I recently purchased a Steam deck. It is sold as a console-type product, but also as a handheld computer. It is more the latter than the former, basically a mini-computer with a console body and a Linux-based operating system whose main interface resembles, with all distances, what the PlayStation or Xbox show. Now that I have one, I can't stop thinking about all those devices I bought and that they did not satisfy me.
I bought myself a iPad in 2017, a non-Linux device that I think also deserved to enter this list. I still have it around the house, but for little more than listening to music and watching sports when I'm in bed. At first I thought about having something like a cell phone, but bigger. A device with which to consult the web and social networks, when I still had them, different from the telephone, among other things to extend the autonomy of my smartphone. I can't say that it was money that I didn't amortize, but the Steam Deck is that and much more.
The Steam Deck is valid for a computer, tablet, console, TV Box...
The Steam Deck's screen is about the same size as the iPad Mini original. One centimeter less diagonally, and it would have been useful for much of what I did. The times were not good, since the Steam Deck has been available since 2022, but it is inevitable to compare.
Later, around 2019, I bought several devices that the Steam Deck replaces 100%. The first was the Raspberry Pi with which I intended to have a computer to emulate games and watch all types of content. The first turned out somewhat well for me, since it can handle a lot, but sometimes it falls short, and the second... not so much. The architecture is something I didn't take into account, my fault, and I couldn't run software that I took for granted.
La Xiaomi Mi Box It was another device that I acquired, this one to watch more than to play. Its performance left a lot to be desired, to the point that they recommended disconnecting it from the power outlet so as not to "wake it up" and so that performance would not stumble. 8GB of storage and 2GB of RAM don't help matters either.
Hardware with Linux that is worth it
But what I thought was going to serve me as an all-in-one like what the Steam Deck offers me was the pinetab. Linux on a tablet, they said; It connects to a screen and you have almost a desktop Linux, they said; They said a lot, but I got rid of it a long time ago. It was not even going backwards, and on top of that it was not compatible with desktop applications and the different projects turned their backs on him. It was known that it was not going to be used to emulate PlayStation 2 or PSP titles, but that it could not even display videos fluidly...
The last episode or device I have tried to do everything I want is a laptop, an old one from 2015 which is somewhat more powerful than my RPi4. It can with x86 software, emulate and almost everything. It's fair, but it makes me happy.
…or had me.
Everything I do with the Steam Deck
I'll be honest, as always, and I'm not going to lie and say that I don't use anything I have.. I still use the iPad. I play soft music at night, I like it, and as long as it works I don't have to spend – wear out, not use – another device. I will continue using the laptop for testing, and the RPi4 for the same. But my use is going to change a lot.
Until now, when I wanted to play something other than the PS3, I did it on the old laptop. Now, I play for a moment on the Steam Deck and without connecting the TV. When I want to see content on streaming, I do it with Kodi on the Deck, and the experience is smoother. I want to see something in Prime Video with the highest quality? Well... I can't on SteamOS, but I can on an SSD with Windows that I have. It was impossible for me to do something like that with my old laptop, the poor thing is dragging itself with the Microsoft system.
To all that I have to add more modern games. Not the latest AAA at high resolution and on a medium screen, but the penultimate of this type and on the screen of the handheld PC. Some without much graphic load also on a 32″ TV.
Even more
On top of all that, I'm also flirting with cybersecurity, and I have an SD with Kali Linux. It is a non-immutable system, that is, normal, and with it I can do anything that Steam OS does not allow me to do – not much, really. The reason for choosing Kali Linux is that it is Debian with everything cybersecurity included. It also allows me to have the live version and a persistent one.
My medium-distance train trips have also changed. Not the short ones, in those cases my music is enough for me. But the ones that are a little longer do go by faster when I'm playing.
Conclusion
There are many people who say that the Steam Deck is the best purchase they have made in years, and I think the same. It can be expensive if purchased off-sale, but its versatility makes it worth every last cent. My leisure life at home has changed for me, and my productive life has also changed somewhat. Worth.