I’ve had literally 30 different models of retro handhelds over the last four years, Anbernic, Retroid, Powkiddy, etc, and then I got my Steam Deck. Despite the size, I find myself playing on it more than any of the others that I still have, and I’ve started selling a few as a result. There’s just no compromises, I can run whatever games or shaders or enhancements or whatever I can think of, even Switch emulation works amazingly well. Even if I want a fancy Emulation Station interface like the cheaper Linux based handhelds, I can use Retrobat for that(I’m a Windows user).

And then I can turn around and spend two hours faffing about in a modern game like Teardown… even if emulation is your main jam, don’t underestimate the allure of PC gaming in your hands.

I mostly bought anything I had from Android since I haven’t touched my Retroid Pocket 3+ since I got my Steam Deck. Figured I can sell that thing and recoup the cost of replacing its games.

Bro I grew up playing single-digit-fps 3D games and loved it.

I was walking uphill 15 miles the entire time too!

It depends, if I know I’m not gonna use it for a bit I’ll close everything to the desktop (I use Windows), but if I’m in the middle of a game and plan to come right back to it, I’ll leave it running.

Omg do it fresh, never ever just move a boot drive to another machine unless it’s nearly identical hardware, otherwise Windows is gonna throw an absolute fit, and even after you fix everything, it’ll always feel “dirty”, trust me.

Sure, just pop out the SD with them, pop in the new one, reinstall them, and then they should show up no matter which SD card is inserted.

Ironically what you’re complaining about is half the reason PC gamers love PC gaming… you can upgrade to newer hardware without leaving behind your previous library.

You just upgraded your SD and don’t have to rebuy anything. When a proper Steam Deck 2 comes out in 2-3 years, you won’t need to rebuy anything. If you decide to get an ROG Ally, you won’t need to rebuy anything. “Dude, you’re getting a Dell?” Won’t need to rebuy anything.

How many people bought Skyrim for PS3, then PS4, then PS5, then Switch… PC gamers can still enjoy the copy they bought a decade ago. Same for GTA5. Oh you wanna play Dark Souls on PS5? Gotta buy it again.

When you buy a PC game, it’s a proper investment that stays with you rather than building up a library locked to a specific piece of hardware that will eventually be left behind.

With the smaller screen he specifically didn’t like…

That’s perfectly normal for OLED tech. Each pixel has enough variation that some are slightly brighter than others at the same brightness level, causing this sort of texture that’s easy to see on large areas of gray. This is actually why VR headsets mostly moved away from OLED, because it’s so much more pronounced when the screen is right on your face. There’s a specific term for it that’s eluding me right now.

It’s funny how the more pedestrian photos really show off the difference between the LCD and OLED better than the perfectly-tuned review photos and videos. This is easily the biggest visual difference I’ve seen between them, really makes the OLED look fantastic.

Sadly the Windows drivers don’t support this or VRR or HFR, so that won’t be a solution.

The d-pad is serviceable for fighting games, and the analog stick has a really wide travel and isn’t ideal. Nothing awful, but nothing any competitive player would want to use.

If you mean that slight interlacing-like effect some IPS panels have, I haven’t noticed that on my Deck vs several of the cheaper Anbernic or Powkiddy handhelds I’ve used that do this if you look at it just right.

If it had VRR I might have actually considered upgrading. Ever since I got a VRR monitor I’ve been in love with it, and it just makes even more sense in a handheld… Even saves a little power by not redrawing duplicate frames.

A lot of devices like smartphones will run off the battery even when plugged in, degrading the lifespan and risking pillowing the battery, but as I understand it the Steam Deck is designed to run off the power supply once the battery is charged, so it’s not endlessly charging/depleting the battery like a smartphone does.

I’m literally playing Mario 3D World for Switch right now on my Deck, runs beautifully!

The 256gb model just became the 512gb model with the new OLED screen. What’s not upgraded?

Press the Steam button and the “…” button a couple times together and it’ll launch Big Picture mode, will feel just like Steam OS. This was the “a-ha” moment that convinced my roommate that Windows was the way to go.