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Comment by ch_123 | Hacker News Reader

> TL;DR Well, the Steam Deck didn’t fit in my backpack…

I'm not sure if this is meant to be taken literally, but I would have just bought a bigger backpack. In some ways, I think this makes me respect the author more.

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Well, if you’re travelling by air, space is a premium. And to a small degree, I will also, attempt to be hyper efficient with space.

RIP GameBoy, I hope Nintendo releases an ultra small switch.

I have never had trouble carrying my Steam Deck in my relatively small and cheap travel backpack, but I usually also check a bag. If I was trying to carry EVERYTHING on then I probably would find that more difficult.

I'm not saying i's a problem but compare SteamDeck+case with a GameBoy Advance - especially as the latter is protected enough by any tight fitting cloth bag, it's nearly indestructible.

I used to fly with a 13" MacBook and a frankly excessive amount of random stuff in my backpack, and it still fit under the seat without too much trouble.

If you're trying to keep your daily carry bag super slim on principle, I guess it mgith be harder.

> I hope Nintendo releases an ultra small switch.

No plans like that at the moment, the opposite is true though: “The Nintendo Switch 2 is an upcoming hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo. (…) The unit maintains a similar form factor as the Switch“[1]

[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_2

Really should have just bought a slim case for the Steam Deck. The stock case is like twice as thick as it needs to be and does really take up a ton of space in a backpack.

The irony though is that this box + glasses + controller combo for sure takes more space than the original Steam Deck even in the oversized stock case…

Yeah, I got confused by that too. Steam Deck is a handheld, right? It should fit in your pocket, right?

It is more like Switch. With grips like your average controller. So it is not a small device as such.

Okay then I guess I must've gotten that one wrong too, since I always imagined Switch is slightly larger than GameBoy Advance or PSP.

(They really need to start adding bananas for scale for to ads for those devices. Or I need to watch more ads; the few photos I saw gave me the mental picture of a PSP-sized handheld.)

It's larger than the switch! And the case for the Steamdeck is notably thicker than the Steamdeck, while the case for the switch is not. I think this is because the switch is almost flat, whereas the joysticks on the front of the Steamdeck and the handholds on the back stick out a lot farther, and the Steamdeck case doesn't conform to the Steamdeck; it's just as large as the largest dimension in any direction.

My experience is that chucking the Steamdeck in my backpack for a flight is doable if I don't put it in the case, but if I put it in the case it takes up enough space that it's annoying to fit my laptop / other stuff too.

I normally deal with this by either not using the case or just taking my switch instead. But I respect the author's choice here a whole lot :)

It's about as wide as my 14" MBP

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