If all you want to use it for is docked play, you’re better off getting an HTPC which will give you far superior performance for the price. There’s sacrifices that have to be made for a portable device that just aren’t applicable to an always powered device.
FSR 3 doesn’t have a system wide implementation. It’s in pipeline just like FSR 2. FSR 1 is the only version that can be applied at a system level, specifically because it’s an output filter, not part of the render pipeline.
There may be something in the Adrenaline software for AMD GPUs that allows applying some portion of FSR 3. I have an Nvidia card, so I can’t speak to that, but it would have to be using some form of injection, such as the Anti-Lag feature AMD tried to offer and then pulled, because it ended up getting people banned for triggering anticheat. That’s only possible at a driver level, though.
I’m going to say no. Development time is not unlimited and I would far prefer Valve continue to work on things that add real value to the Deck, not something like this.
If you want to keep this look, you’re going to have to just keep buying them to replace with new versions. There’s just too much friction on something like face buttons for any adhesive to withstand indefinitely. Once it starts coming off, it’s done.
People seem to be trained to think limited means there’s like 100 only or something. Technically even 10M is “limited” if that’s all you’re ever going to make. And, that’s basically the case here. It seems fairly obvious that there were a lot. No one will likely ever know the exact number unless Valve decides to disclose, which is not something they really do. All they ever said on the subject, though, that once they were gone, they were gone. That’s what made them “limited”.
The Steam Deck uses a 15W TDP APU. The Z1 Extreme is a 30W APU. More watts means more performance, so it’s not like there’s anything particularly special about the silicon in something like the Ally. It’s actually a laptop chip in there. It’s intended for a device with a much bigger battery. If you constrain it to the same 15W as the Steam Deck, performance is virtually identical. The Deck OLED, actually pulls ahead in some cases, and still is more efficient.
As such, it really boils down to a battery life issue. If you care about long battery life, the Deck is the only answer. If you’re fine always being tethered to a wall outlet or plan to use it mostly docked, then yeah, you can kick the Z1 Extreme up and go to town, just don’t expect it to last even an hour on battery like that.
It’s the same tax you’d expect to pay on any purchase in the state and locality you live in.
Wow. Where are you hearing that?
The truth is that the BOE panel is actually superior to the Samsung one. Both panels have QC issues, right now, though. With the BOE, people are seeing some with dead pixels. With the Samsung, people are seeing some with excessive mura and/or green tint. If you experience either, you should RMA, but given two pristine units from both suppliers, Samsung actually has the lesser of the two.
If you’re looking for new, the $150 jump from the base LCD model to the 512GB OLED is worth every penny. Paying the extra $100 on top of that for the 1TB model is more of a personal choice. The only real difference is double the storage and an etched glass screen. If you’ll be playing outside at all or indoor settings with harsher lighting conditions, the etched glass is well worth it. If it’s just about the storage, you can always upgrade the 512GB down the line, but the 1TB is probably worth it if you don’t want to have to open it up ever.
I use it primarily in my house. I have like a 5 minute commute to work, when I even have to go into the office, in the first place, so there’s not a lot of opportunity to even play anywhere else. I’ve taken it with me on trips and have used it extensively in airports waiting for flights that are always delayed now, though.
I’ve never once docked it. If I want to play on my TV, I have a PS5 and XSX for that. That said, I only ever use the PS5 out of the two, and then, only when there’s some exclusive I’m interested in playing, like when Spider-Man 2 came out recently.
I also do have a gaming PC, or it’s probably better said as a work PC that just happens to be great for gaming as well. After I’ve worked on it all day, though, the last thing I want to do is continue to sit in front of it to play games. However, I do heavily make use of Steam Remote Play to stream games from my PC to the Deck. That combo is a game changer.
The Samsung panel has QC issues with excessive mura (the graininess you’re talking about), you may need an RMA.
No, it’s because of raw performance. The Steam Deck APU objectively has more raw performance than an iPhone.
Absolutely not. It literally just came out. Valve would have a riot on their hands if they reduced the price this quickly, from all the people that just bought one.
Hard based on the description, but sounds like stutter. That means you don’t have the game dialed in right and the Deck just isn’t keeping up. You need to cap the frame rate lower, reduce quality settings more, or reduce the render resolution and use some form of upscaling.
The Samsung panel has its own issues, so watch out for excessive mura (basically graininess in dark areas) and/or green tint when you get that one, as you may have to RMA it too.
You don’t need a literal Steam Link device. I don’t think you can even buy one anymore if you wanted to. The Steam Link app is available on virtually any smart device, so if you have a smart TV, Apple TV, Google TV/Android TV device, etc. you can use that without buying anything extra.
I’m going to get downvoted to hell, but I’m totally unimpressed with Sunshine/Moonlight. Steam Remote Play is far better in my opinion, so try that first. Only go looking for alternatives if it doesn’t work well for you for some reason. It’s also zero effort. Just install the game on your PC, and the default Play/Install button on your Steam Deck for the game will change to a drop down where you can choose to stream it instead. Just tap and go.
It’s most felt in more demanding games, because while slight, the extra uptick in performance may make the difference between only barely playable and a really good experience. Again, it’s very slight, but extra performance is extra performance across the board. It’s just if you’re playing a small 2D indie title that you could have gotten more than 90 FPS on anyways, you won’t feel any real difference.
Yes, but if it’s going to mean the difference between getting it or not getting it, the LCD is still fine. Just the extra battery life and 90Hz display is worth its weight in gold, though.
Valve knows exactly what they’re doing and they’ve intentionally avoided retail, for a reason. Retail is a bloody nightmare. You have split inventory, you have to share margin with the retailer, you’re beholden to whatever dumbass things the retailer decides to do. Also, Valve doesn’t have the weight of an Apple, Samsung, etc. Major corporations like that have products retailers can’t afford to not have on their shelves, so the power balance is in favor of the manufacturer. For Valve, the retailers would have the power, and Valve would have to assent to things like sales and such on the Deck when the retailer wanted, which they would then be forced to match, whether it was convenient or made sense to them. Direct sales hasn’t hurt their ability to move stock one bit, and it’s an infinitely better position for any company to be in, if they can make it work. Valve isn’t moving unless they have to.
Physical media is just laughable. No one actually wants this for PC, even if they think they do. Any physical media is far more susceptible to time than Steam is. PCs aren’t time capsules like consoles are. What are you going to even put it on? A CD? I damn sure don’t want any precious space that could be used for a bigger battery taken up by a useless drive and who’s going to play a game with an external CD drive dangling from the USB-C port any time you want to play the game. A microSD? If the whole reason is having the game for years into the future where some apocalyptic event has taken down Steam, that microSD is going to be long dead before then, trust me. Some sort of custom cartridge? That’s just a great way to lock your purchase into one device forever. One of the best things about PC games is they’re device agnostic. You can play it on a desktop, a Steam Deck, an Ally, a laptop, in the cloud with a service like GeForce Now. Take your pick. Why in the world would you want to throw all that away?