use Steam Controllers? Is it still being updated, new versions produced?
They have great ideas (don't get me wrong, the idea of the Steam Deck is awesome!) but they take too long time too produce anything useful, and then when it doesn't match expected sales they tend to drop it like a hot rock. No support, no next gen iteration, no follow up. The only thing they have followed up on somewhat properly is their VR set. Their prohibitively expensive VR set, for which most of us there's only a few games anyone of us would want to actively play for any period of time, making it all a fun, but ultimately futile exercise in spending.
I would wait for reviews. No matter how hard I would want think this would fit me perfectly; I would wait for reviews. Possibly even the next gen Deck, if the reviews for the first one isn't up to par.
Also consider this; What games do you like to play on your PC? If you only play single player games that aren't too ''correct click'' intensive, then I believe a properly produced Steam Deck will be awesome. For the more ''correct click'' intensive games.... Well, you try to use an untried controller design in any fast FPS or MOBA game against any decent player using keyboard and mouse... See what I mean? The Deck is not for all games in your library even though it is advertised as such, they are really only for playing the type of games that would fit a Deck.
And all that is if you look beyond the fact that I'm a pissy old man that hate change. If you don't, well then I'm truly sorry you've read this far, and I hope you enjoy your Deck. This piss-ant of a boring old man will wait for reviews.;-)
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I did read it all of course, thank you! I have always been a codger myself even in my teens, so I also am hesitant. The steam controller is actually really good it's just they didn't tell people "Hey, you gotta use the gyroscope!" so no wonder it felt awful, and from the videos the Deck has the exact same mechanics so hopefully they get the messaging better this time.... I am hoping they can break their flop streak, but at least the Deck is a handheld PC, they made that clear it's not tethered to Valve's support, so at the bare minimum you have that.
I just went through my library and scraped together 41 unplayed games that I would prefer to play on the Deck, and indeed they single player small slow-paced games, but that's a couple hundred hours of potential playtime on those alone.
Valve just has a way with producing hardware for the smallest of small markets, like a handheld PC which is super niche, and then not anticipating the low demand? Idk but I hope they have learned from Index and can at least make this a moderate success.
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Remember Steam Link?
Remember Steam controller?
Remember Steam Box?
Exactly.
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Steam Controller I will say was a good product, they just dropped the ball one too many times in messaging and didn't tell people how to use the specific tech they were trying to push and be innovative, but it really can be a good controller but only for certain people who are looking for that style.
Link and Box yeah, flop flop, but a counterpoint: Valve Index? Not an objective flop, so there's my hope in that Valve can do something besides stick its face straight into the mud when it comes to hardware.
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I respectfully disagree. Steam Link has it's niche, connect it with ethernet cable and it works flawlessly. So much fun with my buddies in Broforce.
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Maybe they weren't sales successes, but they're all great products and I bet the vast majority of people who bought one of those are still using it to this day. Being a flop doesn't mean the people who bought the product got a bad deal or a bad product.
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The only reason why I would buy this would be to play indies not available on Android on the go, with the plus that it can sync with my Steam save file. Like Darkest Dungeon, how is it that it was never ported to Android?, that game is perfect for mobiles devices.
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Yeah that’s specifically my interest, access to my already-established steam library of small games
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i prefer the middle one, that's basically what i'm getting if i could even buy it in the first place lol
i'm not even in the demographic sale, sigh
although i did say that, but i can wait
btw i wonder if i could connect to my external drive, i had 14TB currently just sitting on my desk
it's for backup, but why not?
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Pro-tip on how to save some money:
Don't use "real" money to buy the Steam Deck. Rather buy some TF2/CS:GO/etc. skins on some (legit) site and then sell those on the steam market and then buy it with steam wallet.
Like this, you can save around 20%+.
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How do you know you'll be able to complete your order with Steam wallet when it's available?
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Because you can use steam wallet to buy other steam hardware (Valve index, for example).
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some People claimed, they got flagged as traider after gifting steam gifts... i wonder if you can get flagged here as well and if it will still be possible to buy steam hardware with it.
how many keys did you sold on steam?
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some People claimed, they got flagged as traider after gifting steam gifts... i wonder if you can get flagged here as well and if it will still be possible to buy steam hardware with it.
Sorry, but I don't understand what do you mean.
how many keys did you sold on steam?
What keys?
Did you reply to a wrong comment?
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you told about the thing with reselling keys, right? how much experiance do you have with it?
and i wonder if you could get flagged as traider on steam...
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All right, I see.
1) I didn't say reselling keys, but skins. Reselling keys would take a lot of time because they aren't worth much (but you can buy a skin, which costs just as much as the Steam Deck).
