Steam Deck

My opinion is likely outdated. I was really excited for the stream deck, but it struggled to work properly when I received it. And there were often issues with the clock and wifi that made it nearly impossible to use. Throw in some issues with audio not playing over tv speakers...

It ended up becoming an expensive paperweight over the last few months as it brought me memories of frustration and buyers regret rather than joy.

I'm not trying to make anyone angry or anything. Many people here seem to love it, so maybe I should give it another go. I hope some updates have maybe increased its performance. Just wanted to share my honest experience...

Likes: Portable, play games like on a console but have access computer exclusive things, like console commands, grate control customization, and nice button layout.

Dislikes: Not so great battery life, a bit too heavy for my taste, and doesn't come with a dock.

I loveimy steam deck but for your purposes, if you have literally any other device you can run steam link on it, connect it to your TV, etc. And that would probably be better performance assuming that your computer has good specs

Overall, I've honestly had a really positive experience. Most games I've tried work out of the box, performance is impressive, the control they give users is awesome, the support they are giving the Linux community is awesome, and it's great to have a second "PC" to game with my fiance or take with me on trips.

So with all that said, my biggest con by far is the official dock. I still have tons of problems hooking it to different TVs, and even when it does work there are issues with audio crackling.

Favorite? Pretty much what everybody else says. Portability. Battery life, all things considered. Controls feel great. Amazing handheld for emulation. I have an electric car, and I love being able to use my Steam Deck whenever I'm waiting for my car to charge.

My least favorite? The touchscreen. It's garbage. I was excited thinking I could play Osu on it. Nowhere close. It's not really even accurate enough for higher-level Plants vs. Zombies. You'd think a device like the Steam Deck would be great to dual-booted or virtualize Android on, but with the crappy touch screen, I can't recommend it. But the worst part is trying to use the on-screen keyboard with it. I use my Steam Deck as a PC replacement at work. I'm a sysadmin, I've been using Linux for two decades, but the touchscreen makes even the most basic terminal commands painful to type with the OSK. So if you plan on using it heavily as a PC, or doing a lot of tinkering with it like I do, do yourself a favor and get a physical keyboard for it. Bluetooth ones are okay, but having a full-blown keyboard, mouse, and monitor with USB-C dock is definitely nice if you're using it for more than just a game console.

@garrettz Love playing games that more or less require a mouse and a keyboard on it. Older PC games, strategy, CRPG, point'n'click etc. Also find the desktop mode very useful. Least favorite thing is probably how locked down SteamOS is compared to a normal distro.

My favorite thing is that I use mine connected to the dock, but handheld, so that it's the controller to what is on my TV. It also has an ethernet cable connected to the dock. Not sure if this would work for everyone. I sit on the floor on a tatami mat and the 40-something-inch TV is also on the floor. It is heavy, so my hands tend to rest on my folded legs while playing, or I'll put a pillow on my lap for it to be a bit higher.

I mostly play less demanding games and emulators. The emulation stuff is quite good but there are little annoyances that you'll need to deal with using mouse and keyboard. I go through periods where it collects dust and suddenly I'll think of some retro stuff I want to play. Right now I'm doing a play through of the original FF7 on DuckStation.

A big positive is that it is the reason I'm dipping into genres I don't normally touch. I'm playing Chained Echoes right now, which is a modern-day 16-bit RPG. I normally don't bother with those, because if I'm at my PC with a 3080TI in it, I'm not playing a 16-bit game, and my PS5 is already building a bit of a backlog with so many good games coming, so I don't play smaller games when I'm on my big plush couch, I want to play stuff that takes advantage of the hardware and tends to be more cinematic. On Deck, I'm playing these smaller games while laying in bed next to my wife while we have the TV on. It's also nice to take to hotels when I travel for work, which I used to take my PS5 for. The hotel TVs always suck and you can't adjust any settings so it's nice to not be lugging the PS5 around any more.
The only drawback is the weight; my wrists start to get tired after 45 minutes or so, so I need to sit up or adjust my position to keep playing comfortably.