Steam Deck

Grumpypants

Mine has just been picked up by GLS. On the road now. Hopefully it's here next week.

brady12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119180499#Comment_119180499

ordered mine on 17th july & still no email 😅

Fnz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119181828#Comment_119181828

A fleeting benefit from going with the least popular model, I'm guessing.

druss

I ordered on 23 July in Ireland. Moved to Europe since. While the EU queue is apparently moving faster, I don't think I'll see the benefit! I presume it's an Irish deck until it ships.

Grumpypants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119182296#Comment_119182296

I think the deck is the same but the plug is different. EU gets the two pin plug, Ire & UK get the 3 pin one.

druss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119183567#Comment_119183567

I'd imagine that will be sorted when I go to complete the balance payment and give them a postal address. Hopefully!

I have seen it suggested that the continental queue was moving faster. And that IE was linked to UK for allocation and shipment purposes.

cnocbui

Well my son's SD return is being held up in Belgium because apparently DHL have just discovered that it has a Li-ion battery in it.

Now DHL want the shipper to fill in a battery declaration form abouat battery type and the thing is stuck until this gets done. Can you imagine how long this might take for someone in Valve customer support to get hold of someone else at Valve authorised to fill in such a form as a legal guarantee is included and who can be arsed to do that and sign it?

There was even some mention by Valve support of repackaging in a non original box so mention of a battery wasn't visible to the shipper.

pixelburp

So what's the consensus here? Wondering if daddy deserves a new toy or not lol - how's battery life, general quirks n all that; I'm so so on access to AAA but all those fabulous looking, niche early access games are making me very jealous...

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119191163#Comment_119191163

In my experience after a month or so it’s a brilliant device with a bunch of undeniable quirks.

Battery life will all depend on what you’re playing. If I’m playing Dying Light at 60 FPS, I’ll get 90 minutes to two hours battery life. But I played a full hour of Chrono Trigger last night with a 30 FPS lock and only went from 60% battery to 50%. What you’re playing and how hard you’re willing to push the hardware will determine battery life.

The ‘green tick’ verified by Deck games have all worked flawlessly for me so far - I have around 140 games in my library (probably around a quarter of my total) that already fit that bill, and it seems to be increasing all the time. ‘Yellow tick’ playable and ‘unknown’ status games have been more of a mixed bag. Some have worked flawlessly - Citizen Sleeper and Patrick’s Parabox both played without a bother despite no official verification. But I’ve definitely had a few interface quirks with the ‘yellow’ games. Chrono Trigger, for example, I had to map ‘enter’ to one of the rear triggers in order to progress past the name entry screen. If you get a prompt saying ‘this game requires the in-game keyboard’ when you boot, it’s likely to be a bit funky somewhere along the line.

The software definitely came in hot - plenty of quirks and bugs, albeit its being improved and patched constantly. But it kind of comes with the territory with a device that allows so much flexibility and customisability. If it lacks the polish of a console (the BIOS update screen very much let’s you know you’re in PC territory), it allows you to tinker and mess around with the settings to very generous degree. It’s rough around the edges, but also allows you to play games to your preferences in a way other hardware designers wouldn’t dare allow. And the library is obviously in a league of its own - years and years of Steam purchases ready and waiting to go. The rear triggers are a glorious addition (more so than the haptic pads IMO) and the per game performance / control profiles are delightfully flexible.

Space is definitely something to consider - some ‘verified’ Steam games have installs of 90-100gb so just make sure to have plenty of space. I’ve already added a 256gb SD card to my 256gb model. While a tonne of games are supported and many more options (including excellent emulator options) are open to those who want to leave the safety of Steam OS, it definitely isn’t as flexible or powerful as a desktop PC. You will encounter games that simply don’t work, and need to be really into tinkering to access other storefronts etc…

For what you’re getting, it’s a bit of a bargain though - a perfect complement to any desktop PC, and a great handheld in its own right. Just as long as you’re willing to tinker a bit :)

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119191233#Comment_119191233

Interesting, thanks for the in-depth breakdown. As you say, it's the library that'd attract me, given the depth of indie games it can boast. TBH I could count on one hand the number of AAA games that I might be gagging to play, so not too worried about compatibility there.

