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Last post Author Topic: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC  (Read 136814 times)

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #100 on: July 20, 2022, 05:57 PM »
So not sure how what you did would have been so detrimental.

I had heard that there were problems if the Deck ran out of free space, but I thought it had about 5 GB of free space, which I also thought should have been enough. But maybe I was wrong about how much available storage the Deck had...

Anyway, I've contacted Valve Support and am awaiting a response. I've also gone ahead and ordered this Dockteck 7 port USB Hub (with 4K@60Hz HDMI, 1 Gig Ethernet, SD & microSD, 2x USB 3.0 A, and a USB C 100W PD port) because for one thing I've been wanting to use the Deck with a hub that has these features anyway, but more importantly I expect that one of the key troubleshooting steps to get the Deck working again without having to RMA it will be to re-flash the OS, and I can't do that with what I currently have. I saw a couple reviews that specifically mention that it works with the Deck, the only problem being that the Deck's power adapter doesn't provide enough power to keep the Deck charged while also powering the hub and other connected devices (the hub itself uses 8 watts!? That's more than a Raspberry Pi! What's that thing doing, mining cryptocurrency?). So I may need to buy a charger at some point, but for now I'll make do with the Deck's charger.

USB Hub.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Last Edit: July 21, 2022, 02:23 AM by Deozaan »

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #101 on: July 20, 2022, 08:03 PM »
I'll let you know how that charger I picked up functions if you're interested

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #102 on: July 21, 2022, 02:22 AM »
I'm interested in hearing about how any/all the things you've gotten work out for you. I think that eventually I'd like to have 2-3 hubs/docks for ultimate convenience when moving the Deck from place to place around the house or on the go. But I really can't afford to go all out with accessories right now. It was already tight buying two Decks in such a short period of time, but then a couple days ago our pet started behaving strangely which resulted in an unplanned visit to the veterinarian that ended up costing as much as the 512 GB Deck. 😭 (The sobbing emoji is about the cost, not the pet. The pet is OK...ish... so far...)

So if/when I get the Deck working again and connected to the USB hub, and if the battery is not staying charged while connected to the hub, then I'll just have to disconnect the hub for a while so it can charge on its own. Because ~$80 for a power brick is too much right now.


Anyway, I came back here to report that after doing nothing else all day regarding trying to troubleshoot the Deck due to not having a hub and not yet receiving a response from Valve, I happened to be looking through a drawer at my desk and found a USB A to USB C adapter that came with an external M.2 enclosure I got last year. It seems I put it in my desk and promptly forgot about it because I didn't have any USB C devices besides Android devices, and I didn't want/need to connect an external drive to those.

I was worried that I was still going to need to wait for the hub because I figured it would either just power off immediately when I tried unplugging the power cord so that I could plug in the thumb drive, or that it wouldn't recognize that the thumb drive had been inserted after it had already booted into the BIOS without it. But it appears to be working, at least as far as successfully booting into the recovery image on the thumb drive.

But I'm actually having the opposite problem! After booting into the recovery OS, it's telling me that the battery is critically low (3%) and it shuts itself off (to sleep mode) after 60 seconds. And since it's running from the thumb drive I can't plug in the power cord without breaking things because it can no longer read from the thumb drive. So I'm going to let it charge for a while and try again.

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #103 on: July 21, 2022, 03:04 AM »
I'm going to declare a tentative success. One of the options from the recovery image was to reinstall just Steam OS, keeping installed games and other user files. It seemed to stop rather suddenly with no notification that it had finished. Upon rebooting at that point, it told me there was no boot device found. I'm not sure if it just didn't work or if perhaps I didn't wait long enough for it to finish before rebooting or something else broke it along the way. So I booted back into the recovery image and told it to wipe the whole drive and flash it back to factory defaults. After doing that I was able to power it on without having the power cable attached, and I'm currently setting up language, WiFi, and timezone, etc., as I did the first time I turned it on. So it's looking like this Deck is back in action. 😌

I guess it's a good thing I had almost everything installed to the microSD card because I believe I can just pop that back in and it will all just work again right away. But it's late and I think I'm just going to go to bed once I get logged into my account. I can deal with re-installing games and other things tomorrow.
« Last Edit: July 21, 2022, 12:17 PM by Deozaan »

