Steam Deck: The First Hands-On With Valve’s Handheld Gaming PC

[Blue Quark]

I first heard about this on the DL and TWIL podcasts. There's some concern that this will take away from having developers port their games to native Linux versions with Steam, if they can just port to — or even write natively for — Proton instead. That would also be true for macOS ports.

However, if this could eventually help to break the stranglehold that Microsoft and Sony have, I think it's a very good thing.

 

[maflynn]

I'm curious to see if Razer will continue making phones

I have no inside information, but it appeared it was cancelled
Razer Phone 3 prototype may hint why it was canceled
Razer reportedly canceled Razer Phone 3, laid off chunk of staff (Update: Razer confirms lay-offs)

There is still some chatter (and people hoping) they're still working on another edition of it, but its been so many years, it doesn't seem likely.

 

[JMacHack]

I first heard about this on the DL and TWIL podcasts. There's some concern that this will take away from having developers port their games to native Linux versions with Steam, if they can just port to — or even write natively for — Proton instead. That would also be true for macOS ports.

However, if this could eventually help to break the stranglehold that Microsoft and Sony have, I think it's a very good thing.

I can see that being a double edged sword. But then it begs the question whether a native Linux port would have happened at all.

 

[erayser]

I have no inside information, but it appeared it was cancelled
Razer Phone 3 prototype may hint why it was canceled
Razer reportedly canceled Razer Phone 3, laid off chunk of staff (Update: Razer confirms lay-offs)

There is still some chatter (and people hoping) they're still working on another edition of it, but its been so many years, it doesn't seem likely.

Please remember to ask your friend. I'm curious to see if Razer will continue making phones. Thank you.

It's true... a new Razer phone isn't going to happen. It's been cancelled.

I even asked if they are thinking of making something competitive with the Steam Deck... he just said that he doesn't know, and nobody tells him of anything on any up coming projects... He didn't deny it... so idk... but its firm on no new Razer phone.

 

[macrumorsuser10]

It's true... a new Razer phone isn't going to happen. It's been cancelled.

I even asked if they are thinking of making something competitive with the Steam Deck... he just said that he doesn't know, and nobody tells him of anything on any up coming projects... He didn't deny it... so idk... but its firm on no new Razer phone.

Well, that's disappointing. I really like the minimalist aesthetics of Razer. Their products are top-notch.

Thanks for your trouble.

 

[awsom82]

Well, that's disappointing. I really like the minimalist aesthetics of Razer. Their products are top-notch.

Thanks for your trouble.

But have horrible software and support.
So, gaming mouse and keyboard are only products that you may buy from that company. Other stuff are nice looking junk.

 

[macrumorsuser10]

I think the Razer Blade laptops are the best among Windows laptops.

 

[maflynn]

I think the Razer Blade laptops are the best among Windows laptops.

I agree, I own one and the fit and finish is very mac like. Solid build and great specs. I have the 2019 Razer Advanced its one of the best laptops I've ever owned.

 

[09872738]

I agree, I own one and the fit and finish is very mac like. Solid build and great specs. I have the 2019 Razer Advanced its one of the best laptops I've ever owned.

How is the battery holding up if I may ask (considering the Razer 14)?

 

[maflynn]

How is the battery holding up if I may ask (considering the Razer 14)?

The battery of the Razer is definitely the Achilles heal on the this beast simply because of the power hungry RTX 2070 and the Intel Intel Core i7-9750H. Game playing I'll be lucky to get one or two hours, but then you're pushing CPU/GPU and possibly the storage. Battery life for non-gaming gives me nearly all day battery, I'm sure I can push it to all day, I just haven't been in a situation where I'm on battery for any time beyond 5 hours.

With that said, its been reported/reviewed that the brand new 14" Razer using the AMD processor is a helluva lot better in battery life (provided you're not playing games on battery). PCMAG details nearly 9 hours and TechRadar reports over 7 hours It may be possible to get over 7 hours approaching 9, but I do wonder if you sacrifice complete usability, i.e., turning down the display all the way, etc etc. For me and my needs, 7 to 9 hours would be fine, as I said earlier I've yet to run my current Razer for more then 5 hours anyways. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[09872738]

Thx for the write-up. Battery health still good I assume?

 

[maflynn]

Battery health still good I assume?

Yup, no issues

 

[soulreaver99]

Linus just posted his impressions on this. Pretty exciting stuff.

Looks like the SteamDeck would be a more useful computer than an iPad when connected to an external display

 

[mi7chy]

Linus just posted his impressions on this. Pretty exciting stuff.

Looks like the SteamDeck would be a more useful computer than an iPad when connected to an external display

That's very promising performance. Compared the same scenes on my Lenovo Legion Slim 7 gaming laptop power limited to 40W on RTX3060 it has equivalent fps at the same settings (720p, medium, no motion blur, vsync off). Q1 couldn't come soon enough.

 

[diamond.g]

Well crap, has anyone looked at their expected order availability? I got my order in 15 minutes after it went live but for some reason instead of getting mine in Q4 this year it is telling me Q1 next year.

 

[mi7chy]

No one has reported getting anything sooner than Q1 so it's the first batch.

 

[macsplusmacs]

LOL. my internet literally died as i went to the checkout process. so I got pushed back to Q2.

 

[diamond.g]

No one has reported getting anything sooner than Q1 so it's the first batch.

oh good.

 

[garnerx]

No one has reported getting anything sooner than Q1 so it's the first batch.

I noticed last week that mine (512 GB, ordered within 15 minutes) had slipped to Q1. The Steam Deck page still says shipping begins December 2021, so I'm guessing this is no longer the first batch. Or the product description just hasn't been updated.

 

[macsplusmacs]

Have other PC makers announced support for miniPC style boxes that have the same Zen 2 + RDNA 2?

Gotta think if SteamDeck does not ship till Dec that maybe Steam got the exclusive early announce and we may see more around Dec.

 

[oppastopa]

Will you be able to use this flawlessly with Ultrafines or even the Pro Display XDR?

 

[diamond.g]

Will you be able to use this flawlessly with Ultrafines or even the Pro Display XDR?

To play games? Not likely at native resolution.

 

[garnerx]

Will you be able to use this flawlessly with Ultrafines or even the Pro Display XDR?

Sounds like Youtube gold - you won't believe what happened when we plugged a $300 handheld PC into a $5000 monitor.

 

[oppastopa]

To play games? Not likely at native resolution.

Since Mac has SteamOS, I'm trying to figure out for sure if the Steamdeck will work on the 5k/6k displays, native resolutions aside. I'm not even exactly sure if the Steamdeck will work with MacOS no matter what the screen.

 

[diamond.g]

Since Mac has SteamOS, I'm trying to figure out for sure if the Steamdeck will work on the 5k/6k displays, native resolutions aside. I'm not even exactly sure if the Steamdeck will work with MacOS no matter what the screen.

Are you talking about SteamLink? I am not sure what SteamDeck has to do with macOS. As far as an external monitor is concerned as long as what you are plugging it into supports DP/HDMI (I am assuming that is what the dock has for output) it should work. At native resolution performance will be garbage though.