I will say that while I love it, as someone with both it and a very capable desktop, I’m in the opposite position. I used it a bunch in the first couple months, but that was because it was a cool new gadget that I wanted to fiddle with. Once the novelty wore off, I do 99% of my gaming at home – the only time I’m using the steam deck at home is if I predict a long poop or I’m sick and don’t want to sit at my desk.
However, where it absolutely shines is travel. It’s small enough to throw in a carry on or even personal bag, and it’s amazing for a flight, or just any trip where you know you’ll have some downtime. The charge is long enough that you can go a few hours without power, especially if you anticipate it and use some of the power saving features.
It’s also fantastic if a second gaming computer would be good for your situation – maybe you’ve got kids or roommates that share your computer, or you wish you could game in your yard etc.
Basically, it’s not a slam dunk for everyone, but if you regularly have any of the use cases listed above, it’s absolutely worth the money – assuming you have the library for it already. I have tons of games that are excellent for the deck, but not everyone will, and while you can play competitive shooters and complex mouse-driven RPGs with it, it’s really not the ideal experience.
Yeah I’ve heard about that, I think I tried it once. I’m mostly using the deck outside in a hammock, or at the bar, or on the train, or during lunch break…
If anyone is on the fence, Steam deck is the coolest gadget I own. Play all the time. Got the OLED but even the 1st gen deck was fantastic
I have a massive desktop with a very good graphics card. Collecting dust
I will say that while I love it, as someone with both it and a very capable desktop, I’m in the opposite position. I used it a bunch in the first couple months, but that was because it was a cool new gadget that I wanted to fiddle with. Once the novelty wore off, I do 99% of my gaming at home – the only time I’m using the steam deck at home is if I predict a long poop or I’m sick and don’t want to sit at my desk.
However, where it absolutely shines is travel. It’s small enough to throw in a carry on or even personal bag, and it’s amazing for a flight, or just any trip where you know you’ll have some downtime. The charge is long enough that you can go a few hours without power, especially if you anticipate it and use some of the power saving features.
It’s also fantastic if a second gaming computer would be good for your situation – maybe you’ve got kids or roommates that share your computer, or you wish you could game in your yard etc.
Basically, it’s not a slam dunk for everyone, but if you regularly have any of the use cases listed above, it’s absolutely worth the money – assuming you have the library for it already. I have tons of games that are excellent for the deck, but not everyone will, and while you can play competitive shooters and complex mouse-driven RPGs with it, it’s really not the ideal experience.
You can still stream many games that might be more intensive to the Deck from that massive desktop.
Yeah I’ve heard about that, I think I tried it once. I’m mostly using the deck outside in a hammock, or at the bar, or on the train, or during lunch break…