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #104 on: July 21, 2022, 10:17 AM »
I'm going to declare a tentative success. One of the options from the recovery image was to reinstall just Steam OS, keeping installed games and other user files. It seemed to stop rather suddenly with no notification that it had finished. Upon rebooting when it was done, it told me there was no boot device found. I'm not sure if it just didn't work or if perhaps I didn't wait long enough for it to finish before rebooting or something else broke it along the way. So I booted back into the recovery image and told it to wipe the whole drive and flash it back to factory defaults. After doing that I was able to power it on without having the power cable attached, and I'm currently setting up language, WiFi, and timezone, etc., as I did the first time I turned it on. So it's looking like this Deck is back in action. 😌

I guess it's a good thing I had almost everything installed to the microSD card because I believe I can just pop that back in and it will all just work again right away. But it's late and I think I'm just going to go to bed once I get logged into my account. I can deal with re-installing games and other things tomorrow.

Glad to hear that you're back to at least a tentative success!

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #105 on: July 21, 2022, 02:36 PM »
The success is Deck Verified! ;)

I was correct about being able to plug in the microSD card and have everything there and ready to go. One nice bonus is that it even remembered which of the titles I installed on the microSD card that I had automatic updates disabled for. I didn't expect that! (I wish there was a global configuration to disable automatic updates, but that's been a complaint of mine about Steam for years.)

I've been spending time reinstalling and configuring things in Desktop Mode, but I realize now as I'm typing this up that I should just wait until the hub arrives and use a proper mouse and keyboard (and a larger display!) to make that process a lot smoother.

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #106 on: July 21, 2022, 03:59 PM »
I've been spending time reinstalling and configuring things in Desktop Mode, but I realize now as I'm typing this up that I should just wait until the hub arrives and use a proper mouse and keyboard (and a larger display!) to make that process a lot smoother.

Its crazy how versatile it is.


wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #107 on: July 21, 2022, 04:12 PM »
There's apparently a ProtonGE that is more compatible than the one on the deck.

https://github.com/G...oll/proton-ge-custom

GE-Proton is based on proton sources but has additional patches that valve can't ship because of licensing issues as well as other improvements valve might not have implemented/tested yet.

It is not created and maintained by valve at all.


Use Discover app to install ProtonUp-Qt then use that app to install the latest version of ProtonGE. Apply ProtonGE to the game under the Compatibility tab in the game Properties.

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #108 on: July 22, 2022, 11:19 AM »
Its crazy how versatile it is.

That looks fun. :)

There's apparently a ProtonGE that is more compatible than the one on the deck.

I mentioned Proton-GE in one of my earlier posts when I mentioned trying to get "Deck Unsupported" games to work. I only tried it on two games and it didn't help, but so far I haven't ventured far into Unknown territory or even Playable for that matter.

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #109 on: July 22, 2022, 12:36 PM »
Just to let you know- that adapter I got is AWESOME. I'm using it more than the one included, mostly because I can use it for whatever device I have in the living room rather than keeping multiple adapters there, and charge more than one thing at a time.

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #110 on: July 23, 2022, 04:20 AM »
Once again, FedEx has just updated shipping information to be a day later than anticipated. >:( At least this time they're telling me a few days in advance instead of just not updating the information until after the expected time of delivery.

Just to let you know- that adapter I got is AWESOME.

That's cool. I'm glad you're liking it. :Thmbsup:

I still don't have many USB-C devices that need regular charging throughout the day. I have a phone and a tablet, both of which I just plug in overnight and they're good to go. Other than that it's just my Switch which is in its dock most of the time and now the Steam Deck. So I'm not feeling the need to charge a variety of things throughout the day. But I can see it being really useful and will probably keep it in mind for some future, eventual purchase.

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #111 on: July 23, 2022, 11:16 PM »
Why is FedEx so useless? >:( 😭

FedEx Tracking.png

Shades

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #112 on: July 24, 2022, 12:19 AM »
As I understood (from a thread on the SlashDot website), FedEx is converting from having many aging parcel tracking servers on location to a centrally located server farm in the cloud. All while updating the parcel tracking software.

Not a rant against the cloud, more like not having (enough) people to handle this transition very well. Whether that is by happenstance, or unwillingness to fork over enough money to hire (a sufficient amount of) professionals?  Probably the latter, as the current CTO makes promises of 400 million Dollars US in yearly savings.

On a happier note:
It is nice to read about real hands-on experiences with the SteamDeck.

