What’s the difference? Afaict most of the problems with gaming laptops (e.g. the form factor introducing restrictions on power and cooling capacity) are independent of the specific os and hardware. How does the steam deck solve them better?
Gaming laptops are both too big to be portable, and yet subpar for a desktop experience. I feel like they’re an inconvenient compromise between something focused on being a portable gaming experience and a desktop computer, and they fail to meet either need well.
I am one of those that fell for the falacy of “gaming laptops” because I have to travel a lot for work, and need my dose of gaming to stay sane. As such, I usually played on console when at home, work on a non-gaming PC, and tried to game on a laptop while away.
I found that, while I was able to somewhat play a bit while on the ground, those laptops are huge power suckers. This lead to any flight over 2 hours leaving me at the expense of the airline’s ad-ridden and ridiculously limited “entertainment” (those that provide it and IF they provided it). Never mind how freaking hot they get and how heavy that shot is (21 pounds with the power brick).
The deck has saved my life. I can carry a powerful laptop that will give me 8+ hours of battery for my in-flight media consumption and watch whatever the he’ll I want without being exposed to ads and the pilot interrupting my enjoyment, and I can play anything available offline on my deck at any point.
Unfortunately I still have a “gaming” system76 laptop that is only 2 years old, this is my second (and last) “gaming” laptop. My next travel companion will not have, nor need, dedicated GPU, because the deck covers that itch.
What’s the difference? Afaict most of the problems with gaming laptops (e.g. the form factor introducing restrictions on power and cooling capacity) are independent of the specific os and hardware. How does the steam deck solve them better?
Gaming laptops are both too big to be portable, and yet subpar for a desktop experience. I feel like they’re an inconvenient compromise between something focused on being a portable gaming experience and a desktop computer, and they fail to meet either need well.
I am one of those that fell for the falacy of “gaming laptops” because I have to travel a lot for work, and need my dose of gaming to stay sane. As such, I usually played on console when at home, work on a non-gaming PC, and tried to game on a laptop while away.
I found that, while I was able to somewhat play a bit while on the ground, those laptops are huge power suckers. This lead to any flight over 2 hours leaving me at the expense of the airline’s ad-ridden and ridiculously limited “entertainment” (those that provide it and IF they provided it). Never mind how freaking hot they get and how heavy that shot is (21 pounds with the power brick).
The deck has saved my life. I can carry a powerful laptop that will give me 8+ hours of battery for my in-flight media consumption and watch whatever the he’ll I want without being exposed to ads and the pilot interrupting my enjoyment, and I can play anything available offline on my deck at any point.
Unfortunately I still have a “gaming” system76 laptop that is only 2 years old, this is my second (and last) “gaming” laptop. My next travel companion will not have, nor need, dedicated GPU, because the deck covers that itch.