2) I don't have almost any experience with it because, by this, you get more money, but the money is stuck in your steam wallet, so there are not many reasons to do it unless you want to buy something on steam (or you could try making a profit on the steam market, but that takes a lot of time).
Otherwise, I have some experience with trading, but I mainly trade steam keys (games) and steam items (My SteamTrades profile).
3) I don't see why you should be flagged as a trader. Steam doesn't care about stuff like that unless it results in them losing money or somehow negatively impacts other users.
If you know a person, who "was flagged as a trader", feel free to link his profile and I will look into it.
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If the price tag isn't an issue then definitely go with the top option. For $120 more than the middle tier you get double the storage and it's faster than the other version and you get anti glare glass. The anti glare glass is something you really want with a handheld. These 2 features alone seem worth the $120.
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I'm late to the party, but I thought about the same question since the announcement, and decided that the 64GB version is good enough. Since I don't know how much I'll really use the device, I'd rather not splurge on a higher end model. Although 64GB doesn't seem like much, it's enough to install any game I own, and possibly more than one at a time. The eMMC is also slower, but I imagine that it won't make loading intolerable (considering the Hardware Unboxed investigation into loading speed, which found a sub-500MB/s SATA SSD is only a little slower than a 5000MB/s NVMe drive). Valve also told IGN that it worked on optimising loading speeds from SD, so it will be interesting to see how that works out. If speed from SD is okay, then adding a 256GB microSD is quite cheap.
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Following up on my previous post, I did a small test on my Acer Predator Helios 500. I installed Tomb Raider (2013) to the internal NVMe drive, and measured how long it takes to continue a game (I was very early in the game). It took 9 seconds. I then used Steam to move the game to a USB stick with about 100 MB/s sequential read speed. Still took 9 seconds. I then moved it to a USB HDD (with a similar read speed) and loading took 10 seconds.
My conclusion is that at least for this game and this load there's no meaningful difference in performance between drives. I imagine that there are quite a few other games where performance will be similar between NVMe, eMMC and microSD. Short of it, I will probably be just as happy with the loading speed on the $399 version as I'll be with the $529 or $649 versions.
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Thanks for actually testing, that gives me some peace of mind! I’m in the same boat where I think the 64 GB model will fit my needs, and I might not even need an SD expansion but it is very nice to have the option if I decide I want to play something big on it.
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Someone told me on Reddit that for Shadow of the Tomb Raider there will be a larger difference in times, and I guess that's true for more games, but at least for older games I think that the 64GB version will be enough.
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Sounds like you'd be fine with the base model. If you're wanting to play a few heavy hitters, then splurge for the 256GB and slightly faster memory.
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I totally want to because that mid model is definitely the best value, and as you can see by the poll results is the most popular overall, but I think it would end up competing with my PC as a place to play games in general instead of being a supplement.
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Yea, it's really a nice value for the hardware. I already have a Switch and play with it docked 90% of the time. Just don't do the handheld much, so I'll be passing on this.
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I would wait tbh. Seems like when they release something for the first time they release a better version months later.
Do what you will though, it's convenient taking your steam games everywhere.
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Note that:
The cheapest version will START to be shipped in Q1 2022 - so more than 6 months from now.
And the more expensive version, will START shipping in Q3 2022 - so more than 1 year from now.
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That's only if you reserve one now. Those reserved within the first 10 minutes or so will ship before the end of the year.
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Ok, I didn't know that.
Does that apply to all types?
Before the end of the year can also be December, so that will still mean 5 months from now.
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That applies to all types. They will send invitations to finalize the purchase in the order reservations were made. Invitations will be sent closer to the estimated delivery times.
I was able to make my deposit for a 512GB 10 minutes after the Steam Deck pre-orders came online, I still don't expect to get mine this year. And I'm okay with that.
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Took me 12 minutes or so, and I would love to get it in december. But if it's january, that's also totally fine.
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Wonder if that could do the trick as a dock for Steam deck
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Probably any USB-C hub should work fine.
The main thing about the official dock is that it (will be official, duh, but also) will hold up the Steam Deck, so you can see the screen.
(Also also, the official one will be possibly cheaper and won't have duplicate ports - with this you will have 2 ethernet ports (kinda curious what would happen if you use both at once))
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but will the official dock be cheaper than off brand hubs? I doubt it. Look at Nintendo and their dock vs 3rd party docks.
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It won't be, for sure. Just this one you linked is also quite expensive...
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Oh, nevermind. I don't have an amazon account, so it showed me the regular price.
Just the rating is not too good...
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https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-USB-C-Tethered-Windows-Laptops/dp/B07Q3HP6KQ/
That is around the price you should expect the dock to be
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It's worth mentioning that by the time you factor in the actual space available on a 64GB storage device and the space needed for the OS you're not going to end up anywhere near 64G as a usable amount.
