Author Topic: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC (Read 105792 times)

Deozaan · « **on:** July 17, 2021, 12:48 AM »

Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

Valve have announced a new, portable PC with built-in gamepad which looks very much like the Nintendo Switch. It will come with a custom version of SteamOS installed, designed to run games using your Steam library. But it's a full PC, meaning it can also be docked to a TV or monitor and other peripherals (keyboard, mouse, other gamepads) using a USB hub or Bluetooth. And you could even install Windows or other Linux distributions on it.

All the internal hardware of the various models is the same except for the internal storage, which results in a 64 GB (eMMC) model for $400, a 256 GB (NVMe) model for $530, and a 512 GB (even faster NVMe than the 256) model for $650 which also has an anti-glare screen. That said, all three will include a MicroSD slot to allow for even more storage.

Here's a pretty good video overview of all the pertinent details.

Reserving requires a $5 deposit (which will be put toward the final price once you purchase) and will put you on the waiting list, which currently appears to be full until Q2-Q3 of 2022 depending on which model you want.

I decided to reserve one even though I'm still on the fence about it, because at this point I'll have about a year to cancel if I change my mind.

For more details and to reserve one for yourself, see:
https://www.steamdeck.com/

wraith808 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 17, 2021, 02:07 PM »

Yeah, I reserved a 512G as soon as it hit.

Deozaan · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2021, 05:47 PM »

Major props to Valve for their consumer-friendly attitude!

They just released a video greatly discouraging disassembling the Deck, while showing how to do it as safely as possible.

wraith808 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 06, 2021, 05:54 PM »

I like the non-subtle emphasis on the negative words.

mouser · « **Reply #4 on:** October 10, 2021, 05:22 AM »

That's awesome. More of this from companies please.

wraith808 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 25, 2021, 09:53 AM »

PSA: You can now see when you are queued to have the Steam Deck available for purchase. Mine isn't until Q2 2022

Deozaan · « **Reply #6 on:** October 26, 2021, 03:30 AM »

Mine isn't until Q2 2022
-wraith808 (October 25, 2021, 09:53 AM)

Ditto.

But that could be as soon as April, which doesn't seem very far away to me.

wraith808 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 26, 2021, 05:22 AM »

Mine isn't until Q2 2022
-wraith808 (October 25, 2021, 09:53 AM)

Ditto.

But that could be as soon as April, which doesn't seem very far away to me.
-Deozaan (October 26, 2021, 03:30 AM)

I was thinking December and planning for it as my Christmas gift. And given the logistics nightmare we're in the middle of right now, I think April is optimistic if they have enough to scheudle it out until then. At least it will give an adequate time to see what kind of reviews it garners.

Deozaan · « **Reply #8 on:** October 26, 2021, 10:26 PM »

I was thinking December and planning for it as my Christmas gift. And given the logistics nightmare we're in the middle of right now, I think April is optimistic if they have enough to scheudle it out until then. At least it will give an adequate time to see what kind of reviews it garners.
-wraith808 (October 26, 2021, 05:22 AM)

When I made my pre-order, it told me it would be arriving approx. Q3. So I wasn't expecting mine until at least July. And right now if you look, for new pre-orders it says they won't be arriving until after Q2, which sounds a lot like Q3 to me.

Obviously, Q2 could mean anything between April and June inclusive. A lot of it depends on how they're handling it. I don't know if they're just making a single batch as large as possible per quarter or if they've got factories working to construct these things around the clock as fast as possible with daily or weekly or monthly fulfillment. If it's the former, then yeah, I suppose I would expect it to be toward the end of the quarter. But if it's the latter, who knows when it will be?

But really, I think it's just my brain playing tricks on me. Even though there's still two full months left of this year, I have the feeling that the year is pretty much over already. So January feels "like next week" to me right now. And similarly, feeling like January is so close also makes April feel pretty close. And though it may be unlikely to receive a unit that "soon" it just feels not far off for me.