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #113 on: July 24, 2022, 08:31 PM »
I didn't see you mention this before Deo - https://steamdeckhq.com/

They have a lot of awesome resources there.

Shades

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #114 on: July 25, 2022, 03:12 PM »
Youtube channel: Linus Tech Tips has a new video about the SteamDeck.

In that video they are pimping their deck up with significant hardware upgrades that do not invalidate Valve's guarantee on the hardware.




* Edit: now that I have seen the whole video, there is one part that does invalidate Valva's terms of guarantee. At LTT they added previously a rather large external passive heatsink (for the SteamDeck). And now they rewired the internal cooling fan to enable an external cooling fan, turning their passive heatsink into an active heatsink. 
« Last Edit: July 25, 2022, 03:33 PM by Shades »

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #115 on: July 25, 2022, 03:37 PM »
I had a pre-paid credit card with terms that were about to change unfavorably, so I almost used the remaining funds on it to order that 100W charger, but ultimately I decided it was more important (and less expensive) to get this JSAUX Docking Station which has 3x USB-A 3.0, 4K@60Hz HDMI 2.0, Gigabit LAN, and a 100W PD USB-C port.

JSAUX DeckDock.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

I signed up for their mailing list or something and got 15% off the purchase, which left enough funds on the card to also get these little USB-C 90 degree adapters which I thought would be useful because I've been concerned about the power cord in the top of the Deck pulling or tugging on the USB port and damaging it, especially when connected to the short cable coming from the other hub I bought. As things are, I feel I have to elevate the hub to get it high enough to plug into the Deck while it's in a stand without pulling on the port.

USB C 90 Degree Adapter.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC


I didn't see you mention this before Deo - https://steamdeckhq.com/

They have a lot of awesome resources there.

I don't think I've come across that before. Thanks! :Thmbsup:

While we're at it, here's a wiki with links to a bunch of Steam Deck resources:

https://www.sdeck.wiki/

As I understood (from a thread on the SlashDot website), FedEx is converting from having many aging parcel tracking servers on location to a centrally located server farm

I don't know what is wrong with FedEx. I've almost always received packages from UPS for the past two (or more) decades, but for some reason starting in 2021 a lot of the things I've ordered have been shipped via FedEx and I think only 1 of about 10-15 packages delivered by FedEx in the past ~1.5 years have arrived on time. With that lone exception, FedEx has been miserable to deal with every single time.

And this time is no different. FedEx did the same thing as with the last one, and didn't update the tracking information for two days. It finally updated today and apparently it's just been sitting in Chicago all weekend. It still claims it will be arriving tomorrow. It took a full day to travel the 30 miles from Carol Stream to Chicago and they expect me to believe it's gonna make it the remaining 1700+ miles in 36 hours? I guess maybe it will be shipped on an airplane, but I'll believe it when I see it.

FedEx Tracking Deux.pngValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

And they have the gall to say it's still scheduled to arrive "early" because before they even received the package they put up an estimate that it would take a week to arrive. But as soon as they received the package they estimated it would arrive in 5 days and marked that as "early" instead. And now that it's delayed and expected to arrive in 6 days they can still pat themselves on the back and report to their managers that they're doing a great job because it's still "early" compared to the initial estimate of 7 days. >:(
« Last Edit: July 25, 2022, 03:46 PM by Deozaan »

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #116 on: July 25, 2022, 06:24 PM »
I had a pre-paid credit card with terms that were about to change unfavorably, so I almost used the remaining funds on it to order that 100W charger, but ultimately I decided it was more important (and less expensive) to get this JSAUX Docking Station which has 3x USB-A 3.0, 4K@60Hz HDMI 2.0, Gigabit LAN, and a 100W PD USB-C port.

I was looking at something exactly like that - the Owltree one. But I decided that having a discrete hub would probably come in useful for other cases.

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #117 on: July 26, 2022, 08:56 PM »
I gave Aperture Desk Job another shot today and this time it played through without issue. It was my first time using gyro aiming and I have to say it was a pretty smooth experience. I can see it being quite helpful in games where rapid precision aiming is needed.

FedEx is Worthless Part 3.pngValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

My package was due to be delivered by end of business today, but there is still no tracking update from FedEx since early Monday morning. Now the delivery has been changed to "Pending" with no specific estimated date of arrival, yet they insist that the package is still "on time" instead of lost in shipping purgatory.


wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #118 on: July 26, 2022, 10:06 PM »
I've been having a lot of problems with shipping lately  :(

A few more things I've discovered:

https://github.com/m...yal/Steam-Deck-Guide

https://www.gamingon...m-deck-with-bottles/
(and you can do the same with other launchers)

And an accessory that looks pretty cool from that Steam Deck Guide

https://nexdock.com/features/

I might have to get that later.