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Yeah that goes without saying. I wouldn't wanna be the guy that has a 63GB game they want to install and expect it to fit.
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I am very tempted. I have not played on a handheld in 30 years. lol. (well, one that I owned)
If I do it, I will most likely go for the highest one. Storage space and speed are important. I have a bunch of games installed right now that I need to go back to and finish off. I setup a secondary library on a large USB drive so I could offload a bunch of stuff from my SSD drive without uninstalling it. Even if I don't use it often, I like having options.
The fact that this will play games from my steam library is a big reason I'm tempted. There is no other system that could tempt me as I would need to buy games for it. I already have everything I need on steam and I don't see myself stopping from buying more anytime soon. I love bundles.
Q2 2022 for me perhaps. I never even looked at it more then in passing when it was announced. Now that I've gone through it. This looks pretty good.
My computer is very old. Then it died last month. I put it back together to something that will let me surf the web using parts from an even older one. I can't currently play half the stuff I have installed. But it works. I can play lots of good indi games that run just fine. Just nothing demanding. That leaves a lot that plays fine.
I will be buying a new PC late this year or early next year. So I'll have a new PC before or close to when I could get this thing. Do I need this? No, but I sure do want it. lol.
When I look at the cost..... hmm.. laptop, VR or This.
I don't think I would use a laptop. Would I even have it with me when I need it? The odd time I've not been near a computer and needed to do something remote for work in an emergency. (I am IT). I just took over my home or work PC from my phone and got done what I needed. I've never tried VR but I'd like to.
Composing all this has made me want it more. lol. I think I'll reserve it. I can always change my mind.
Edit. 3 min later. I have put a reserve on the top end one. :)
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Congrats!!! I think you’re the exact target audience for the mid and top tier models, as an alternative to upgrading to a full gaming PC.
I would TRY Virtual Reality before investing in it. I’m sure you know some people in real life that have VR in their closet or something and would probably be thrilled to show it off to you. VR is fantastic and I absolutely love the experience, but it’s expensive and takes up dedicated space in the house so it can be difficult but honestly it’s a life-changing experience and I’ve spend hundreds of hours (and dollars) on VR and don’t regret any of it.
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I have the room. I could do VR once I get a new PC. I'll have to find someone and try it out and see. :)
🖥️🥽
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You could do VR without buying a PC by getting a Quest 2. It works with a PC, but also without one.
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just like the other steam physical items, lets others buy them and find the problems. once they fix those, thn buy one
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I’ll take one for the team and be the sucker that finds the problems lol
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https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/olsd0f/gabe_newell_emails_steam_deck_has_an_m2_2230_slot/
Edit: Just saw that it was mentioned in the other Steam Deck thread, too.
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/0mphl/steam-deck/search?page=3#k5SXyOA
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Not easily usable one though... So be prepared to open whole thing up...
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And the internal eMMC might get disabled if the SSD slot is used (not known yet). So you might have to install an OS on the SSD.
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I would say wait for the 2nd gen. Unless you really want to be a beta tester?
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EDIT: Thanks to everyone who posted in a timely manner, you've given me a lot of perspective before the preorder and fair warning NOT to go with the lowest-end $399 model. I have incorporated this into my outlook and have preordered ($5 down at the moment) that 64GB model, but thanks to everyone here I have tempered my expectations and am going into it from a point moreso of curiosity since this device is almost exactly what I wanted, so if it is not serviceable for my needs why would they even have bothered to make one at this price point (marketing ploy?).
Thank you to everyone who commented and for being a great community, and congrats on everyone else who got their preorders too!!
OP:
Not trying to double post on doctorofjournalism's "post" about this but I wanted to have an actual discussion instead of just a hand full of words.
Around the start of this year I was looking at handheld gaming PCs such as the OneX Player, GPD Win 3, and Aya Neo, but all of those are around $1k USD and I was just wishing for something for half the price, but now the rumors were true about Valve's handheld console has been released and I AM it's primary demographic... so I'm pretty sure I can't NOT get this since it's exactly what I wanted!
I'm primarily wanting something to just putz around the house with and play indies (and all this crap I keep getting from humble choice) so I think the lowest end storage option should do me, but 64 GB is so small and the eMMC not being SSD.... like I know that's why it's cheaper but it's so tempting to go for either of the higher options. I have a gaming PC that I would definitely play my larger games on, and there is a SD slot for memory expansion, so IDK why I would be hesitant, but I am just looking for anything to help me decide before I reserve (or not!) one tomorrow.
https://www.steamdeck.com/en/?snr=1_4_4__118
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