I will say that while I love it, as someone with both it and a very capable desktop, I’m in the opposite position. I used it a bunch in the first couple months, but that was because it was a cool new gadget that I wanted to fiddle with. Once the novelty wore off, I do 99% of my gaming at home – the only time I’m using the steam deck at home is if I predict a long poop or I’m sick and don’t want to sit at my desk.
However, where it absolutely shines is travel. It’s small enough to throw in a carry on or even personal bag, and it’s amazing for a flight, or just any trip where you know you’ll have some downtime. The charge is long enough that you can go a few hours without power, especially if you anticipate it and use some of the power saving features.
It’s also fantastic if a second gaming computer would be good for your situation – maybe you’ve got kids or roommates that share your computer, or you wish you could game in your yard etc.
Basically, it’s not a slam dunk for everyone, but if you regularly have any of the use cases listed above, it’s absolutely worth the money – assuming you have the library for it already. I have tons of games that are excellent for the deck, but not everyone will, and while you can play competitive shooters and complex mouse-driven RPGs with it, it’s really not the ideal experience.
I will say that while I love it, as someone with both it and a very capable desktop, I’m in the opposite position. I used it a bunch in the first couple months, but that was because it was a cool new gadget that I wanted to fiddle with. Once the novelty wore off, I do 99% of my gaming at home – the only time I’m using the steam deck at home is if I predict a long poop or I’m sick and don’t want to sit at my desk.
However, where it absolutely shines is travel. It’s small enough to throw in a carry on or even personal bag, and it’s amazing for a flight, or just any trip where you know you’ll have some downtime. The charge is long enough that you can go a few hours without power, especially if you anticipate it and use some of the power saving features.
It’s also fantastic if a second gaming computer would be good for your situation – maybe you’ve got kids or roommates that share your computer, or you wish you could game in your yard etc.
Basically, it’s not a slam dunk for everyone, but if you regularly have any of the use cases listed above, it’s absolutely worth the money – assuming you have the library for it already. I have tons of games that are excellent for the deck, but not everyone will, and while you can play competitive shooters and complex mouse-driven RPGs with it, it’s really not the ideal experience.