Hi,

I don't travel that much any more, and the games I have on my iPad and
Kindle Fire 7 are good enough if I do. But I keep thinking about the
Steam Deck and what version I would get.

I thought I would troll for feedback any way. Not sure what games I
would feel obligated to play on it. I basically had enough of Elden
Ring, at least for now :-)

-pw

Am 22.08.23 um 00:57 schrieb PW:
> Hi,
>
> I don't travel that much any more, and the games I have on my iPad and
> Kindle Fire 7 are good enough if I do. But I keep thinking about the
> Steam Deck and what version I would get.
>
> I thought I would troll for feedback any way. Not sure what games I
> would feel obligated to play on it. I basically had enough of Elden
> Ring, at least for now 😄
I have one...
Do not go for the small version unless you are prepared to change the SSD!
The medium and big version both are fine, the big version has a somewhat
bigger ssd and a non reflective screen coating but costs more!
As for games, personal taste I cannot recommend anything, but the
battery runtime for 3d heavy games is... lets say mediocre so be
prepared to have a power bank with you or hit for the nearest plug!

On Mon, 21 Aug 2023 16:57:59 -0600, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I don't travel that much any more, and the games I have on my iPad and
>Kindle Fire 7 are good enough if I do. But I keep thinking about the
>Steam Deck and what version I would get.
>
>I thought I would troll for feedback any way. Not sure what games I
>would feel obligated to play on it. I basically had enough of Elden
>Ring, at least for now :-)

<grump mode on>
I don't own a SteamDeck. I've been tempted, of course, but more
because of the technology than any utility.

(the ASUS ROG Ally looks cool too, for the same reason)

But when it comes to gaming? I honestly can't see the appeal. The
hardware is limited. There are compatibility issues. The controls are
constrained. There's limited functionality beyond using it as a
console. It looks uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time. Most
PC games are designed for mouse-keyboard. And it's a bit expensive for
what you get.

I feel that if you want to game on the go, just get a laptop. You get
more options, (slightly) more upgradability, controls better suited to
PC gaming (and you can hook up a gamepad for the few that aren't)and
you can use it for stuff other than games. Or, if mobility doesn't
matter to you, then get a desktop/tower, which offers a heck of a lot
more upgradability.

As a handheld device, the SteamDeck manages to shove an impressive
amount of performance into a tiny package... but it's nothing I'd want
as my primary PC. It's GPU has about 1/3 the horsepower of an XBox-S
(and around 1/6th of a PS5) and no way to upgrade it other than buying
an entirely new device. Even a budget gaming laptop offers more
performance (heck, many non-gaming laptops offer equal or superior
performance). If you really need mobile gaming, well, I suppose a
SteamDeck is an okay solution. Of course, I personally think PC games
don't really translate well to mobile gaming, since the latter expect
you to dedicate long periods of time to playing, whereas with mobile
it's all about playing in short bouts. So if you're on the go, you're
probably better off playing mobile games... so why not just do it on a
cheaper and more portable mobile devices? (I hear you can make phone
calls on them too! ;-)

But what do I know; I'm an old-school gamer. I like my PCs with
massive amounts of horsepower and I like having the ability to add to
its functionality with a quick upgrade. When I plop down in front of
the PC to play a game, I expect to do so for an hour or two, and I
like playing in a comfortable chair and not having to hold the device
up to my face while I'm doing it. And I'm old enough that I can afford
to spend a few hundred dollars extra to get a device that will suit my
needs rather than being a gimmicky, compromised handheld PC.

<grump mode off>

>But when it comes to gaming? I honestly can't see the appeal. The
>hardware is limited. There are compatibility issues. The controls are
>constrained. There's limited functionality beyond using it as a
>console. It looks uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time.

Many are using these lying down, wearing Nreal glasses, steamdeck
supported in their lap, and I suppose using a streaming utility like
Moonlight for certain games. Not 'on-the-go' so much as a private gaming
platform.

rms

Am 22.08.23 um 18:33 schrieb rms:
>> But when it comes to gaming? I honestly can't see the appeal. The
>> hardware is limited. There are compatibility issues. The controls are
>> constrained. There's limited functionality beyond using it as a
>> console. It looks uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time.
>
>   Many are using these lying down, wearing Nreal glasses, steamdeck
> supported in their lap, and I suppose using a streaming utility like
> Moonlight for certain games.  Not 'on-the-go' so much as a private
> gaming platform.
Yes that is a combination I use also. It is a gaming platform on top of
Steam. the biggest benefit is you can play on the couch or in bed. I had
a disc prolapse 2 years ago, and this thing just came around when I was
in rehab and did not know if I ever was able to play again sitting, it
was heavens sent.

Re mouse keyboard, the funny thing is thats the main differentiation
point between the Deck and most other devices in this area. Valve gave
this combination a serious thought and has done so since the original
steam controller. While literally almost all other manufacturers
basically slap an xbox controller on a mobile design and call it a day.

