Well, first things first.

This thing is sexy as hell. I opened up the same Home Screen on my (originally) 64 GB Deck and the new LE OLED deck, and OH MY. The first thing I did when it arrived was to put a dbrand tempered glass screen protector on it (when you order it, it comes as a 2 pack so that “if you mess up the first time, you can toss it and do it right”), which was an excellent choice seeing as the second thing I did with it was drop it. Literally right after I put the screen protector on it. Moved 1 foot and boom. Down a bar stool and in the floor. Anyways.

Yes. Clearly noticeable differences in the quality of the screen. Color just pops on it, and it feels sharper too. I also compared the difference after downloading the custom OLED boot animation that is now available in my Store, and yes. It looks fantastic. The blacks are black, the red is vibrant, and looks amazing. Compared to the LCD that I’ve been on. . . Vast improvement. It feels a touch lacking, but if you never use an OLED model, you’ll never notice it.

Gushing over about the screen, moving on to the rear of the machine and the internals - the meat and potatoes of this post.

First off, the screws on the back of the deck have a completely different head. Previously, they were Phillips head, and I used a number 0 or a number 1 (avoiding a hash tag due to Reddit formatting stuff) depending on which felt better for that screw (and didn’t feel like it was going to strip the head). Now, it uses a TR6 head for ALL screws to remove the back panel, and I didn’t change when removing the screws to move the black panel out of the way and to remove the NVME.

Secondly, the NVME is now rotated 90 degrees to the right. The NVME socket is now to the ‘North’, where previously it was to the ‘West’. I was quite surprised when I got to it.

Next, I took a peek at the joysticks. They’re a COMPLETELY different board now. DON’T count on taking your old Hall effect joysticks from your previous Deck and expect them to drag and drop. The shape is now entirely different, and I expect an OLED model will have to be developed.

Additionally, once you install your 2 TB NVME from your old Deck, expect it to take a moment to boot. It’s writing a bunch of new drivers and such to the drive, since it’s an entirely different motherboard and periphery. I kinda panicked a little bit and then a huge sigh of relief when it finally booted and verified the installation. Just be prepared.

Lastly, and most importantly. Go huff that new Deck fan smell. It’s back.

Well, good night, and Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans out there. GO EAT SOME TURKEY!