cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/5056325
Both the Steam Deck and official Dock are on sale to celebrate Valve's 20th anniversary.
Easily one of the best entertainment purchases I have made in recent memory. Such a great and versatile handheld.
True that.
I just bought it recently and love it very much. Finally a handheld that gives me access to most of my gaming libraries while on the go.
Also nice to see Linux getting a boost from this.
Do you know if it can connect to a keyboard and mouse for certain games?
Yeah, 100%. It only has one USB-C port, so you can only use one plugged in without a dock, but it has bluetooth, so you can use a keyboard and mouse that way, too.
So a wireless Bluetooth keyboard+mouse setup would be the way to go for playing with the dock? This wouldn’t be a huge part of my gaming, but there are certain games I’d probably prefer it for, so I just wanted to know it’s possible.
Any suggestions on a good controller for when it’s on the dock? I’m convinced I’ll be buying one with this sale.
8bitdo makes some of the best controllers out there, or you can go with an Xbox controller, though they are much more expensive.
As far as mouse and keyboard, yeah, if you need to play with them, that will be totally possible and comparable to a desktop set up. However, the track pads on the steamdeck may be more convenient for you.
Would a ps5 controller work? Only asking cuz I already have a ps5.
Yeah, should work fine.
Wonderful news! Guess I’m buying a steam deck 👍
Direct links:
Deck: https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck
- 64GB:
$399.00-10% $359.10 - 256GB:
$529.00-15% $449.65 - 512GB:
$649.00-20% $519.20
Dock: https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeckdock
$89.00-20% $71.20
Can anyone comment on how to gauge which storage size to get? I’d like to go cheap with maybe an option to upgrade later. I usually only play one game at a time, so I’m open to reinstalling games as needed if it helps keep the price down.
I only just bought one because of the sale. No matter which one you get, it’s possible to swap out the disk for a larger one.
I’d look at the size of the games you play and see if 64GB (actually less because of the OS) is enough.
- 64GB:
Well, I jumped in and got one. Ever since I entered a serious relationship I’ve missed out on a lot of titles, so having the option to play sitting next to my wife without taking up the TV will be huge. Here’s hoping it works exactly as I plan
I can attest that it works great in this scenario. I managed to play through several Final Fantasy games, a handful of indie games, and I’m deep into BG3 - all while on the couch or in bed with my other half. Or on the toilet.
Before the Steam deck I hadn’t beaten a single game in years.
If your wife likes gaming, you can play co-op on the said TV! The dock is somewhat expensive, but any USB C hub with power in and HDMI out will do. We have a thin keyboard with the mouse pad built in and two blue tooth controllers - voila! For optimal play on large screens, you should run it in Desktop mode. For gaming, I still use the Big Picture mode for Steam to be able to navigate to games with the controller, but with the keyboard and mouse, you can use it for anything really. I’ve responded to school emails, done online courses, even built small games in Unity (did a course on it), all from the comfort of my armchair and big TV screen.
Steam Deck is so versatile, you’ll love it!
Protip: you can use Bluetooth headphones with it so she doesn’t complain about the sound when you are next to her. My girlfriend always complains if I don’t lol
Does it not have an aux port?
I got a ps4 because I could use remote play and not take up the tv so that I could play next to my wife. It was ok, but I had to setup my computer on the couch with charger, kind of a hassle. When I got a switch it was a game changer because I could just grab it and flop down on the couch next to my wife. I imagine (I don’t have one) the steam deck is basically the same.
If that is what you guys do also then it will probably be great for you.
The dock is really expensive even on sale. Does it offer anything over the many third party docks?
It’s just a usb hub thats shaped to hold the deck. I was really underwhelmed with the dock, and would recommend a cheaper 3rd party one
No, but I bought a third party one that stopped working, returned it and bought the official dock which is still working.
I’d say its biggest strength is that this is the only dock you can guarantee will continually have firmware updates to support the Steam Deck.
my official dock likes to not recharge it often. I have to look and replug in the usbc to the dock to and check to make sure its charging. I actually now just plug the usbc directly to the deck as then I don’t have to fuss with it so much.
It includes an additional charger, wich costs 25$ in the ifixit store, + has both hdmi and Displaylink, both of wich can reach 4k 120hz. Also 1Gb/s ethernet port and 3 usb 3.1. Also firmware updates and support from valve.
I bought a 3rd party dock but soon realized it doesn’t pass ARC signals over HDMI… so when the dock is plugged into my receiver it fucks up all the auto-power on and volume control stuff. I believe the official dock has this supported in its firmware.
Great, just bought one on Tuesday. Time to refund and rebuy I guess?
Talk to support? They do that with games
I put in a request asking for them to reimburse the difference between original and sale price. It’s a long shot but hey why not y’know?
How’d it go?
Thanks for asking! They got back to me and said they’d “make an exception” for me. I now have a solid 150€ on my Steam wallet. Sooo, I’m still a happy Steam Deck owner!
I finally did it boys. Im going to be part of the gang in 1-2 weeks
Congrats, man! I’m very tempted to join you. Fortunately, I still have a couple of days to think about it.
If it’s not gonna set you back money wise too much it’s totally worth it.
💀
It does and you can use external drives via the usb C port
It does have a micro SD card slot. It is also possible to replace the main M.2 drive with a larger one, I have 2TB in my Steam Deck.
Tempting, but I think I’ll wait for some sort of v2 release (I know it might be years still)
If they could just be available in Australia that would be great.
I’d definitely buy one… if there was one that wouldn’t cramp my small hands after 5 minutes of holding it :(
I’ve got a sort of breastfeeding pillow which takes the weight very well
I read somewhere someone got a tablet arm, for release the weight of their hands.
