Hey, I’m thinking of upgrading from my old work laptop (which isn’t really built for gaming at all, but is great for productivity), and I was eyeing either an OLED steam deck or a more powerful laptop that I could bring with me and use on campus away from my home setup. I plan on using linux for either machine, but I was wondering if any of the Steam Deck’s secret sauce or price to performance puts it ahead compared to a Framework or Gaming laptop.

Also, if anyone has experience using a steam deck as a workstation/portable work setup, I would love your input on if it’s a good idea to replace a laptop with a steam deck entirely.

  • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    5·
    2 days ago

    I love my steam deck and regularly run all sorts of non-gaming software on it like Blender, QGIS, emacs, logseq, Kdenlive, Inkscape, Gimp etc…

    You just gotta find a keyboard you like, for me it is the Logitech K780 because it is a large keyboard with superb feeling keys and an awesome built in stand for a phone so you can switch between using the keyboard for different devices quickly.

    The Steam Deck definitely isn’t insanely powerful, if you are going to lean on it as your main gaming device you have to understand that but if you aren’t someone that needs the latest and greatest graphics on all the most processing heavy new AAA games, the Steam Deck’s advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

    The simple fact is that because the Steam Deck is handheld you end up using it far more than you would a non-handheld device (or even laptop) simply because it is comfortable to do so in more situations, and this fundamentally is the reason I think the Steam Deck is such a good buy. You will use the shit out of it in a ton of different contexts you don’t even expect going into getting the device.

    A slight annoying thing is that people are still getting used to what a Steam Deck is, most people really have a hard time understanding they are looking at a general computing device not a disposable recreational toy like a Nintendo Switch. People act oddly about it because they weren’t told this was the future by massive corporations and that makes people confused and almost…uncomfortable? If you use your Steam Deck for a presentation or to demonstate something to someone else they will barely listen because they will just still be staring at it going “wait… so that is a… computer…? Like a laptop computer not a Nintendo Switch? Why though?”.

    • shittydwarf@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      5·
      2 days ago

      Dude this is a high quality answer, I think you just pushed me over the edge to finally grabbing a deck. Thanks for the keyboard recommendation too, that phone holder lip thing looks super convenient

      • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        Yeah the Logitech k780 is a bit bulky, but it is by far my favorite keyboard ever. It isn’t a mechanical keyboard but the keys feel AWESOME (and yet are still nice and quiet unlike most mechanical keyboards) and I really like the typewriter-like circular keys.

        The phone holder is amazing. I cannot live without it now lol.

        Also, heck yes! I love hyping people up on the Steam Deck because even if you purchase one impulsively they are just so useful and flexible as fun handheld computers that you will find uses for it for years to come.

        Do it!!!

    • Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      That’s really enlightening! I won’t be using it as my main gaming device per se - I’ll just be moving into the dorms on campus away from home and won’t be able to access my desktop gaming setup at all during the semester.

      I’m an engineering student, and I’ve had familiarity with schoolwork on Linux (albeit with some growing pains >_<). Sounds like I can get by with just a spare monitor + KBM setup in the dorm room with a Steam Deck as my main device in my backpack and a station in my room. Awesome!

      It’ll be a nice change of pace from the heavy HP laptop I used to lug around for my job XD

      • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Yeah then I think it is a no-brainer thing for you to get the Steam Deck, the only situation I see someone like you being truly disappointed in your Steam Deck is if they REALLLLY wanted to play more graphically intensive games and the Steam Deck just couldn’t quite cut it. If you already own a gaming computer worst comes to worst you sit there and think “damn, I will have to play this once I get my hands on my desktop gaming rig again!” and move onto another game in your library.

        Another note in the Steam Deck’s favor for gaming, the suspend feature where if you press the power button the Steam Deck instantly sleeps is incredibly useful for jumping in and out of games. Even if you don’t hit pause the way the Steam Deck runs games the environment the game is running in is paused when you press the power button… so you can jump in and out of games really easy that weren’t necessarily designed to be rapidly started and stopped.

        I would recommend getting a dock so you can use a keyboard and mouse sitting at a desk with a larger monitor when needed. Bonus points you can use the steam deck dock for splitscreen local gaming hangouts with friends, normal ass bluetooth gamepads usually work fine connecting to the Steam Deck (xbox controllers are great) and with the dock you can bring a backpack with everything you need to set up awesome indie splitscreen gaming sessions. It is a blast and the Steam Deck is underappreciated in this realm especially given how many good indie local splitscreen games there are out there.