I don't have any good ideas for a Steam Deck setup that can be used on one's lap, but compact keyboards with either built-in trackballs or trackpads are a must, I feel. A German manufacturer called Perixx makes some nice trackball ones.

I use an Apple Wireless Keyboard (model A1314) as my travel keyboard with the Deck. It's very thin, very sturdy, gets good battery life off a couple rechargeable AAs, and still feels acceptable for typing. It doesn't have any sort of integrated pointing device, though, you'd still need a separate one.

Plus, it's an old device that can be had quite cheaply second-hand, or via eBay. I think I paid USD $20 for mine?

I have the Logitech K400+.
I haven't used it with my deck, it's the replacement for my laptop (trackpad and keys in the keyboard stopped working)

It's got great battery life, works OOTB with Linux and is lap sized (it's the width of my laptop). It is bigger than the keyboards for a tablet, but it also has a pretty simple track pad. It's definitely a wider than the deck, actually a bit wider than the case for the deck.

I wouldn't do any furious gaming on it, but for office tasks and light gaming (I played Factorio and Rimworld and edit presentations), it's just fine.

How about this one?
Foldable Keyboard with built-in Touchpad
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZRNJ4DX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Another vote for the K400 Plus, it's what I've been using the entire time. Battery lasts a long time too.

I use my Anne Pro 2 60% mechanical keyboard for both my steam deck and my desktop. It's got a massive lipo battery in it, and can be used bluetooth or wired. No pointing device, but I have a kickstand on my deck and I just use the trackpad as my mouse. Still needs a table though, not really a "lap"top setup.

If you want a full laptop experience for the deck, I would recommend the NexDock. https://nexdock.com/explore-nexdock/
It's pricey at $269, but it's a full clamshell laptop setup with keyboard/trackpad/screen and even a built in battery to extend the deck's battery time, so you could just plug this in with a single cable and set the deck to the side or mount it to the back of the screen or something.

Alternatively you could get just one of those tablet keyboard cases and just set the steamdeck in it when you open it. https://www.amazon.com/GreenLaw-Tab-S8-S7-inch/dp/B0C5T7ZQ38
This one's case kickstand thingy is cool, but doesn't have a touchpad so you'd still have to use the steamdeck's touchscreen/trackpad. https://www.amazon.com/ALLIFE-Universal-Bluetooth-Smartphone-Protection/dp/B09GKFJM5D

Last edited by ticktok on 29 September 2023 at 6:16 pm UTC