Buyer beware that from all I've seen on the subreddit, the ROG Ally is known to have significant SD card slot failures and apparently ASUS has been blindly ignoring this or making it difficult for customers to get support.
The most recent update they've pushed has somehow massively increased my battery life in retro or retro-style games to a point where I can get an easy 8.5 hours in Crosscode at 40FPS and 50% brightness. On a two year old device.
You really have to think that one of the reasons to prefer a Steam Deck over Ally, etc is just that you get to deal with Valve.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
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Buyer beware that from all I've seen on the subreddit, the ROG Ally is known to have significant SD card slot failures and apparently ASUS has been blindly ignoring this or making it difficult for customers to get support.
Yeah I got a ROG Ally and had the SD slot issue.
Wasn't really using it so wasn't a big deal to me but is a bit of a PITA.
I wanted a ROG Ally because of the Gamepass Support and that's still worth it to me, but really do think the User Interface and the support on the steamdeck is miles ahead of the competition in this space.
If Steam would just natively integrate with Gamepass that would make it perfect.
Wasn't really using it so wasn't a big deal to me but is a bit of a PITA.
I wanted a ROG Ally because of the Gamepass Support and that's still worth it to me, but really do think the User Interface and the support on the steamdeck is miles ahead of the competition in this space.
If Steam would just natively integrate with Gamepass that would make it perfect.
I'm enjoying my Legion Go so far. I don't really get the complaints about the weight because I've used it for over an hour now on a couple of occasions and had no issues. However, the battery life is pretty damn poor on AAA games.
Also, for anyone who does go with the Legion Go, make sure you do some reading online about how to flash BIOS to gain access to the 6GB of VRAM.
I'm enjoying my Legion Go so far. I don't really get the complaints about the weight because I've used it for over an hour now on a couple of occasions and had no issues. However, the battery life is pretty damn poor on AAA games.
Also, for anyone who does go with the Legion Go, make sure you do some reading online about how to flash BIOS to gain access to the 6GB of VRAM.
You have to use a custom BIOS? Sounds sketchy.
Steam Deck has a setting in the BIOS to allow 4GB of VRAM. It’s kind of a pain to have to change it after nearly every update.
It's basically just he says she says at this point, unless you get one and see it you won't really be able to tell.
It GMG when people do screen comparisons on youtube with side by sides.... like, I cannot tell how good either screen is when I'm looking at your video on a third, other more different screen.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
So I got my shipping email. Got a few questions for any of the Steam Deck guru's in the group. Can I install emudeck on the steamOS or do I need to install windows for that? I think I'd like to have the option to use it for retro games as well. Also any must have or recommended accessories, or cases, etc? What would be a good microSD card for this unit? I generally use Sandisk and haven't had any issues with them but I'm guessing this would benefit from a high performance card. Thanks friends, definitely looking forward to ripping into this awesome unit 🙂👍
So I got my shipping email. Got a few questions for any of the Steam Deck guru's in the group. Can I install emudeck on the steamOS or do I need to install windows for that? I think I'd like to have the option to use it for retro games as well. Also any must have or recommended accessories, or cases, etc? What would be a good microSD card for this unit? I generally use Sandisk and haven't had any issues with them but I'm guessing this would benefit from a high performance card. Thanks friends, definitely looking forward to ripping into this awesome unit 🙂👍
Emudeck works with SteamOS. It’s really easy to set up.
I use the dbrand Killswitch case (with the new kickstand) and screen protector. The Logitech K400 keyboard is great for the times you need a compact mouse and keyboard to navigate desktop mode.
Sandisk micro SD cards are great. I don’t think there’s a hugely noticeable difference between Ultra and Extreme so you can save a few bucks.
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Looks like the LE OLED is finally sold out. That glitch when they were first available probably cost a decent amount of sales then people learned they had plenty of supply of the LE version so that would deter potential scalpers as well.
Just received mine yesterday and played around with it a bit last night. Very impressive piece of tech. Glad I waited for the revisions to the OLED version but I'm sure the original one was pretty awesome too for early adopters.
Got a 1TB Lexar microSD ordered. Too many third party sellers and fake cards for the Sandisk ones. It's a U3 A2 card so performance should be good. Also ordered a Logitech K400+ keyboard with track pad to make things a little easier ($24.99 on sale at Best Buy) Still debating on a case between the KillSwitch and a Jsaux one that seems to be well regarded. Also looking at docks, is the official one still the best option or are there 3rd party ones that are better now?
Started setting up Emudeck so looking forward to playing around with that.
If anyone has any other suggestions of software I should install or hardware that would be good to have feel free to post. Thanks all 🙂
The Steam dock is great but there are some great ones for cheaper.
Software to install:
CryoUtilities: It changes a few things to give some performance increases. It’s debatable whether they’re noticeable. One thing you can change yourself in the BIOS is changing the available VRAM from 1GB to 4GB.
Decky Loader: This gives you quick access to all kinds of things. A must install. ProtonDB will add badges to game pages to tell you how well they run under proton even if they’re not Steam verified. SteamGridDB will let you change art for games and apps you install.
Heroic Game Launcher: This is the easiest way to add games you own from Epic, GOG, and Amazon.
ProtonUp-Qt: Install custom versions of Proton that can improve performance. I think there’s something in Decky Loader that will do this as well but I haven’t tried it.
That’ll get you started.
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The Steam dock is great but there are some great ones for cheaper.
Software to install:
CryoUtilities: It changes a few things to give some performance increases. It’s debatable whether they’re noticeable. One thing you can change yourself in the BIOS is changing the available VRAM from 1GB to 4GB.
Decky Loader: This gives you quick access to all kinds of things. A must install. ProtonDB will add badges to game pages to tell you how well they run under proton even if they’re not Steam verified. SteamGridDB will let you change art for games and apps you install.
Heroic Game Launcher: This is the easiest way to add games you own from Epic, GOG, and Amazon.
ProtonUp-Qt: Install custom versions of Proton that can improve performance. I think there’s something in Decky Loader that will do this as well but I haven’t tried it.
