The Gamers Arms

The rear buttons are growing on me the more I use them. The only issue I have with them is if I'm holding the Deck with one hand (e.g. while grabbing a drink with the other hand), as the death-grip tends to result in pressing them accidentally. In general use they're proving useful for games with a lot of keyboard commands, like older RPGs.

The built-in performance tools (including the performance overlay you can enable) are top notch and give you plenty of control over managing battery life. The fact that you can change the settings on the fly, in-game is superb as you can immediately see the impact it has on the battery and adjust as necessary. I've found that by far the biggest impact is capping the framerate at 30fps rather than 60fps, which in Kingdom Come changed the predicted battery life from 90 minutes to about 140 minutes. In less intensive games, the battery claims it'll last upwards of 6+ hours, which is nice.

Dammit, you guys are really selling this..
What sizes did you all go for (storage wise)?

I'm dabbling with buying a graphics tablet for a similar price so this might sway me.

I went for the top tier version at £569. As I was saying to Lenny on Discord the other night, when I am buying tech/cars I tend to spend a little more to get the best rather than experience buyers remorse wishing I had not skimped (although if I buy something that then gets no use, that buyers remorse is worse )

Don't read anything into my ownership yet, I have not had any real time to get to grips with it, for me this is all first impressions although they are extremely positive.

I also went for the top tier model, though now I understand why the 64gb could be a good option. Basically the microSD storage performs more or less the same as the internal storage, so there’s an argument for buying the cheapest model and then putting a big SD card in it. The 512gb model does have an improved anti-glare screen and a nice carry case too, but I think they’re the only differences.

I think its pretty easy to stick an NVME in them too technically meaning the cheapest model can be upgraded to everything the expensive model has except the etched screen. I dont think you can go far wrong with any model.

You can but make sure to stick to the 2230 models of M.2 memory, Valve has warned that using larger 2242 models will cause more heat and drain the battery more quickly. You can also just stick a Micro SD card in which seems to perform pretty well in terms of load times with a lot of games.

I've put a few a few demanding AAA games on my MicroSD and they run and load perfectly fine.

Been sat playing Mad Max on and off on the Deck and it is the ideal type of game for it, not too hectic but looks the business. Horizon Zero Dawn too.

I had my first proper field test for the Steam Deck yesterday, with a full day of being on the road as a passenger. I played about 8 hours of Mass Effect 1 (legendary edition), limiting it to 30fps and by using a battery pack with fast charging and around 2 full charges capacity. The game played wonderfully, my hands remained comfortable for the duration and I had no issues with being offline or with quick resume after powering on and off frequently. There were a few dark in-game areas which became hard to see due to direct sunlight, even with the anti-glare screen, but throughout the day I had very few issues in that regard and kept it around 60% brightness. Overall it was a perfect use case for the Deck. Being able to play one of my favourite games without compromise on a long and tiring journey was a remarkable experience.

New Steam Charts

https://store.steampowered.com/charts/topselling/GB

So MW3 isn't even out yet and it's already made the most money?

Huge Steam update! You can now select "always use this option" for game launch options. So youre no longer having to pick vulkan or DX every time when launching a game! I know its petty but that extra 2 seconds of clicking annoyed the shit out of me so much that I actually squeaked a little when the option popped up ¬_¬

This is an awesome update! The pinable notes could be incredibly useful.

Steam Next Fest is out

Any recommendations - there are hundreds of games.

I downloaded Lies of P, The Invincible, Jumplight Odyssey