Maybe I'm just getting to be really old, and it is starting to feel like I'm watching the years whiz by. 😬

Deozaan · « **Reply #9 on:** November 10, 2021, 06:30 PM »

Well, so much for my optimism! I got an email saying Deck is delayed by 2 months, and they expect it will start shipping in February.

wraith808 · « **Reply #10 on:** November 10, 2021, 09:03 PM »

Well, so much for my optimism! I got an email saying Deck is delayed by 2 months, and they expect it will start shipping in February.
-Deozaan (November 10, 2021, 06:30 PM)

Yeah, got the same message. So they push the entire queue back, so we'll likely be Q3-Q4.

Deozaan · « **Reply #11 on:** November 11, 2021, 02:41 AM »

"Your expected order availability: After Q2 2022"

It looks like I'm back to where I started. I'm pretty sure that when I placed my pre-order, it told me "after Q2" or maybe it just said Q3. But then after things settled it told me the ETA was Q2. So I'm still not really disappointed.

wraith808 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 11, 2021, 08:07 AM »

"Your expected order availability: After Q2 2022"

It looks like I'm back to where I started. I'm pretty sure that when I placed my pre-order, it told me "after Q2" or maybe it just said Q3. But then after things settled it told me the ETA was Q2. So I'm still not really disappointed.
-Deozaan (November 11, 2021, 02:41 AM)

After Q2 could just mean that they haven't settled on scheduling that far out. That's how I took it. Originally mine told me that it was Q2 2022- not after.

Deozaan · « **Reply #13 on:** November 12, 2021, 12:22 AM »

Yeah. Either way, I'm not in a big rush for the Deck. And this delay gives me more time to set aside the money for it. Especially because after I placed my pre-order, I basically blew my Deck budget on an Oculus Quest 2 + accessories.

wraith808 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 26, 2022, 01:38 PM »

https://steamcommuni.../3117055056380003049

Steam Deck Launching February 25th
Hello, the day is almost here! On February 25th, we will be sending out the first batch of order emails to reservation holders. Customers will have 3 days (72 hours) from receipt of their order email to make their purchase, before their reservation is released to the next person in the queue. The first units will be on their way to customers starting the 28th, and we plan to release new order email batches on a weekly cadence.

In addition, we're sending out press units for full review shortly. Press review embargo on Steam Deck coverage will lift on February 25th, but keep an eye out for some preview coverage and impressions before that. In the meantime we're working to tie up the last few loose ends and polish some rough edges, and are excited to get these out to you at the end of next month!

Additional details for the curious:
We will start sending invites shortly after 10:00 am on February 25th, PST
Order emails are sent in the same order that reservations were made.
You can only order the Steam Deck model that you originally reserved.
Your reservation deposit will be applied to the final price of Steam Deck, and shipping costs are included.

Deozaan · « **Reply #15 on:** February 17, 2022, 01:44 PM »

With just a week until the launch of the Steam Deck, iFixit has a more thorough teardown of an actual production model:

https://www.ifixit.c.../steam-deck-teardown

Additionally, there's a website you can enter in your Steam ID to see your library's compatibility with the Deck:

https://www.gamingon...ompatibility-easily/

wraith808 · « **Reply #16 on:** February 17, 2022, 06:52 PM »

Thanks! Very useful!

Deozaan · « **Reply #17 on:** February 18, 2022, 04:33 PM »

For those curious, here's the current status of my Steam library, according to CheckMyDeck.

6% Playable+
VERIFIED: 21 games (2.57%)
PLAYABLE: 24 games (2.93%)
UNSUPPORTED: 9 games (1.1%)
UNKNOWN: 764 games (93.4%)

Looking at the actual list of playable/verified games from my library, the majority of them are games that I have never played or never intend to play again. . . But to be fair, almost all of the unsupported games are either VR games or have some kind of anti-cheat (and also are things I will probably never play (again)). Only two of the unsupported games have a generic "Valve is still working on adding support for this game on Steam Deck" message, which gives no indication as to why or in what way(s) it doesn't work.