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #119 on: July 27, 2022, 11:03 AM »

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #120 on: July 28, 2022, 04:30 AM »
My package was due to be delivered by end of business today, but there is still no tracking update from FedEx since early Monday morning. Now the delivery has been changed to "Pending" with no specific estimated date of arrival, yet they insist that the package is still "on time" instead of lost in shipping purgatory.
Got two emails a few hours apart saying delivery is scheduled for Thursday. But when I check the site it says delivery is expected Friday.

FedEx is Worthless Part 4.pngValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #121 on: July 28, 2022, 11:27 AM »
Wow... sorry to hear that you're having a time with FedEx :(

I tried UPlay and EAPlay with Bottles, but though they ran the first time, they didn't after that. Now I'm trying using the steam add non-steam game, but uplay is telling me that it can't authorize the game.

I also found another accessory - https://deckmate.me/
« Last Edit: July 28, 2022, 11:33 AM by wraith808 »

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #122 on: July 28, 2022, 08:18 PM »
The 512 arrived today after all.

They say that comparison is the enemy of joy. If I didn't have hands-on experience with two different Decks I never would have known any better and probably would have been perfectly happy with either one. But I've noticed a strong difference in how the trackpads function between the two devices. Especially when using them for dual-touch typing. On one of them, sliding my thumbs around causes the device to vibrate a lot. I can feel it under my thumbs at the trackpads themselves, and it's quite audible. Almost to the point where I'd describe it as rattling when I really get moving, or especially if both trackpads are going at once. And it's very easy to "press" the button. Just apply a small amount of pressure and it gives a satisfying "click" to let you know it has been pressed. Sometimes I click it and I think "that was a little too easy to click!" and it concerns me that it might click unintentionally at times. On the other Deck, the vibration is much more subtle while sliding my thumbs around. I can feel a light vibration in the palms of my hands at the back of the device, but not really under my thumbs at the trackpads. It's not audible to the same degree as the other one. If I put my ear a couple inches away from it then it sounds about as loud as the other one at normal/comfortable usage distance (about 2 feet). And pressing the trackpads in to "click" them requires significantly more pressure before they finally click. It's actually pretty uncomfortable having to press in so deliberately and so firmly, that I think I prefer typing the slow way with the d-pad and A button to select each letter. And when it clicks, the click is much more subtle and toned down compared to the other one.

Now I'm not fully satisfied with the trackpads of either one. It seems like one is far too sensitive and the haptics are too strong, and the other is far too insensitive and the haptics are too weak. It seems like the ideal is somewhere in the middle. Yet both devices have the same (default) settings as far as the trackpad sensitivity and haptics go.


For some less important comparisons, namely the carrying cases, I'm finding similar results. The 64 GB model (and I believe 256 GB model) carrying case is all black, with a grey logo outside, but also has a white strap inside to help pull the Deck out of the case without having to tip the case upside down or pry the Deck up by the joysticks.

photo_2022-07-28_18-22-15.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-18.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-21.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-23.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-25.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

The 512 GB model carrying case is black on the outside but the zipper pulls are white, has a colored logo, has a grey interior, and a black strap inside for pulling the Deck out. And the zipper itself is a whitish grey color.

photo_2022-07-28_18-22-26.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-28.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-29.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-30.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-31.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

I always thought the white strap inside the 64 GB case was a little weird and out of place (and not just because it's sewn in a little crooked), but other than that I've found it to be a perfectly fine functioning and looking thing. The "special" 512 case, on the other hand, is just ugly to me. I think the white zipper pulls are absolutely hideous. The grey zipper is weird and out of place. The grey interior fabric looks okay but I prefer the black fabric. Also I think that the grey fabric causes the black strap to look a little out of place, even though the black strap does look a little nicer on its own to me than the white one in the other case. And the colored logo on the outside is made of a different material. It feels like it's made of a kind of rubber or silicone, with a slightly sticky/grippy feeling. And it's much thicker, extruding from the surface of the case a few millimeters. Seems like it would easily catch on something and get torn off. Whereas the grey logo on the other one is completely flat, appearing to be a vinyl sticker or something similar.

