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Comment by UI_at_80x24 | Hacker News Reader

I've been debating getting a SteamDeck. On paper it's a perfect linux 'laptop' replacement. I get to game if I want. Connect it to a dock, KB+M, monitor and you have a portable computer. However, I am never 'away' from home.

I don't have a commute where I spend hours sitting idle wishing for something to do. A possible usage; when I take the kids to the park I spend a decent chunk of time interacting with them. So out of a 1-3 hour excursion, I'd get maybe 0.75-1.5hrs of usage. And that's not every day.

I WANT one. I just can't justify that kind of expense.

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The fact that you can play it resting on a couch vs desktop gaming on a home office chair justifies the expense for me personally, but you might not be that lazy.

But couch gaming is so much better with a lighter device in hands and a TV hooked to a PC. I, too, want a Deck but can't justify the waste because my cute little htpc is much, much faster. Not that it needs to be, 90% of the time. Nothing fancy. Mostly 8 and 16-bit stuff.

That said, the deck is almost cheaper than the 5800u tomtom sort of sff pcs on aliexpress. Everything considered, it's not a bad product at all. I fear its future looks brighter than that of my index

Briefly looked at something like a Intel NUC 11 Extreme Kit for htpc, until I realized that the Deck will be useful for the 2-3 flights I take every year as well, so for now it still has higher priority on my wish list.

It's in the price range of an used old leasing laptop. About comparable to the cheapest supermarket laptops that can run mid-range games.

But it's portable and can dock to your existing display/keyboard/mouse setup when needed.

I haven't booted up my (old) Windows gaming PC since I got the deck. It's just so convenient to pick up and play. And when the kids/SO call, I can just hit suspend and go see what's up. When I get back, I turn on the SD and continue exactly where I left off.

WAY easier and more practical than leaving my gaming PC on pause for multiple hours. (Not all games let you save anywhere you want).

My son has been using it in place of an iPad - he watches youtube videos on it and loves that it runs linux and is basically a full computer.

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