Deozaan · « **Reply #18 on:** February 23, 2022, 04:22 AM »

It seems Valve have released an official library compatibility checking page here:

https://store.steamp...om/steamdeck/mygames

wraith808 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 23, 2022, 01:01 PM »

It seems Valve have released an official library compatibility checking page here:

https://store.steamp...om/steamdeck/mygames
-Deozaan (February 23, 2022, 04:22 AM)

Nice! Doesn't seem to pull all of your library though...

Deozaan · « **Reply #20 on:** February 23, 2022, 03:53 PM »

Nice! Doesn't seem to pull all of your library though...
-wraith808 (February 23, 2022, 01:01 PM)

Yeah, I'm seeing slightly different results between that page and Check My Deck. I'm not sure how often Check My Deck updates their database. But almost every day the number of playable (or verified) games is growing higher and higher for me.

Check My Deck says:
8% playable
VERIFIED: 31 games (3.79%)
PLAYABLE: 34 games (4.16%)
UNSUPPORTED: 12 games (1.47%)
UNKNOWN: 741 games (90.59%)

Valve says:
Verified: 29 games
Playable: 35
Unsupported: 10
Unknown: 782

Deozaan · « **Reply #21 on:** March 02, 2022, 11:50 AM »

With the recent release of the Deck, Valve have also released a free game (tech demo?) called Aperture Desk Job:

Aperture Desk Job reimagines the been-there-done-that genre of walking simulators and puts them in the lightning-spanked, endorphin-gorged world of sitting still behind things.

You play as an entry-level nobody on their first day at work — your heart full of hope and your legs full of dreams, eager to climb that corporate ladder. But life’s got other plans, and they all involve chairs.

Designed as a free playable short for Valve’s new Steam Deck, Desk Job walks you through the handheld’s controls and features, while not being nearly as boring as that sounds.
-https://store.steampowered.com/app/1902490/Aperture_Desk_Job/

https://store.steamp...0/Aperture_Desk_Job/

Deozaan · « **Reply #22 on:** March 14, 2022, 05:52 PM »

Valve now has a better idea of their production and fulfillment, so if you go to your pre-order page, it might give you more specific details on when you can expect to receive your Deck.

Whereas mine used to say "After Q2 2022" it says "Q3 2022" now. That might not seem more specific than before, but for some people, they see "after Q3 2022" so that tells me I can expect to get mine sometime between July-September.

Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

I'm looking forward to it!

And while I'm posting to this thread, I figure I'd mention that I keep checking my library compatibility with Deck every few days and now it says I'm up to 15% Playable+

VERIFIED: 53 games (6.46%)
PLAYABLE: 72 games (8.77%)
UNSUPPORTED: 46 games (5.6%)
UNKNOWN: 650 games (79.17%)

Interestingly, I see a couple of games have been downgraded from Verified to just Playable now. I'm not sure if that's because the games had an update that made things worse or if Valve is getting more strict in how they rate the games. But considering there's still ~3-6 months before I get my Deck, I'm not too concerned about any of the specifics just yet.

And finally, I'm not sure how long they've had this photo on the site, but I see they have an image of the upcoming Dock:

Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

Anyone know what all those ports are? Going from right to left, it looks to me like 2 USB-A, a sideways ethernet port, USB-C (for power delivery), and for the two on the left, I'm not sure. One is probably HDMI, but I'm not sure which, and I have no idea what the other one is.

wraith808 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 16, 2022, 07:37 AM »

Whereas mine used to say "After Q2 2022" it says "Q3 2022" now. That might not seem more specific than before, but for some people, they see "after Q3 2022" so that tells me I can expect to get mine sometime between July-September.
-Deozaan (March 14, 2022, 05:52 PM)

There was a converter from what we had before to what we have now, and the timeframes, and your assumptions on July-September line up with that.

Deozaan · « **Reply #24 on:** March 30, 2022, 06:10 AM »

Now the Steam Deck page is more explicit:

Your expected order availability:
Q3 (July-September) 2022

And for new orders placed today (on the 64GB model):

Expected order availability:
After Q3 (October 2022 or later)