All in all, I think I prefer the non-special carrying case over the special one. If it had a black strap instead of the pure white one inside it, it'd be perfect. I think I'll swap the carrying cases and keep the dark one for myself. :D

Additionally, the 512 GB Deck (and carrying case/accessories) smells awful. It smells like burnt/melted plastic and fried electronics. The 64 GB Deck didn't have a particularly strong/noticeable odor. I have recently developed (or noticed) a personal quirk where I "smell" things to see how hot they are, like when I pull food out of the microwave I give it a sniff to see if it is warm enough. It's probably not really about how it smells and more about my face being more sensitive to temperature than my fingertips, so it can more easily sense the heat rising from it, but since my nose is right there and it's something I usually do with food, I've gotten into the habit of giving it a sniff while I'm at it. Anyway, all that to say that I was trying to gauge how hot the air was coming out of the 64 GB Deck's exhaust vent and I gave it a little sniff while I was at it. And to me it doesn't smell unpleasant. It definitely smells like new materials. Maybe like new shoes, which have a distinct, but not unpleasant odor, in my opinion. But then again, it's possible that the 64 GB Deck was just as odiferous as the 512 GB Deck, but I might note have taken note of how smelly it was because I didn't think it was unpleasant. All I know is that right now I can't do anything with the 512 GB Deck (or its case) without noticing how awful it smells.


As for the two practical/intentional differences between the devices:

Storage: The internal storage partition for the 64 GB Deck is reported as being 46.5 GB. The internal storage partition for the 512GB Deck is reported as being 465.3 GB. It's a bit surprising to see that the 512 GB Deck has 10x the usable internal storage as the 64 GB Deck. I hadn't thought of it in those terms before. As for storage speeds, I installed a few games to the 512 GB Deck and didn't notice any slowdowns or related problems like I had when installing to the microSD card of the 64 GB Deck. I have inserted a microSD card into the 512 GB Deck as of yet because the largest microSD card I have is the 256 GB card and it's currently in the 64 GB Deck, and the 512 GB Deck still has more available storage than the combined total in the 64 GB Deck. But for the sake of completeness, I ought to swap the microSD card into the 512 GB Deck and see if I experience the same kind of slowdowns as I did when it was in the 64 GB Deck.

Screen: The 512 GB Deck has a special laser-etched anti-glare screen. They both show reflections. It's just that the regular glass shows a more perfect/clear reflection while the anti-glare glass has a less detailed or more blurred reflection. What I can say is that I find myself being self-conscious about capturing my own reflection in the regular screen, whereas with the anti-glare screen it blurs the details enough that I don't mind (so much) if my silhouette is reflected in the image.

photo_2022-07-28_18-22-32.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-22-34.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
photo_2022-07-28_18-37-51.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-37-53.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

And for reference, I usually have the screen brightness turned down pretty low on both Decks. In the images above, I put it as low as it will go, and then up 3 notches. Here's how it looks with the brightness of both displays turned up to the max:

photo_2022-07-28_18-46-19.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC photo_2022-07-28_18-46-18.jpgValve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

Deozaan

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #123 on: July 28, 2022, 08:23 PM »
I tried UPlay and EAPlay with Bottles, but though they ran the first time, they didn't after that. Now I'm trying using the steam add non-steam game, but uplay is telling me that it can't authorize the game.

I've also heard of (but haven't tried) something called Heroic Launcher for getting non-Steam games installed and working on Deck or Linux in general. And there's another one that does something similar, but its name escapes me at the moment. If I remember it I'll come back and post its name here. But in the meantime, Heroic Launcher might be worth a shot if you want to try alternative methods to getting non-Steam games working.

wraith808

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Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC
« Reply #124 on: July 28, 2022, 09:37 PM »
Additionally, the 512 GB Deck (and carrying case/accessories) smells awful. It smells like burnt/melted plastic and fried electronics.

I didn't have that experience.

The other launcher I know of is Lutris The difference between Lutris and Bottles is apparently that Lutris is trying to do everything, Bottles so far sticks to Wine. I haven't tried anything else since my failed attempt to use the steam client as my emulation environment. Well, not failed- apparently the problem I'm having with UPlay isn't just with the deck- it's just that I'd not heard of it before.

I just got my skin in from dbrand- i need a hair dryer for it so I've not tried to install it yet.