Quoting: PublicNuisanceThe storage is soldered on and can't be replaced.

https://www.steamdeck.com/en/tech [External Link]

All models use socketed 2230 m.2 modules (not intended for end-user replacement)
All models include high-speed microSD card slot

Pierre-Loup Griffais has said that the socket is particularly fiddly to get to.

Quoting: PublicNuisanceThe battery isn't listed as removable so I will assume that can't be replaced either.

Batteries, as a blob that takes up most of the space in a mobile device that only need a single connection, are generally quite modular, and Valve haven't shown any inclination towards wanting to deliberately lock these down. Sony are quite control-freaky about their hardware, but I could still replace the batteries in my PS3 controllers.

Wait for the inevitable iFixit teardown.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: mylka

Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: mylkai think they should make it more clear, that they do not sell a WINDOWS PC and you may not be able to play some games and you wont be able to install windows software like you do on windows

Nobody expects a thing like a Nintendo Switch to be a Windows PC. I don't think they need to sweat that a whole lot.

but switch owners expect to play their switch games
steam deck players wont be able to play all their steam games

I agree with you that it's something that needs to be addressed head on, but it seems clear that compatibility will be indicated in some fashion (that's how the rumours started in the first place). I think that Valve's aspiration to remove all barriers without specific game dev intervention is unrealistic.

However, the fact that not all PCs can play all PC games has been known to PC gamers for decades. My current desktop can play every game I can throw at it, but my ultrabook, my NUC and my now-retired Sandy Bridge machine simply can't. It is a pain that there are additional technical barriers if game devs don't make their products work on this machine, but the existence of titles that can't be run shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: musojon74I've not heavily looked at Linux gaming for a couple of years. However I've a: already reserved the 256Gb one of these and b: as they are showing Jedi Fallen Order and other aaa games, I will be reinstalling Linux on a spare mini PC to see what the current status of Proton. Exciting times!

Welcome!

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: alka.setzerBattery runtime also has me worried, 2h is what you will get playing games. So you will get a warm device which is not great.

That's going to depend on the game. Indies, which you say are a good match for this device, and which we have the most of available for Linux, should fare perfectly well.

IGN: Battery life? That's a big one in any handheld device. What are we looking at there?

Pierre-Loup Griffais: Well, there's a wide variety of experiences there. It's about 2-8 hours, depending on what you're doing. You can play Portal 2 for four hours on this thing. If you limit it to 30 FPS, you're going to be playing for 5-6 hours.

https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-valve-faq-big-questions-answered [External Link]

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: MohandevirQ2 2022 for the top tier... They must have sold a lot of them.

Q2 2022 for the middle one, too, now.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: MayeulCAnybody knows what 6.js could be?

It's the file that contained the SteamPal strings, which got noticed, which let the cat out of the bag about their hardware plans.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: ObsidianBlkI'm excited by this device and am very tempted to put that $5 for the option to buy one! I'm opposed to pre-ordering, they're not asking for the full bank up front, so, if, as the months go by, warning signs start cropping up, I haven't wasted much money at all.

It's a deposit. If you buy it, the deposit gets taken off the price and, if you don't buy it, the deposit gets refunded. Back to the initial payment method if the refund is within 30 days, or into your Steam wallet if it's later than 30 days.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: dubigrasuI can easily imagine that many will just strip SteamOS out of it and install Windows

I'm not sure they will. Installing an OS is a pain in the arse that most people don't do - it's one of the reasons why it's important that more vendors are pre-installing Linux. For non-gaming use cases you're not going to spend £500 on a device to use as an ebook reader or media device when there are way cheaper devices already available that will be better at those tasks (higher resolution screen, better battery life, no massive buttons), and for gaming use cases the experimental similar devices have had Windows being a detriment to the experience.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

We're also very curious to see if Valve will actually show some kind of "optimized for Steam Deck" label. They've said they want pretty much everything to work on it, either through Linux native titles or Proton but how will users know what to buy without going to external and unofficial websites that often have dubious user reports? We think they're going to need something to show it at least officially. This has yet to be mentioned by Valve.

On the other hand, the thing that kicked off the rumours about this device was the discovery of the GameList_View_NeptuneGames string, so it seems like something they're going to track and likely display in some way. Possibly just by additionally adding the Steam icon to games that don't otherwise have Linux support, though, like the current whitelist does, rather than a separate category.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: SalvatosI wish I had any idea what those specs mean in Intel/Nvidia terms.

The CPU is about the level of a Kaby Lake i7. The GPU is architecturally competitive with Ampere, but sliced really thin: no comparable product has been released yet for actual numbers on that part. We don't know how good Valve's chassis design is at keeping it from thermal throttling. The power budget for the whole thing is 15 W.

At its resolution you can likely expect it to be a competent gaming machine, but not a monster. You'll have to turn off the most exuberant and expensive effects. We'll know more when Valve send Liam one to try.

View this comment - View article - View full comments