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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: November 10th, 2023

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  • I received my SD OLED 4 days after it went on sale 20th I had seen Gamers Nexus’s video but was unable to find a guide on how to disconnect the ribbon cable so I had to sit there and play with the connector on my left hand side (right side of the device were in a normal position) until I figured out the white latch disconnected the cable. As for the little black cable taped down I just used a small spudger to disconnect the tape.

    Having now heard iFixit talk about it I guess they moved the ribbon cable to make it easier to replace and because when removing and reinstalling the motherboard that ribbon cable would often get pinched or ripped.

    Personally I do agree the SSD swap was much more tedious this time between the tighter shell fit and not being able to quickly remove the shield. However it’s off set by the good like now if you need to replace that ribbon cable it’s right there and the backplate screws thread into metal fittings making them less likely to strip. Actually funnily enough the backplate which I do agree is much better fit this time I was able to remove by wedging my nails in one side and pulling up.


  • Probably not you’re forgetting the main reason people buy consoles ease of use. Not everyone wants to tinker with their games. Not to mention the value of the box itself you can’t build a PC that is comparable to a PS5 for the same price. Even the Switch it’s not just exclusives some people don’t want to fuss with getting a game to work they just want to buy it and play it even if it looks like the equivalent to smearing Vaseline on your screen. The Switch is also vastly more portable and lightweight than the SD which many consumers prefer. I have a coworker who saw me playing my SD at my desk once and ask what it was I let them see it and play it, they thought it was cool but ultimately wouldn’t get one because they thought it was too big and too heavy.

    Look let me preface this by say I love my Deck it’s been one of my favourite purchases in a long time but it’s a niche device. It’s sold multiple millions yes but the Switch has sold hundreds of millions, the PS5 40+ million and hell even Xbox Series has sold somewhere like 20 million. Those devices have 2 years or more on the SD but in 2 years or even going by the Switch 6 years there’s little chance the SD breaks those kinds of numbers. To be clear I am quite confident that both its consumers and Valve consider the SD a rousing success and I think it’ll hopefully have a long fruitful product line. It’s just to say taking away exclusives wouldn’t erase the competition nor would you want it to competition is always good.


  • The SD is literally still selling better than the competition despite having a weaker SoC the SD has sold multiple millions of units while the last update we had for the Ally was 500K back in August. Even looking at the Z1 Extreme in the Ally and Go the performance uplift isn’t that crazy and you lose your battery life for that small uplift. Also no putting a 1080p or greater screen on these devices is silly you’re not going to run many games at that resolution and if you are you’ll be sacrificing battery life, performance or both.

    If the SD isn’t the device for you that’s fine that’s what competition is for but myself and many others are happy with the SD and only want to see a true successor when the technology is there to back it without tanking battery life.




  • The first one I ordered was on the 16th it arrived the 20th and the second one I bought as a surprise gift for a friend I ordered on the 23rd and it’ll be here on the 27th. So for me it seems to be about 4 days. However there’s no real science behind it. Payment processing, inventory, model, location from distribution center and processing load for the carrier will all play a role. I also imagine I could cut it down to 3 days if I didn’t order on a Thursday and instead ordered earlier in the week as that was about the time it took my LCD deck to arrive back when I ordered it.

    EDIT: I’m in NY.


  • F34RA11BtoSteam Deck@hardware.watchsteamdeck OLED
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    1 year ago

    It depends on proximity to the distribution center payment processing, how busy the carrier facilities are and a little luck. I ordered on the 16th received the 20th I’m in NY. I ordered one for a friend as a surprise gift on the 23rd it shipped on the 24th and will be here Monday.


  • Ordered the 16th received the 20th. It obviously depends on payment processing time and how far you are from the distribution center. They ship out of Illinois in the US and I live in NY. I also ordered a second one for a friend as a surprise gift on a new Steam account it typically takes 24 hours from purchase to ship as I ordered it yesterday and it shipped today. From there it’s all down to distance and processing load of the shipping distributors.




  • F34RA11BtoSteam Deck@hardware.watchIs the OLED worth it?
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    1 year ago

    Yes, the screen alone would make it worthwhile. However the improved battery life, charging, better thermals and efficiency, better WiFi if you have the equipment to take advantage of it and the very slight performance bump from the faster RAM all make it worth it. Now obviously do what’s best for your budget and don’t feel bad going with the LCD deck if you decide to I have owned my LCD deck for a while now and it’s great. It’s just that if you can get the OLED deck you should.


  • I owned one for a short period of time and ended up returning it because it was constantly blue screening on me. Also because some games that performed perfectly fine on my SD ran like hot garbage on the Ally. Overall if you’re looking for a windows handheld I would suggest the Legion Go, ASUS has just not been the reputable company they once were lately and that stinks but competition is a good thing and I hope they don’t give up.








  • F34RA11BtoSteam Deck@hardware.watchDo i need the oled SD?
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    1 year ago

    Well the first 2 games you mention benefit greatly from the screen alone because they’re dark atmospheric games where having perfect black levels will make them actively look better. The only reason I would suggest the LCD over the OLED if you don’t own one is budget. The LCD deck is considerably cheaper. Beyond that with the OLED SD you’re getting a smaller APU which means more energy efficiency and less heat. You’re also getting better performance (negligible but it is there), bigger battery, better battery life, faster charging, better larger 90Hz (vs 60Hz on LCD) screen with HDR screen for games that support it and faster WiFi with a compatible router to name a few.


  • You’ll be leaving performance on the table but if you’re not taking advantage of the higher watt modes on the Ally then not much and in some instances the SD will actually beat the Ally in the same power mode. SD also wipes the floor with the Ally at lower wattages because the Z1 in the Ally isn’t really meant to run that low. You’ll also be giving up your compatibility by leaving Windows, yes you can install Windows on the SD but it’s not a particularly great experience and Valve can take awhile to update drivers for Windows. That being said as someone who has owned a SD for awhile purchased an Ally because the potential performance gains seemed like a big win and then ended up returning the Ally I’d say it can’t hurt to try. Battery life was a big deciding factor in why I returned it before the device went totally defective on me. You have a 14 day return policy so take it for a spin and if you don’t like it you can always return it. Personally I’m 100% ordering a SD OLED the screen has been the biggest drawback to the SD in my opinion and now that it’s fixed I’m perfectly fine to use the SD until a SD2 is released.