I ejected and re-insterted my SD card and so far no crashes and the Deck is running normal again.

Here is what I’ve learned from being subbed to all the popular handheld subs.

Keep in mind, I own a Deck, but I’m leaning towards getting a Go.

So if you want a streamlined console-like experience, then the Steam Deck is perfect for you. It will give you the least amount of headaches compared to the others.

However, the Deck runs on a custom version of Linux called SteamOS. While the desktop mode isn’t hard to figure out, having to do other things that aren’t game-related can be a bit of a learning curve. There are tons of tutorials out there though, due to the community being so large.

The Ally is great if you’re looking for a Windows experience, however there is a design flaw with the unit having to do with the SD Card reader. They put the SD Card reader next to the fan exhaust, so this has been frying SD Cards. So keep that in mind. If you get an Ally, you may not be able to use the SD card slot, which is a bummer. Unless you plan on upgrading it to 1 or 2TB and reinstalling Windows. Also, there is no track pad, and browsing around in desktop mode can be a pain in the ass with thumb sticks. You can avoid it by just using the touch screen.

The newest mainstream handheld that just came out is the Legion Go. On paper, it’s the most powerful of the three and it has the best features. Removable controllers to give you a “Switch-like” experience, a track pad for browsing, 2 USB-C ports allowing more connection options, fastest RAM of the 3, latest APU, eGPU support, and it comes in a 1TB model at the same price range of the new Deck OLED.

However, the cons is currently what is keeping me from buying one. Legion space software is garbage, but the Lenovo team stated they are updating it to provide a better experience before Christmas. Native portrait mode is causing issues with older (and some newer) games. Now the Deck uses native portrait, but Linux is better at handling it than Windows. So this is more of a windows problem than the Go’s problem. Lenovo is aware and they I hope they provide a fix with a software update allowing you to scale and force full screen mode on games that aren’t compatible with native portrait. Button mapping is currently messed up, but Lenovo said they are working to correct it.

So in short;

Deck is good, but runs Linux.

Ally is good, but SD reader is trash.

Go is good, but it needs updates.

Hope this helps.

Proton is usually downloaded automatically.

But if you’re running into issues launching a game, you could manually select a proton version via the settings button (cog) on the far right of the play button.

Go to compatibility and use the drop down arrow to choose a version of proton.

I usually have it defaulted to experimental and haven’t had issues with that.

You can also download unofficial versions of proton called ProtonGE, which sometimes have better compatibility fixes than Valves official proton. Just YouTube Proton and ProtonGE. Tons of tutorials out there.