Most of those games can be covered pretty well by the
touchpads on the controller and the configuration you have in steam.

2 possible scenarios
WSAD + mouslook + keyboards for shortcuts

wsad can be put on the left stick
mouselook, right trackpad trackball style, fine aiming gyro aim on top
shortcuts can be covered by an overlay menu you basically put on the
left trackpad (radial, list whatever you want) which you then bind to
the keys you want to have.
Quick access of 4 different shortcuts, the back buttons

Other one simple mouse game, you basically just use the right trackpad
as mouse in trackball mode. The triggers are the mouse buttons.
Again radial menu on the left side for quick access, you also can bind
via some kind of touch combination the mouse to a certain area of the
screen)

Most people overlook the versatility of the Steam control settings but
once they discover them they are amazed what they can do and get finally
why valve is so insistent on adding trackpads to their controller
schemes, they simply make sense for many pc games!

The biggest gripe I have with the Deck is the screen itself, it could
be bigger, and the bezels are "huge", but the XReal Air helps with that
or some glasses (my eyes are getting old, 10 years ago I probably would
not have had a problem)

Btw. forgot to answer,
re Asus Rog Ally, that thing has way too many hardware issues.
For instance buttons which get stuck are basically unsolvable without a
redesign on how the buttons are integrated into the device, the
damage the sd slot design was caused because asus changed the fan curve
in a way that it is silent enough to beat the deck in tests, not
anymore. And on top they did not give it any thought about how to handle
mouse keyboard games, again they just slapped an xbox controller onto a
mobile design.
The upcoming lenovo device looks way more interesting, also I trust
lenovo more not to shove junk down the peoples throats and call it a day
once they got good reviews in from paid reviewers.

On Tue, 22 Aug 2023 16:35:16 +0200, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:

>Am 22.08.23 um 00:57 schrieb PW:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I don't travel that much any more, and the games I have on my iPad and
>> Kindle Fire 7 are good enough if I do. But I keep thinking about the
>> Steam Deck and what version I would get.
>>
>> I thought I would troll for feedback any way. Not sure what games I
>> would feel obligated to play on it. I basically had enough of Elden
>> Ring, at least for now ?
>I have one...
>Do not go for the small version unless you are prepared to change the SSD!
>The medium and big version both are fine, the big version has a somewhat
>bigger ssd and a non reflective screen coating but costs more!
>As for games, personal taste I cannot recommend anything, but the
>battery runtime for 3d heavy games is... lets say mediocre so be
>prepared to have a power bank with you or hit for the nearest plug!

*---

Thanks Werner! Great information.

-pw

Am 23.08.23 um 05:15 schrieb PW:
>> I have one...
>> Do not go for the small version unless you are prepared to change the SSD!
>> The medium and big version both are fine, the big version has a somewhat
>> bigger ssd and a non reflective screen coating but costs more!
>> As for games, personal taste I cannot recommend anything, but the
>> battery runtime for 3d heavy games is... lets say mediocre so be
>> prepared to have a power bank with you or hit for the nearest plug!
> *---
>
> Thanks Werner! Great information.
Re games: Elden ring should be a fine starter, I play mostly smaller
games though, they fit the deck well, and do not drain the battery,
however one exception. Atm I am playing BG3 on it but you basically run
through a battery charge in 90 minutes on that game!
Hades for instance is the absolutely perfect companion for the Deck.
Elden ring is known to work better than on the pc only for the reason
that you get precompiled shaders in with every game automatically via
steam which fixes the shader compile issues upfron the game has on
normal pc configurations.

Re compatibility, i have roughly 1000 games in my steam list 290 of them
are verified to work, but that says nothing, around 95% of my steam lib
works one way or the other, if a game does not work, switching to
proton-ge or proton-experimental fixes it usually instantly. Sometimes
you have to turn on windowing for games rendering and not full screen
(Sonce Racing I look at you) to make it work, and as usual the first
start can take a while so do not give up, after that the second start is
as fast as expected.
Multiuser games might have a problem with their anti cheat system and
foreign shops like Epic are a pain to get the games running (it can be
done though, but not worth the effort)

The biggest gripes with games usually is the font sizes, there is a zoom
function which is baked in but I usually end up setting up a better
controller scheme for those games which actually need it (usually one of
the back buttons and the right trackpad to mouse)

On Wed, 23 Aug 2023 10:51:22 +0200, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:

