Not been into gaming for some years now and happened upon the Stream Deck. A handheld PC. Sort of.

What a great bit of kit and given the tech involved a pretty “reasonable” price.

I doubt I’ll be getting one (I’m just not sure I have the patience for gaming these days) but just wondered if anyone on here has one and any thoughts on it?

Yep got one, it’s really good.

I love how easy they are to upgrade. The SSD, the controls, even the screen to the anti glare version.

Yes! Love mine. Made a couple of long train journeys more enjoyable. Got a dock too and it’s replaced my old xbox due to an extensive steam backlog.

It’s an impressive gadget. Taking a while to get used to and requires a bit of tinkering to make things work unless you stick to verified games.

Don’t tell my daughter. Just got scammed for a Switch on Vinted, but Vinted refunded her within the hour – ordered a used Switch, got a dog collar…

My son suggested this as she is a PC gamer too. Better check prices… New Switch £300

wordnumb
Free Member
It’s an impressive gadget. Taking a while to get used to and requires a bit of tinkering to make things work unless you stick to verified games.

Sadly that’s all a positive for me, I’d enjoy the tinkering as much as the games!😃

The screen is relatively low res, does that annoy when gaming? Is pixelation very obvious?

@fossy

Full Member
Don’t tell my daughter. Just got scammed for a Switch on Vinted, but Vinted refunded her within the hour – ordered a used Switch, got a dog collar…

My son suggested this as she is a PC gamer too. Better check prices… New Switch £300

Glad she for her money back!

A brand new 64GB (upgradable of course if you don’t mind opening a free screws etc and no doubt invalidating the warranty) is “only” £349.

If she is already a PC gamer…

I have one, bought as we’ve a baby due shortly, and there’s no way I’m getting to my big PC in the basment when that happens!

The screen resolution hasn’t been an issue for me, as it’s small enough that there’s still a decent pixel density despite the lower resolution.

Ordered one on Tuesday, got the on its way email yesterday.

I have one. Really enjoy it and catching up on games that I used to love but had forgotten. Loads of stuff on the Steam store for less than £1 at the moment too, and Epic gives away AAA games pretty often.

Amazon has a good deal on 512GB cards right now (you don’t need ultra fast ones), and CeX randomly have SSDs cheap. Don’t forget that you can only stick games on the SD card and you’ll still need 5-10GB per game on the internal SSD for other junk.

Can recommend Stray, which is easily the best game I’ve played this year.

Yup – I have one, mostly used for “slow” gaming – been playing things like Mud Runner and Powerwash Simulator.

Was particularly impressed with Stray on there too – really engaging game and works well with the deck.

The screen is relatively low res, does that annoy when gaming? Is pixelation very obvious?

The screen is fine, but I’m not finickety about such things and tend to lower settings to conserve battery. The thing that’s throwing me is that I’m not used to twin stick controllers, FPSs seem particularly challenging. Valve released a decent game to familiarise users with the Deck, but it doesn’t seem to allow you to just practice shooting/moving for any length of time. I have a DIY hub/dock set up – but that still requires some monkeying to get mouse to work. For example, some older games will only work with a mouse if running the game through desktop mode. I know not why.

The thing that’s throwing me is that I’m not used to twin stick controllers

Yep, I’ve only ever gamer with a keyboard/mouse. That said, I’ll likely not use it for online fps where I’ll get destroyed frankly.

I could get a k.board mouse for it of course but then I might as well be sitting at my PC table anyway…

I primarily use mine for playing old arcade games via mame, it works really well.

Can you use gyro aiming? I preordered a steamdeck but sold it on (unused) as I bought a switch in the meantime. Gyro aim in conjunction with sticks is a good way closer to mouse and keyboard (and better than just sticks alone).

^^ Only just seen a demo of the gyro aiming. Totally alien to me as a past PC gamer but looks very interesting!

So… It’s just ordered a Deck, the 64gb one and I’ve ordered a used 512 SSD to upgrade it, cheaper and I don’t want the anti glare screen oem 512gb one.

I miss PC gaming but sitting at a desk in front of a monitor just isnt an option for me for various reasons.

The amount of tech in this thing for £350 is pretty stunning.

And mine arrived today, impressed how easy the setup is on it. Currently downloading a few games and will be testing later.

@Russell96

Excellent.👍

How long did delivery take? I look forward to you thoughts on it too.

@Poopscoop ordered last Tuesday evening, arrived yesterday so well within the one to two weeks they are quoting for delivery.

Great, thanks for update mate.

Well, it shipped a few days ago but looks like it might still be in the Netherlands.😁

Actually, I reckon it’s in the UK now but possibly held up by the strikes*/Christmas/black Friday.

No bother, it’s allows me to get a few accessories delivered.

*Which I support.👍

Finally arrived! Was stuck down in customs or whatever for a long while. Shipped from Netherlands.

I’ll check it boots then take it apart to put bigger SSD in.👍

I swapped out the SSD on mine yesterday. It’s a 15 minute job, most of which is trying to get the first clip on the back panel undone using just your fingernail.

Didn’t see any point in disconnecting the battery, especially since the connector looks super-fragile. There’s a “battery storage” mode setting which I’m pretty sure does the same thing through software.

Thanks for the tips mate and glad yours went well.👍

I just cut my nails yesterday but luckily have the pry tools etc for the occasional mobile phone repair.lol

Just an update really.

What a wonderful little device this is.

I’ve not bought a bit of tech for years where I’ve been so wowed and honestly thought it’s a genuine to goodness bargain.

I’ve got a dock and BT keyboard and have been using it as an occasional PC as well as a gaming platform.

Proton is a wonder, it’s an “emulator” that allows windows games to run on linux and could be a game changer for those only running Windows pc’s for gaming purposes. As for the retro (and current… Switch…, ahem…) emulation abilities, it’s amazing.

For anyone considering getting one, I’d say go ahead, you won’t be disappointed.👍

And anybody interested in the new sweary FPS “High on Life” I can confirm it plays nicely on the deck, and is hilarious

I’d assumed it didn’t have enough oomph to emulate the switch decently. Does it play the games well ? Decent frame rate etc?