Discussion Steam Deck

[Artorias]

Nintendo is struggling to keep up with Switch demand, even cutting back production because of chip shortages.

Yeah, I got delayed until "After Q2 2022". Hell... the Zen 2 based hardware in this thing will be obsolete before I get it at this point

This all of a sudden became more relevant again haha.

Valve Time - Valve Developer Community

developer.valvesoftware.com

Valve Time: "This coming holiday season! 2010 "

Actual Time: "April 18th, 2011"

 

[Muadib]

So this is shipping now. Did anyone buy one?

 

[Justinus]

So this is shipping now. Did anyone buy one?

I secured my pre-order 1 minute after preorders opened despite the instantaneous major server outage and yet mine is slated for "Q2". I assume very few people are actually getting them in the immediate term.

 

[blckgrffn]

I secured my pre-order 1 minute after preorders opened despite the instantaneous major server outage and yet mine is slated for "Q2". I assume very few people are actually getting them in the immediate term.

Pretty much same here on my 256GB. My 512 GB is slated for “after q2”

Honestly I expect the software to great change, the firmware to slightly change and early hardware fitment issues to arise and be resolved by the time I get mine. Which is fine. I want to use it when it’s got a little more time to bake and be battle tested.

 

[ultimatebob]

Pretty much same here on my 256GB. My 512 GB is slated for “after q2”

Honestly I expect the software to great change, the firmware to slightly change and early hardware fitment issues to arise and be resolved by the time I get mine. Which is fine. I want to use it when it’s got a little more time to bake and be battle tested.

Yeah, same here. Gives them time to fix the software, I guess.

 

[CuriousMike]

I ordered mine 1 day after ordering window opened - i'll be waiting a bit.
I'm excited - even with the current luke-warm reception.

The important bit is its all software that is the issue now - that can be improved in time.

If you didn't know, you can see the state of your current libraries compatibility here:

Your Library on Deck

A page showing the games in your Steam Library that are deck verified

store.steampowered.com

 

[ultimatebob]

Maybe Valve is just waiting for Gabe to be around the Connecticut area, so he can hand deliver it to me

https://www.pcgamer.com/gabe-newell-seems-to-be-hand-delivering-signed-steam-decks/

 

[Aikouka]

Mine is listed as Q2, so I'm not expecting to get mine soon.

Although, does anyone have any updated thoughts after seeing the recently released reviews? I will admit that I did feel slightly hesitant given some of the remarks on the software, but I doubt that I'll be cancelling my pre-order. My hesitance is mostly based upon the saying of "don't pay for promises". In other words, don't pay with the assumption that the item will get better. Assume that it will not get better than how it is when you get it. Although, frankly, what you get right now is still pretty darn good... just a little buggy. I don't doubt that Valve will fix it.

 

[CuriousMike]

In other words, don't pay with the assumption that the item will get better.

I agree with this sentiment - you can't assume Valve will fix everything. There will be things outside their control (DRM).
However, for what it is now I'm still OK.
Plus, it'll be fun to hack on.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Anyone here gotten a steam deck in hand? Any thoughts on the form factor or performance or anything else?

 

[Aikouka]

Anyone here gotten a steam deck in hand? Any thoughts on the form factor or performance or anything else?

I got mine (512GB model) this past Friday. Now, I'll be blunt in that I haven't really had much time to use it yet, but I have had a chance to set it up and get my (dBrand) screen protector and such on it. Just some basic thoughts from that experience:

• I always knew that it wasn't a small device, but it seems even bigger in person. Albeit, I never found it uncomfortable to grip/use, and I've got fairly large hands.
• It's also not particularly heavy, but to keep it suspended in air for long periods of time will likely be uncomfortable. So, I'd recommend setting it propped up on a table, your leg, etc.
• The first boot-up did take a bit longer than I expected; I almost thought that something might be wrong with it! I think the initial setup had it perform a firmware update, which caused me to have to repeat some of the setup process again. (Mostly basic settings such as language.)
• Unsurprisingly, since it is just a specialized computer, updates to Steam itself will be performed while running, and do not appear to require a reboot. Awkwardly, it didn't present the update to me either. I was just going through the settings menu and saw the option to update. I was a little confused, because I figured that initial update hit hardware/firmware and software.
• Probably the most important part of the introduction is how you hold down the STEAM button to see a rather lengthy list of STEAM button-based shortcuts.
• I did notice that the touchscreen isn't as responsive as I'm used to after using smartphones for so long. I'm not sure if I can adjust this in the settings though, but I did notice that a lot when typing in my WiFi password.

As for the screen protector, it seems to work fine. I did end up ruining my first one due to not seeing a tiny speck on my screen. My main criticism is that dBrand's instructional video has a step saying "Do this fast..." and the video takes what feels like forever to get to the next step.