>Am 23.08.23 um 05:15 schrieb PW:
>>> I have one...
>>> Do not go for the small version unless you are prepared to change the SSD!
>>> The medium and big version both are fine, the big version has a somewhat
>>> bigger ssd and a non reflective screen coating but costs more!
>>> As for games, personal taste I cannot recommend anything, but the
>>> battery runtime for 3d heavy games is... lets say mediocre so be
>>> prepared to have a power bank with you or hit for the nearest plug!
>> *---
>>
>> Thanks Werner! Great information.
>Re games: Elden ring should be a fine starter, I play mostly smaller
>games though, they fit the deck well, and do not drain the battery,
>however one exception. Atm I am playing BG3 on it but you basically run
>through a battery charge in 90 minutes on that game!
>Hades for instance is the absolutely perfect companion for the Deck.
>Elden ring is known to work better than on the pc only for the reason
>that you get precompiled shaders in with every game automatically via
>steam which fixes the shader compile issues upfron the game has on
>normal pc configurations.
>
>Re compatibility, i have roughly 1000 games in my steam list 290 of them
>are verified to work, but that says nothing, around 95% of my steam lib
>works one way or the other, if a game does not work, switching to
>proton-ge or proton-experimental fixes it usually instantly. Sometimes
>you have to turn on windowing for games rendering and not full screen
>(Sonce Racing I look at you) to make it work, and as usual the first
>start can take a while so do not give up, after that the second start is
>as fast as expected.
>Multiuser games might have a problem with their anti cheat system and
>foreign shops like Epic are a pain to get the games running (it can be
>done though, but not worth the effort)
>
>The biggest gripes with games usually is the font sizes, there is a zoom
>function which is baked in but I usually end up setting up a better
>controller scheme for those games which actually need it (usually one of
>the back buttons and the right trackpad to mouse)
>
>

*--

Thanks again Werner! More great points. I am going to pass for now.

-pw

Am 25.08.23 um 05:04 schrieb PW:
> Thanks again Werner! More great points. I am going to pass for now.

Jepp, despite those minor shortcomings, I love the device.
But I have combined it with an xreal air and a pair of cheap reading
glasses!
(getting old - re font sizes)

On Fri, 25 Aug 2023 11:31:10 +0200, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:

>Am 25.08.23 um 05:04 schrieb PW:
>> Thanks again Werner! More great points. I am going to pass for now.
>
>Jepp, despite those minor shortcomings, I love the device.
>But I have combined it with an xreal air and a pair of cheap reading
>glasses!
>(getting old - re font sizes)

*--

What is xreal air?

-pw

On 8/25/2023 8:40 PM, PW wrote:
> On Fri, 25 Aug 2023 11:31:10 +0200, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:
>
>> Am 25.08.23 um 05:04 schrieb PW:
>>> Thanks again Werner! More great points. I am going to pass for now.
>>
>> Jepp, despite those minor shortcomings, I love the device.
>> But I have combined it with an xreal air and a pair of cheap reading
>> glasses!
>> (getting old - re font sizes)
>
> *--
>
>
> What is xreal air?
>
eXtra real air. :P

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Fri, 25 Aug 2023 21:40:19 -0600, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
>On Fri, 25 Aug 2023 11:31:10 +0200, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:

>>Jepp, despite those minor shortcomings, I love the device.
>>But I have combined it with an xreal air and a pair of cheap reading
>>glasses!

>What is xreal air?

A quick Google search says it's a type of augmented-reality glasses.

SH> A quick Google search says it's a type of augmented-reality glasses.

Like, google glass? I thought that kind of tech wasn't around anymore. I've
always wanted to try one..

-----------------------------------
user is generated from /dev/urandom

On Sat, 26 Aug 2023 10:39:10 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 25 Aug 2023 21:40:19 -0600, PW
><iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
>>On Fri, 25 Aug 2023 11:31:10 +0200, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:
>
>>>Jepp, despite those minor shortcomings, I love the device.
>>>But I have combined it with an xreal air and a pair of cheap reading
>>>glasses!
>
>>What is xreal air?
>
>A quick Google search says it's a type of augmented-reality glasses.

*-

To heck with that! Not interested.

Thanks

-pw

Am 26.08.23 um 04:28 schrieb candycane:
> SH> A quick Google search says it's a type of augmented-reality glasses.
>
> Like, google glass? I thought that kind of tech wasn't around anymore. I've
> always wanted to try one..
>
> -----------------------------------
> user is generated from /dev/urandom
>
It is sort of an 110 inch oled screen 1.5 meters away as glasses!
Fits into everything which can provide displayport over an usb-c connection.
Yes AR glasses but reduced to media consumption more or less and hence
cheaper than classical AR glasses!

Am 27.08.23 um 03:38 schrieb PW:
> On Sat, 26 Aug 2023 10:39:10 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
> <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 25 Aug 2023 21:40:19 -0600, PW
>> <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
>>> On Fri, 25 Aug 2023 11:31:10 +0200, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:
>>
>>>> Jepp, despite those minor shortcomings, I love the device.
>>>> But I have combined it with an xreal air and a pair of cheap reading
>>>> glasses!
>>
>>> What is xreal air?
>>
>> A quick Google search says it's a type of augmented-reality glasses.
>
> *-
>
> To heck with that! Not interested.
>
> Thanks
>
> -pw
Not really AR, more like media consumption glasses, micro oleds it
basically is which simulate a 110 inch display in front of your nose.
A good augmentation to a portable console since the resolution of the
virtual display is 1080p and also it gives you probably the cheapest 110
inch oled screen you can get atm!