I’ve had it too, although not for a while.
Be careful with cheap USB hubs that have a power connection. I’ve read that some can ruin decks as they don’t regulate power properly. I have the JSaux and am happy with it.
Just saw an article saying that folks who contacted support saying they bought a Deck right before the sale have been able to get a Steam Wallet credit.
Just wanted to confirm this is actually true, I got a credit earlier today for a purchase placed 6 days before the sale began. Open a ticket about requesting a refund, ask for the price difference, they offer to credit it to your account (instead of the original purchase method) and you have to reply accepting that deal. Not sure what their date cutoff is, but within a week of the start of the sale should be fine.
Thanks guys - And here I thought it was my brilliant wit and great spring joke when I wrote to steam, that got me my price difference in steamwallet money! :-)
Anyways - I wrote them,and got the difference in steam wallet money, so all is good. I wouldn’t care if it was a game, but this is a substantial price difference.
I’ve long enjoyed the docked flexibility and portable options of my Switch. I don’t really gravitate towards Nintendo titles and I have a ton of Steam games via PC. @Editer has had me thinking for a bit that maybe it’s time to swap out the Switch for a Steam Deck especially because I have a few trips coming up this summer. I think the 10% sale just sealed the deal.
But which one?
As someone that doesn’t tinker with PCs much anymore, I’m not sure I’m up to the headache of installing Steam OS on or even replacing a drive. So I am looking at the mid grade one as it already has an SSD and then getting a 1TB SIM card. It seems the anti glare model is not worth it or even looks worse? Thoughts? Should I just get over it and get the 64 model? I did install an SSD in my PS5 recently.
I went for the top-end model because of the anti-glare screen, but I ordered it nearly a year ago. No regrets, because I’m not a big fan of screen reflections, but I also haven’t seen a Deck with the basic screen.
If I was ordering today, I might consider getting the base model and a 1TB drive, given how cheap SSDs have gotten. But then you have to deal with installing the OS and stuff.
If that’s sort of a consensus, then maybe? I have gone with the 512-version because of whatever they did to the display to prevent too much reflections. To be honest, it still reflects a lot on bright days in a bright room. From videos I have seen a year ago without the anti-glare it’s much worse. That’s up to personal preference I guess.
Loading times from my extra SD-card are great.
I have the 64 GB. I added a 512 GB SD and have no complaints. I never notice any glare.
I have heard people say that the anti-glare screen isn’t really amazing, and unless you are playing in a ton of natural light, it is difficult to know the difference, especially for the price difference between the 2 models. Additionally, the anti-glare coating on the screen does mute colors slightly, when compared side by side, but probably something you would never notice unless you were making a direct comparison.
In terms of storage size, having an SSD is important, as the 64gb version is too small to hold all the OS and shader cache stuff. But, that doesn’t mean you need the 512 version, because installing and running games off of the SD card is perfectly fine, there are negligible differences in load times between games running off the SD card and SSD.
I bought the 64gb model and a 256 gb SSD for 30$ and installed it myself, no problem. If the extra cash doesn’t matter to you, it is fine. It wasn’t too hard to do the SSD install, but it did take an afternoon of fucking around, mostly because reinstalling the OS took a bit of time.
I watched some YouTube reviews saying adding an aftermarket glass screen protector provided the glare protection and of course protected the screen to boot, so that’s an option for ya.
It does seem like the 64GB model is the way to go, then you either add a bigass SDcard or replace the SSD. If you find the glare annoying, get the screen protector. Then there’s a whole ecosystem of accessories and cases available on top of that, many of them rather innovative. I would definitely get a cheap USB-C hub with USB-C PD and both ethernet and HDMI ports too.
I pulled the trigger on the 512 GB model this morning, I’m still considering getting a dock as well, as I use my Switch on the TV like 75% of the time.
As an actual owner of the 64GB model: no, the former option alone is not enough. Unless you barely use your Steam Deck or only use it for tiny indie games, the files that have to be stored on the internal storage for shader caches and such will bog down your device to the point of being unusable if you don’t upgrade to something larger than 64GB.
