I resisted at the time, but in the end I fell and I got one Steam deck. I thought so much about it because I initially thought I'd just play with it—or with him, since it's a computer—but not at all. Over time, it's become my multimedia center, and this past week it's allowed me to keep working even though my main laptop suffered a setback: the charger has had enough.
The problem was one of those annoying ones: my ACER's charging cable is thin, and partly because I wasn't careful enough and partly because of its thinness, it started to fray in one spot. Last weekend, it started making a clicking noise. a poor contact that prevented chargingAt first, it wasn't impossible to charge it, but it was possible without leaving the laptop completely still. The slightest movement caused sparks to pop, and it's not worth using something like that. It also stopped charging completely after a while.
Options I had
The options I had from the time I ordered a charging cable until it arrived were these:
- Doing nothing would affect my monthly payment.
- Use the Raspberry Pi 4. It was a possibility, but it's too slow for my taste.
- Using my old laptop. Another option, almost better than the Raspberry Pi, but its screen doesn't make good contact either—I know you're probably thinking I'm clumsy, and sometimes I am. And to use it on my TV, I'd rather have something else.
Steam Deck to the rescue
In the end, I opted to use the Steam Deck in a dock. I just had to move a small table to get the screen more in front of me. The rest was a piece of cake. Plus, I gained more power, which might not seem necessary, but it never hurts.
I don't need it in my daily work, so I didn't have Vivaldi on the Steam Deck. I installed it so I could use split screen properly and added a few panels, like the Inoreader and X panels. The power of the Steam Deck meant I didn't miss anything, or almost: most of my blogging time is spent on the couch. To work on the Steam Deck, I have to work at a makeshift desk.
The Steam Deck is truly "a computer that's good for gaming anywhere," but also for everything else. Thanks to it, I've been able to keep working, and I like the thing more every day.