 

[Muadib]

I got mine (512GB model) this past Friday. Now, I'll be blunt in that I haven't really had much time to use it yet, but I have had a chance to set it up and get my (dBrand) screen protector and such on it. Just some basic thoughts from that experience:

• I always knew that it wasn't a small device, but it seems even bigger in person. Albeit, I never found it uncomfortable to grip/use, and I've got fairly large hands.
• It's also not particularly heavy, but to keep it suspended in air for long periods of time will likely be uncomfortable. So, I'd recommend setting it propped up on a table, your leg, etc.
• The first boot-up did take a bit longer than I expected; I almost thought that something might be wrong with it! I think the initial setup had it perform a firmware update, which caused me to have to repeat some of the setup process again. (Mostly basic settings such as language.)
• Unsurprisingly, since it is just a specialized computer, updates to Steam itself will be performed while running, and do not appear to require a reboot. Awkwardly, it didn't present the update to me either. I was just going through the settings menu and saw the option to update. I was a little confused, because I figured that initial update hit hardware/firmware and software.
• Probably the most important part of the introduction is how you hold down the STEAM button to see a rather lengthy list of STEAM button-based shortcuts.
• I did notice that the touchscreen isn't as responsive as I'm used to after using smartphones for so long. I'm not sure if I can adjust this in the settings though, but I did notice that a lot when typing in my WiFi password.

As for the screen protector, it seems to work fine. I did end up ruining my first one due to not seeing a tiny speck on my screen. My main criticism is that dBrand's instructional video has a step saying "Do this fast..." and the video takes what feels like forever to get to the next step.

Congrats! It's July- September before I get mine. Ordered a screen protector and case that are just collecting dust. Keep us posted!

 

[thilanliyan]

• I did notice that the touchscreen isn't as responsive as I'm used to after using smartphones for so long. I'm not sure if I can adjust this in the settings though, but I did notice that a lot when typing in my WiFi password.

I've also noticed the same...it's almost like a resistive touchscreen experience lol...needs a deliberate and somewhat heavy touch (compared to modern smartphones).

I think this will be my retro/old game device, and I'll probably stream more intense games from my PC to the deck.

Do you see a 40fps cap limit by any chance? I don't see it. Or do you have to change the refresh rate to 40Hz to be able to do that?

 

[blckgrffn]

Mine showed up last week and I haven't had time to even open the box yet. Sigh. Told myself there were a few things I need to accomplish first. You can guess how that is going.

I was pumped that not only did I get an email, but a very aggressive prompt via Steam on my desktop. I was really somewhat anxious I would miss the email and my pre-order.

 

[Muadib]

Mine showed up last week and I haven't had time to even open the box yet. Sigh. Told myself there were a few things I need to accomplish first. You can guess how that is going.

I was pumped that not only did I get an email, but a very aggressive prompt via Steam on my desktop. I was really somewhat anxious I would miss the email and my pre-order.

Yikes! I don't even have Steam running. That changes now, thanks!

 

[PingSpike]

Got mine last week. I also haven't had to much time with it, it sort of shows up at a bad time for me since I'm super busy with kid's school stuff and yard work. I installed minecraft on it, ran OK but I'm not sure I like using flatpack instead of the official launcher so I might try again. I played a little darkest dungeon. Witcher3 downloaded but I haven't even tried to start it yet.

My whiny complaints hardware wise are: The carrying case should have a hole so that I can plug in a charger while the case is closed. I don't like that theABXY buttons are relocated above the trackpad from the steam controller, but I understand why. Software: The on screen keyboard should have the escape key on it! I kept getting stuck when setting up controller profiles because of this.

 

[Justinus]

Apparently on the backend, Steam didn't use the purchase time of your pre-order for the reservation time. I just did some digging and while I secured my pre-order 1 minute after they opened, my reservation time is 1 hour and 12 minutes after pre-orders opened.

This is some really, really frustrating stuff.

 

[JujuFish]

Apparently on the backend, Steam didn't use the purchase time of your pre-order for the reservation time. I just did some digging and while I secured my pre-order 1 minute after they opened, my reservation time is 1 hour and 12 minutes after pre-orders opened.

This is some really, really frustrating stuff.

That's not nearly as frustrating as getting locked out for hours because Steam couldn't process the order and then some presumably anti-fraud stuff kicked in. I have to wait until Q3 for mine.

 

[Justinus]

That's not nearly as frustrating as getting locked out for hours because Steam couldn't process the order and then some presumably anti-fraud stuff kicked in. I have to wait until Q3 for mine.

That happened to someone else I know that was trying to preorder right at opening with me. Valve kinda botched the preorder and the reservation queue for this IMO.

 

[Muadib]

That's not nearly as frustrating as getting locked out for hours because Steam couldn't process the order and then some presumably anti-fraud stuff kicked in. I have to wait until Q3 for mine.

Me too. Hopefully we will see it next month.

 

[Aikouka]

I've also noticed the same...it's almost like a resistive touchscreen experience lol...needs a deliberate and somewhat heavy touch (compared to modern smartphones).

