Fair play
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Rumor: Microsoft are engineering their own ARM CPU and are optimising Windows 12 for it.
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Let's hope that the optimisation is better than the Arm Win 10 version then.Comment
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Hmm. Given the way they're marketing that with the images, I think I'll wait for the reviews.Comment
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The Verge's one is up too with similar sentiments.
It's a cool gizmo but my god it's one ugly mother.Comment
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UK Price has been confirmed at £699 for the Z1 Extreme and £599 for the lower spec model: https://www.godisageek.com/2023/05/a...ate-confirmed/
Surprisingly a $ -> £ direct conversion.
Can pre-order now, release on June 13th.Comment
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Pretty crazy for a handheld, battery was always going to be crap but the power is impressive.Last edited by fishbowlhead; 11-05-2023, 20:09.Comment
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I'm conflicted. The power/price ratio is great and the unit is lighter and smaller than the Deck...Originally posted by MartyG View Post
But...
That dpad looks horrendous and I think I would miss the trackpads after using them on the Deck for so long now. Equally that power comes at a cost, if you want to ramp it up then <1h is expected.
I dunno... I'm glad there's more real competition in this, and in particular at this price. But I can't help but think if Valve announced a Deck 2 in 6 months it would be my preferred choice even if it wasn't quite as powerful.
Also in other news...YuZu just got a MAJOR update... I can't think why they waited to release this today...
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I think I'm going to pass for the time being. The Steam Deck is all I really need given I mostly just use it for emulators and even then not on a regular basis.
From what I've seen so far, it looks like at low power settings, the Steam Deck is ahead on performance, it's only when you ramp up the wattage the benefits of the extra SoC grunt is apparent. The screen is definitely better and I think ASUS have priced it well, so it'd be a tough pick between the Ally and Deck if you're looking to buy a PC handheld for sure.Comment
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Two more things... I actually think Valve was onto something with the Deck stick/dpad layout as with them pushed to the top edges you tend to rest the weight of the unit more evenly. I've gotten very used to using it laid back now in a certain position that is very comfortable... the Ally returning to a more xbox offset when the unit is still quite big might not be as comfortable but I think just judging from watching reviews the Deck could still edge it here. That said, the Ally is lighter so it might be a non issue...
The bigger thing is SteamOS for all its proton compatibility woes has an ace up its sleeve in its ability to download shader caches from the cloud. Anything on windows is still going to be prone to stutter on first play... this is something I saw mentioned last night in one video and it's actually something I notice in xbox titles I've got installed through Win11.
So yeah I'm not in any rush to grab something so similar with extra power and a better screen... particularly when you factor in these points and the fact Valve continues to improve the Deck at a rapid pace.
Still, again it's bloody good to see two very good options widely available in this space. Things can only get better from here.
Another side note. I've seen some interesting news dock options for the deck.
There's now another brand in Amazon that does the M.2 dock with onboard storage, following Jsaux. There's also a new clip-on dock that acts as a stand and adds the ports direct to the back of the Deck unit so it's always connected.
And finally I was looking for a dock that could potentially support Switch and Deck which lead me to buy one from Skull & Co. They have two types, the jumpgate which is for Switch and SteamDock for the Deck. Both are very similar and feature a removable mini hub containing all the ports you can slip in your pocket.
Both options can be bought just as a shell and the USB hub (called coredrive) can be inserted into any of them. Very cool.Comment
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Read a few articles and it feels like the same scenario as always - Steam Deck competitor is not actually a competitor at all.
It's superior in many ways on paper but unless its jacked into a mains, defeating the point of the device, the gains seem to be minimal over the Deck. The second the huge price jump is factored in it renders the device redundant. The Deck's brilliance is in the execution, power and price. It's nice to see good execution becoming more common but the performance gains in real terms aren't there for these companies to pull off the 'Deck 2' ambitions they want and unless the price mirrors the Deck they're wasting their time.
They need to stop aiming for the no man's land between Deck and LaptopComment
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It's like Steam Deck is Gameboy and everyone else is, for some reason, trying to build a Lynx.Comment
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