Mind you, all academic given the apparent next availability window is Q3 2022 lol

druss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119195302#Comment_119195302

After Q3 2022, isn't it?

I ordered July 23 last year and I am "expected delivery in Q3"! I kind of assume that the production pace will pick up, but I couldn't see someone ordering a Deck now getting it this year. Maybe the 64GB model?

Taylor365

I'll wait for Steam deck 2 so!

Grumpypants

Mine seemed to get picked up by GLS on the 10th, got brought to, and then left, the parcel center....and then nothing.

I assume this is the same 5-7 day wait with no updates other have mentioned. Fingers cross around the 16th I get a it's in Ireland update.

Markitron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119198273#Comment_119198273

Yea once GLS receive it, it will just sit idle for almost a week. When you get the update saying it is in Ireland you will likely get it the next day.

KilOit

Raging i wasn't quicker off the mark with ordering this. July-Sep for me

The Freeman

Just got a notification that a 512 is in stock with cex if anyone is interested. 1k though.

Grumpypants

I hate CEX, price gouging low life's. This is yet another example.

The Freeman

Their prices are inflated for sure. The trader got 800e cash on this scenario.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119197131#Comment_119197131

My son is waiting for the 2nd edition of the Valve Index headset. You might be in for some wait. Valve have yet to manage a 2nd version of any hardware product. The seem to have a similar problem with doing version 2s of hardware in the same way they have a problem doing version 3s of software.

spark1976

Currently waiting for my deck to arrive. Was picked up on Thursday last and got the status updates a few times and its now "on the way to the parcel centre" - been nothing since.. no idea when its gonna arrive. Shipping that dont give you at the least an estimated delivery date is really annoying. Hopefully get it before friday as i'm on a flight that day :/

Grumpypants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119202024#Comment_119202024

I just got an update in the GLS system. "The parcel has reached the parcel center". Ireland - 14/06/2022 19:56

Hopefully, that is a good sign for this weekend.

Grumpypants

Oh my oh my oh my 😀

"The parcel is expected to be delivered during the day. 15/06/2022 07:44. Ireland Knock."

Hopefully it's getting in a quick mass and last minute blessing in knock that it arrives in one piece 🤣

druss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119204774#Comment_119204774

Hopefully it's not an unverified apparition, with only local say-so to prove it!

spark1976

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119204774#Comment_119204774

Got the exact same thing today....looks like a batch of them were shipped. Now to spend the day looking out the window!

Grumpypants

The parcel has been delivered.😀

now to try hide my glee in this zoom call until I can open the box

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119205629#Comment_119205629

Nice. Enjoy!

whiteRascal

GLS picked up my Steam Deck on the 9th, it then left the parcel center on the 10th, Netherlands.

No updates for 5 days and then this

14/06/2022 19:57

The parcel has reached the parcel center.

Ireland

15/06/2022 02:37

The parcel has reached the parcel center.

United Kingdom 

Not sure if it’s just GLS being GLS but worried about what’s going on with my delivery.

Anyone else had issues like this?

Fnz

Paid for mine Thursday (6 days ago). It's currently travelling between parcel centres in the Netherlands.

Grumpypants

Initial impressions. It's big, I knew it was but it's not fitting in any coat pockets that's for sure.

It really is a handheld PC, not a console, it's clunky as hell and not very intuitive. It misses simple things like having a virtual keyboard pop up when you want to type in text. You have to press the steam button and X. I Had to Google that.

I booted up stadia and it was working great. Put it in full screen. Then found out you need to press F12 to get out of full screen. No keyboard attached so no F12 button. You can press ESC, no esc button. Had to basically press everything until the browser moved and I could click out.

The right track pad as a mouse is not great. Trying to click a tiny X to close something just had the cursor continuously move off it.

Last thing, my PC gaming really took a back steat. My Library is really out of date. Newest games are Doom 2016 and shadow of Mordor 🤣

But I do like it, the screen is nice. Once I have it all configured and have Xbox cloud and stadia set up right it will get lots of use.

The Freeman

Congratulations. Does stadia work with detecting the track pads to replace mouse movements on deck? It is the one thing missing from xcloud currently is native mouse and keyboard support.