so the title says it all. if you’re willing to read my situation, thank you.
Married, Father of two. Recently purchased a gaming laptop that’s around PS4 quality. But I play GTA V, Ace Combat 7, PS2 via PCSX(only my own ROM copies, really), nothing FPS, and sadly nothing new has really piqued my interest(maybe starfield?) PC game purchases are either Steam or GOG.
I usually play games away from the kids as I don’t particularly like them seeing Dad gunning down people(but they’re really bad people!) And while attached to the wall I can play to my heart’s content, battery power is pitiful with the dgpu activated. I need a desk and controller to play, so it’s as akward as ipad gaming and lap burningly hot when I try to play on the sofa.
As a Dad, I have very little time for personal entertainment. maybe an hour daily, up to 3 hours if I decide to cut into sleep.
As a Dad, purchases for my own use have to go through a pretty long vetting/authorization process. That gaming PC I mentioned above was telegraphed a year in advance(hey my current pc is having hardware issues, hey my current pc is ungodly slow and I can’t help w/ the kids online homework, hey my current pc is almost 10 years old…) It’s a gaming PC, but I also use it to edit premiere for my tiny YT channel
From what I can tell, the steamdeck can give me comprable or less gaming performance than my gaming PC, in a much more portable, single piece hardware that I can play on the couch, staying in the same room as my wife and kids while they do other stuff in the living room. the convenience is appealing, but I’m just thinking of the energy I’d need to put into it to get a clear OK as opposed to the side eye and comments such a purchase out of the blue would create, just for the ability to do something I can do already on my gaming pc(albeit a little less easier if I had a steamdeck)
I’m personally thinking I’d rather spend that kind of energy on a future, more capable steamdeck 2, on the off chance some new game I want to play comes out my pc can’t handle.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happily married, and get along great with my wife, but I’ve noticed I get the stinkeye a lot more for any purchases for myself that are solely entertainment related
Mine SD1 is sitting with my oled switch. Should prob charge them up once in a while
I really do like my OLED. But I think you have a couple of options:
- Wait 2-4 years for a steam deck 2
- Buy a used steam deck (the older models are cheaper and can work with your budget) 3 Get a new one
I like mine (OLED) model because of the screen, battery life, my steam library on the go, emulation (this thing can play up to switch/ps3), and modding.
If those things also appeal to you it may be worth
I’m by no means rich, but I can afford to buy an OLEDdeck without having to resort to eating top ramen for a month…
I was debating whether or not to get a typical cheaper PC and an OG steamdeck for about the same total price I paid for the gaming PC, but figured I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone with the gaming PC. I can edit video and play games too, but it’s not as simple as console gaming(then again, neither is the steamdeck from what I’ve seen) a lot of tweaking of settings to get it in the right rez and fps sweet spots.
The OLED version quashed 2 of the 3 issues I had with the OG. Battery life and screen quality. The APU will have to be more than just a lithography shrink, but I’m torn about the need for more horsepower for games that don’t exist.
grrrr. need to plot how to justify a purchase. coming up a bit short, especially after buying the gaming pc…
“but I can play on the couch and be with you guys instead of going into my tiny man cave and being by myself” probably won’t hold…Another option is sell something to make up the difference/close the gap.
I’m selling my old 512gb deck for $350 to a friend so it didn’t hurt THAT much to shell out for the LE OLED
It would save you the mental overhead of fussing with your gaming setup by having a dedicated device that just works as intended most of the time