As an entry point into PC gaming the Deck is a very good choice. If you buy and download “Verified” titles it’s basically a console.

The only learning curve is using the right sidebar to tweak performance and adjusting graphics to your liking.

Yes, games outside of racers and shooters are perfectly playable at 30FPS. The Assassin’s Creed games come to mind. Games with a third person view and slow/deliberate animations.

If you want FPS you can go for the Asus Rog Ally and just keep the fucker plugged in 24/7. There’s nothing wrong with that. There are options out there.

As someone who grew up on a N64 with games running somewhere in the teens I can manage a clean locked 30 on a portable system playing a AAA title, especially if the battery can exceed 2 hours.

With all that said, with enough tweaks I can generally hit 45fps with recent games, which on a 90hz display is very clean. No complaints here.

1. 1080p OLED
2. Dock profiles and seamless docking support
3. Spatial Audio / Atmos Support (more speakers)
4. Increased Proton compatibility with older games for preservation
5. Ability to import other stores games into steam like battle.net or epic games store without “workarounds” for easy compatibility management.

Yes and no. The Deck has a benefit of zero friction when wanting to play a PC game that benefits from a gamepad. Since the deck is basically a display and gamepad ready to go, it’s easier to load into a Hollow Knight or a Sonic Mania and play.

Compared to my laptop looking around my couch and floors for my gamepad the kids stole, holding the button and praying it was the last machine I paired it with or i’m doing those steps again. And by the time I’m loaded in i’d rather be doing something else.

And since alt-tabbing is so easy on a regular PC, it’s actually much easier to get distracted out games you wanted to experience.

Grabbed a cheap spigen case and a glass screen protector. Kids will be using it.

It’s the tried and true loss leader business strategy where a company trying to enter a market takes a large financial hit to build marketshare. A huge sum of video game spending in the world has shifted from large gaming boxes (consoles) to mobile. This is evidenced by the massive success of Nintendo Switch in Japan, and Sony’s own tepid performance with PS5 in its home country.

I do like that Valve built a compatibility layer in Linux to achieve their goals here. If you can build products that actively deconstruct another company’s foothold in a market, you’re flooding the market with new competition, which is the only way free market systems can benefit consumers.

With that said, probably shouldn’t love corporations in the same way you shouldn’t love a sociopath.

I know many have said both products don’t compete, but they basically do. They’re two different ideas of how playing higher end games on mobile can work, but at the end of the day it’s gaming on a handheld. Those who opt for a Portal will likely do so at the expense of getting a Switch or Deck.