Out of curiosity… Anyone use the Steam Deck as a computer beyond just gaming? I don’t play games that much but I’d love a decent spec portable computer that I can also use to play video games, the price is quite generous given what its specs look like so…
Yes, I’ve been using it as my PC for about a year now, I do game on it but my primary reason for purchase was that it was just a great deal on a Linux machine.
I’m curious what makes it a great deal on a Linux machine? It seems like pretty niche (i.e. expensive) hardware for any other purpose than handheld gaming.
It’s cost:performance ratio at the time was crazy, it is widely assumed Valve is selling it as a loss leader or at mfr cost. The only thing they’ve said is that it’s pricing was “painful”. It’s hardware isn’t that niche, it’s just a PC in a handheld form factor.
Yes, the KDE desktop works really well with a USB-C dock connected to a monitor with a mouse and keyboard. I use it when I need to do some work while not at home. The Steam Deck is beefy enough to be really snappy during desktop usage, even with multiple monitors.
There’s no way to boot directly into the desktop with SteamOS without workarounds at the moment unfortunately.
I didn’t bother installing another OS yet since I mostly play games but apparently the Steam Deck drivers are in the mainline kernel so it should be possible to install a normal distro that boots directly to desktop.
I mainly use mine for gaming because I have a desktop and a laptop too, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use it as a decent semi-portable computer. It probably won’t be as convenient is a laptop when it comes to typing on the go, and it certainly won’t be as powerful as a desktop, but gaming on a Steam Deck is an absolute joy.
You’ll definitely want some kind of dock, a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse.
I’ve used mine on the go with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Works great, although the screen is a little small in that use case.
Docked with an external monitor is much more useful for regular computing. I suggest use Linux as my daily driver OS, so easy enough for me. Only thing the Deck is really missing is CUPS for printing.
Out of curiosity… Anyone use the Steam Deck as a computer beyond just gaming? I don’t play games that much but I’d love a decent spec portable computer that I can also use to play video games, the price is quite generous given what its specs look like so…
Yes, I’ve been using it as my PC for about a year now, I do game on it but my primary reason for purchase was that it was just a great deal on a Linux machine.
I’m curious what makes it a great deal on a Linux machine? It seems like pretty niche (i.e. expensive) hardware for any other purpose than handheld gaming.
It’s cost:performance ratio at the time was crazy, it is widely assumed Valve is selling it as a loss leader or at mfr cost. The only thing they’ve said is that it’s pricing was “painful”. It’s hardware isn’t that niche, it’s just a PC in a handheld form factor.
Yes, the KDE desktop works really well with a USB-C dock connected to a monitor with a mouse and keyboard. I use it when I need to do some work while not at home. The Steam Deck is beefy enough to be really snappy during desktop usage, even with multiple monitors.
There’s no way to boot directly into the desktop with SteamOS without workarounds at the moment unfortunately.
I didn’t bother installing another OS yet since I mostly play games but apparently the Steam Deck drivers are in the mainline kernel so it should be possible to install a normal distro that boots directly to desktop.
I mainly use mine for gaming because I have a desktop and a laptop too, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use it as a decent semi-portable computer. It probably won’t be as convenient is a laptop when it comes to typing on the go, and it certainly won’t be as powerful as a desktop, but gaming on a Steam Deck is an absolute joy.
You’ll definitely want some kind of dock, a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse.
I’ve used mine on the go with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Works great, although the screen is a little small in that use case.
Docked with an external monitor is much more useful for regular computing. I suggest use Linux as my daily driver OS, so easy enough for me. Only thing the Deck is really missing is CUPS for printing.