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the touch screen. I think it's an area that could definitely use some improvement in the inevitable refresh.

Do you see a 40fps cap limit by any chance? I don't see it. Or do you have to change the refresh rate to 40Hz to be able to do that?

I'll have to look again just to make sure, but I think I saw a slider in the menu brought up by the right button. (I don't recall its proper name.) In regard to performance, I am a bit surprised by its capability, but not in a good way. Maybe it's because I expected a bit too much or don't understand how demanding some games are, but I went to play Housemarque's Nex Machina on the Deck. (To note, it does require parameters to be added manually for the game to work.) The game defaulted to high settings, which I'm now wondering if that's due to the game not keeping its configuration separate from its Steam Cloud save. The game was set to 4K resolution with all settings maxed, which would match settings for my HTPC. I turned things down to 720p and low details, and it looked decent enough and ran between 50-60 FPS.

Overall, I guess I figured Nex Machina would be an easy game for the Deck to run, but it ended up being a bit worse than I expected. Albeit, the game doesn't give a lot of graphics options compared to some larger titles. I also played Super Hexagon, which recently got upgraded to Deck Verified, and well... that one ran very easily.

One thing I did notice was pretty slow WiFi performance. I think that was partly due to an update being performed at the same time. Even after that, I was seeing maybe 6MB/s at the highest? My WAP (a Ubiqiti LR-AP Pro) is kind of in a weird spot, but my i-Devices seem to download apps far faster than it does.

 

[thilanliyan]

Yeah hopefully they can tweak the screen sensitivity to make it more sensitive.

I think I will have to play with FSR a bit. I've been running Thief (2014) at native res and high quality settings and at 15w TDP limit (to get better battery life) it gets 50-60fps. Maybe FSR will help with battery life and I won't need to use the 15w limit. Definitely wish it had better battery life lol.

Overall I'm kinda liking it. I've mostly played gamepad friendly games in the last several years so it fits perfectly into that use case. Haven't done any mouse/kb games in ages so not missing playing on a monitor.

I do really wish it had an OLED screen though...maybe V2/V3...

 

[Aikouka]

I was watching the Girlfriend Reviews video on the Stream Deck yesterday, and I noticed one small part of the video that was an aspect that I was not fond of: the slow downloads. That's always been one aspect that has largely kept me away from downloading larger games as the best speeds that I'd see were maybe 4-8MB/s. Since Valve hasn't released their dock yet, I ended up purchasing an Anker hub (I bought it Used - Like New and saved $20). Simply getting to go with Ethernet instead of WiFi made it much, much more palatable trying to download larger games, which really isn't that surprising.

I'm also not too sure if updating my APs would help at all. (8MB/s is only 64Mbps after all.) I do have some newer WiFi 6 ones that I've been meaning to install, but I want to put them in a new spot (to help ensure better directionality of the signal) and that means running cable.

 

[Justinus]

I was watching the Girlfriend Reviews video on the Stream Deck yesterday, and I noticed one small part of the video that was an aspect that I was not fond of: the slow downloads. That's always been one aspect that has largely kept me away from downloading larger games as the best speeds that I'd see were maybe 4-8MB/s. Since Valve hasn't released their dock yet, I ended up purchasing an Anker hub (I bought it Used - Like New and saved $20). Simply getting to go with Ethernet instead of WiFi made it much, much more palatable trying to download larger games, which really isn't that surprising.

I'm also not too sure if updating my APs would help at all. (8MB/s is only 64Mbps after all.) I do have some newer WiFi 6 ones that I've been meaning to install, but I want to put them in a new spot (to help ensure better directionality of the signal) and that means running cable.

Steam deck update just came out with some kind of "fix for 5ghz wireless" but I didn't see what the details were, perhaps it improves wireless speeds.

Unfortunately the wireless card is not a wifi 6/AX card, just old wifi 5/AC and it is not replaceable (soldered). I'm not sure any router upgrade from an already functioning wifi 5 router would help in any meaningful way, unless you have signal strength issues and upgrade for better coverage.

 

[Aikouka]

Steam deck update just came out with some kind of "fix for 5ghz wireless" but I didn't see what the details were, perhaps it improves wireless speeds.

Unfortunately the wireless card is not a wifi 6/AX card, just old wifi 5/AC and it is not replaceable (soldered). I'm not sure any router upgrade from an already functioning wifi 5 router would help in any meaningful way, unless you have signal strength issues and upgrade for better coverage.

Thank you for that bit of info as I didn't realize that it was stuck on WiFi 5. That's a bit disappointing given most of my devices are WiFi 6. Honestly, getting the APs (they're Ubiquiti APs) in a more optimal location would probably help a lot. Also, I've never been too sure if a lightning strike from a year or two ago had an effect on them. It killed a NUC and crippled the port that the NUC was using on my switch. The APs acted a bit funny for a short time after that, but they haven't seemed downright non-functional.