Have anyone else seen the announcement of the steam deck? From what I remember it is a handheld gaming system being released valve with steamOS allowing PC games to be played on the go.

They claim you can play comfortably up to 720p resolution with 2+ hours of game play.

Personally I feel like it is going to be less than that since real life playing is different from simulated playing. Also with games just getting more and more demanding I feel like only older games will be able to played on the hardware comfortably without killing the game quality.

Is anyone else thinking of getting one or not? I think if I had the choice of a portable PC or laptop I would get the steam deck mainly because of the switch style handheld.

Specs of the system
Comes in 3 variations based on memory

64GB($399), 256GB($529), and 512GB($649)
Main difference being that 64GBs uses a eMMC while the other two use NVME which is a lot faster in comparison.
1200x800 display
AMD Zen 2 APU(honestly not familiar with these..)
16GBs of LPDDR5 ram

I think it's an interesting idea on paper but I would probably never buy one myself I mean while I do definitely need an upgrade in terms of pc hardware after all I've had the same pc since I signed up back in 2014 and this computer wasn't exactly that great when it came out in 2012 so I'm really low end in power but if I was going to invest in playing pc games I would just buy a newer pc or get better parts because in the end handheld gaming doesn't really appeal to me and never really has.

Do not get the lowest price model. That's what word is. You can't upgrade internal memory, and that SSD in the pricier two is irreplaceable. Anyway, I doubt it'll take off. I would like it to, but I doubt anyone except enthusiasts is picking up a portable for $400. Maybe if it was from Nintendo.

If I get it, it would mostly be to connect to a monitor so that I could play PC games normally. I probably wouldn't play in handheld at all. Other than that, I'd probably just stick to the 64GB one and put one of my 256GB cards in it.

Right now I have hundreds of Steam games so being able to play most of them again would be cool.

Probably not gonna get it because I have no need for a portable system, but it does looks cool as hell

The switch has got some serious competition it seems

It's a lemon, that's what it is. Steam markets it as the most powerful gaming rig you've ever had and swears it will easily play the most demanding AAA games... that isn't true right now, it will be less true by the time you actually get the product you preordered, in a couple years it'll be known as better than nothing if you need your game fix on the go.

The console market works by making the console and restricting games to a standard that more or less suits the console's limits. The computer game industry never worked like that. It's always been about making whatever you want and if the average consumer cannot play it then they need to upgrade, which isn't going to happen with the Steam console.

I saw the announcement of the Steam Deck and the first thing that came to my mind was, "Why is Valve trying to compete with the Switch?"

Don't get me wrong, the idea of a handheld steam client of sorts (better than the nvidia shield was hopefully) sound like an awesome idea! However, I can only think about the problems that can/will arise.

There's a s*** ton of games on steam, but I highly doubt that even a fraction of them will be playable (by launch) on the Steam Deck. Either way, I have hopes for it, but am just overall confused on WHY Valve decided to develop a Steam Switch

CubedDomino : Especially $50 MORE than the switch on the low end model. Yes they're taking a loss but parents are going to look at the price and pass since it's same price as a ps4 or xbone(haven't priced ps5 or the the newest xboxes) It's priced as a luxury good so not sure how many units will sell and that's without the ability to dock and play on big screen(and we saw how badly steam link flopped)

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Allysa8th : I like the idea of the Switch being in competition with something for the same reason (the lack luster recent development that has been going on for a while). I just didn't think that it would be Valve that I would be seeing that from, even if it was unintentional on Valve's part.

Also while I'm aware of Valve's gaming hardware endeavors, Only a few of those endeavors really impressed me.

Like Valve's VR? There are better alternatives, same with the steam controller that was essentially made for Big Picture mode. The Steam Machine? I can't even remember the last time I heard anything about it.

But I am excited to see how it preforms! And I'll most likely buy one myself for sure. I just try not to let myself get too hyped as I have with their titles/hardware before only to be less blown away than I anticipated.

pennylessz : Honestly I do agree with you on it not taking off. Being an enthusiast is the main reason I feel like getting more than using. To be honest it might just sit in a box in my closet till I re-find it one day.

zanderlex : If you were to get any version higher than the 64GB one I feel like that might have been a wasted buy. Not like my reason is any better... But for about $50-$100 more you can get a decently good mid-range desktop that can outperform it easily. The only problem a little more expensive and takes a bit more space.

funguy161 : I don't think it will be big enough for competition. Mainly because Nintendo Switches are more marketed towards kids while this is at least I think more marketed towards adults. Two completely different markets but can have some overlap just not enough I think to make a difference for the switch.

Noyb42 : I do mostly agree with you. From the little I can remember from hardware specs it just seems nowhere near powerful enough to run newer AAA games. The thing that is going to bother me the most is that yes it is marketed for 720p with graphics on low or mid but to me that graphic quality has made a difference and I can hardly play newer games if they aren't on high quality. Some just look really bad if you turn it down.

pokemon x : Now what it does look like, is a great way to use Moonlight to stream RTX Ultra settings games to your screen from a much superior PC. A shame about the resolution though. Frankly, Valve should've probably just gone the GEForceNow root and let you stream your own library to this thing, then given us a 1080p panel. I have a Switch, and I can say unequivocally that I do notice the low res quite often.