That said, it’s still a much better deal to buy the 64GB model and upgrade to a 512GB SSD for ~$50.
So the 64Gig model is not ok so long as you add a large 512G sd? Is adding an actual SSD that much more optimal than just a similar sized sd card?
I’d say it’s fine. SSD will probably give you better speed but it won’t be noticeable in most cases. You can install on your games on SD card. I install some heavy games there and it’s fine.
Just to explain this for people wanting to look at the Steam Deck for the sale.
The 64 gig model, as well as any SD card are fine for running games off of. Load times and performance are not affected by the lack of an SSD. The way the system is set up, games run as fast off an SD card or the SSD.
This is accomplished, because a lot of system level files, or “shader cache” files are stored on the internal memory, regardless of whether the game is installed internally or not. There isn’t a speed bottleneck that the SSD solves, other than the fact that games install/download much faster on to the SSD, but when they are running, there is almost no difference.
Some 64 GB users have complained that these shader cache files take up a lot of system memory, and can fill up the 64 GB of space easily. Steam has said they are working on a fix to this. Users have figured out a way to fix this but it is clunky.
This is why I would advise against purchasing the 64 GB steam deck, as it is just too little space. That being said, you can purchase a 64 GB steam deck, and purchase a 3rd party used/refurb/new SSD that is the correct size for anywhere from 20$ (256 gb) to 100$ (1 tb) and install it yourself pretty easily with minimal tools/effort. Valve has also said that opening up the deck does not void your warranty.
If you don’t want to mess around with replacing the SSD and doing an install of steamOS, buy the 256gb, it is more than enough space for games, the shader cache, etc. And you can use the extra money to buy a 512gb-1tb SD card to add more storage space. The price difference to jump to the 512 is 120$, and you can buy a 1tb SD card easily for that much.
I personally don’t think that the 512gb is a good enough deal for the extra 256gb SSD space you get, as you can spend that money you save on a large SD card for the same purpose. If you really want the special carrying case or anti-glare screen which I have seen reviewed as a “slight upgrade”, then buy the 512gb.
The price difference between the 64 gb Steam deck and the 512 gb steam deck is 250$. A 512 GB SSD can be had for 50$. If the time spent (2 hours) replacing the SSD and the anti-glare coating are worth more than 200 bucks to you, go for it.
You can also just play one game at a time like I had to back in 7th grade when I played Civilization so much my grades started slipping. It was the only game I had. The only game!
I really appreciate everyone’s input, especially @JonRowe. I went with the 512 model as I was looking at several comparisons and considered my use cases. I use my iPad at night, I am constantly trying to angle away the lighting when I am in bed. Similarly I have an issue with the lamp near the end of the couch where I would most likely be using the deck. I suppose I could have gone with an after market anti-glare protector, but through my rush of reviews, it seems everyone gave just an edge towards the default 512 anti glare.
I will still install an SD for MOAR space, but I need to research which one to buy. And which dock. And which Deck approved games I should pick up. And which… whatever else I need.
I got my 512/lazy person edition Deck today (didn’t even order right when the sale started, think it was last Friday night, quite a quick turnaround), and I think I’m pro- the anti-glare screen. It’s noticeably different from the Switch and on initial impression I kind of like it. If I had thought about it long enough to realize that they were going to use the Xbox setup of A/B/X/Y I might have passed, but maybe if I use it enough they’ll wear off the buttons in time. (Kidding. Mostly.) It ran the first few games/tests I threw at it with flying colors and I’m looking forward to seeing if I end up using it a ton or if it’s an occasionally convenient toy.
I’ve had a Steam Link for years that I use to pipe games to the main living room TV (from my main PC upstairs) for a couch/console experience with PC games. With a Deck on the way, should I get a dock to replace the Link to essentially use the Steam Deck as a Switch? Or is the Deck going to under perform when trying to play something on a giant HD TV and I should stick to the Link for the couch/console experience?
If a dock is suitable for the Switch like experience (dock it to play on the TV then undock to keep going handheld), then are there recommended docks that folks use?