Hey all, sorry in advance if this kind of post isn't welcome in this community. I wasn't really sure where to post this question and I didn't see anything in the rules against text posts or questions. If there's a more appropriate place to post I'll take this down and repost somewhere else.
With the recent price hikes of game pass, Microsoft's general inability to publish good games, and a deep loathing for AAA studios obsession with milking me for every dollar I have while delivering uninspired, broken slop, I've cancelled my game pass subscription and started considering PC gaming. I'm still on the Xbox one and haven't bothered to get the one X due to these issues. I'm due for am upgrade and don't feel particularly thrilled at the idea of spending that much money on a console that has little to offer.
I don't have a lot of money, but I do have enough to afford a modest build (600-700 USD.). But with all the praise and broad support that the steam deck has been getting, I'm wondering if my money may not be better spent on getting one and using the extra for a dock, some peripherals, and a start to building my library. The steam deck would be living most of its life docked and plugged into a monitor. The fact that it's a capable portable gaming machine is, for the most part, a bonus to me.
I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Is a steam deck a viable alternative to a budget gaming PC?
You haven't talked about how much you care about portability and ease of assembly.
The only reasons to buy a Steam Deck is because you can use it on the go, and maybe because it already comes pre-built and pre-configured with an OS. So it would be interesting to know how important those two things are to you.
If they are not/not very important, then a Steam Deck makes no sense, as you can get the same power of hardware for much cheaper in a desktop.
My rationale for the steam deck was mostly the convenience and broad support. Prior to this thread, portability was more of a bonus than a main draw for me. However, a few people have mentioned how much they like the steam deck for use around the house over their PC and I hadn't really considered that before. I will say that this prospect does shift me a little more towards the steam deck than before.
I was mostly drawn to building a PC for upgradability and longevity. As I understand it 600-700 for a PC (buying secondhand) is on the line of acceptable and decent. The last time I gamed on a PC was in the days of halo CE on a hand-me-down windows XP machine so my personal experience on the matter is extremely out of date, but I'm willing (and interested).to learn