I think it is pretty cool.

I think it's cool for people who travel a lot. I barely play my switch, which makes me think I'll do the same with a Deck. When I go out, I'm too busy doing things to play games, and I already have a Desktop and gaming laptop at home.

I don’t have a Steam account, so I do not see what I would do with that.

Since it's technically a computer, you could put say RetroArch on it.

At the end of the day, it is a Linux computer; so even if you ignored steam...

Most of the games I play on it are from GOG. Soooo.... Steam account is needed, but it's not like you have to play Steam games on it. Or you could flash a Linux distribution or Windows onto it and not need to use a Steam account to initiate it, though you may want to anyway foe the warranty.

I think it's a great piece of kit, and I use it more than my PC now adays. More convenient than a laptop, more open and powerful than the switch (Switch Emulation is pretty good on it). It is a decently powerful handheld whose bang for buck is hard to beat.

I guess it's an age thing for me but.... how do you guys see the details on small screens? I've played a game or two on my son's smart phone just to see how it was, and I couldn't see many numbers at the top of the screen that are kind of important to know in game play. Or is it more like there's only certain types of games that you guys play on it?

EDIT: I just looked and it's a 7 inch screen. That's not so bad, I guess i thought it was smaller. Yeah, I could see playing on that. I can't afford it, plus since I can no longer go anywhere, no reason to anyway, but I do see how that could be okay to play on. For some reason I was thinking it was a smaller screen. 7" inches isn't so bad. (Ahmmm, before minds go in the gutter, that was referring to SCREEN size, not something else....)

Of all the ways to buy a computer in order to run Linux on it, I fail to see the appeal of buying one from Valve.

My issue with handheld consoles is my hands start to ache or fall asleep after some time. I'm not a tiny man.

beacuse it is a neat little piece of hardware. i played Witcher 3 on the train on the way to work on it this morning.

I can already play The Witcher 3 on my current laptop, with no need to buy extra hardware ;)

Not that I would actually do that, I have no real interest in The Witcher games after the first one (on the other hand, I think the first one is great).

It's not a bad device, just not what I am looking for. It's a bit outdated. The other companies have much more powerful alternatives and also have more experience with building handhelds (which is great when it comes to cooling and ergonomic). But it is still 4 times as fast as a Switch, so it is good enough for most casual games.

I'm currently waiting for the new 7840 Handhelds, the one I am looking for has a built in keyboard, hall sticks, runs natively on Windows 11 (of course Linux can be installed as well), the screen has a higher resolution than the one in the Steam Deck, can be tilted upwards making the handheld more comfortable to hold.

In short: Mesa no want no Steam Deck.

The GOG's G90 is so much better. It's all on the USB stick/SD card and you can play from any machine. Just look at it!
As for hardware Toshiba nb200 or this amazing GPD win or anything or Acer aspire switch 10" is minimum size it's not a reader. And now working on G2, a console for GOG's games of '00-'09 years. Why one for everything when you can have one for every decade in style : D best wishes! ^

Thoughts on the Steam Deck?

I already have a console that's (also) made for mobile gaming.

I prefer to play my PC games on my PC - at home - at the big screen.

Since I commute with my own car, the main (?) reason for a device that allows me to play "underway", is not existent.

So - the Steam deck is not interesting/unnecessary for me.