I’d love to know if this is possible. So far I’ve only been able to wake my Deck from the couch by using a Steam Controller that’s connected via the wireless USB dongle. It’s awesome, but I wouldn’t want to play every game with that controller.
If you're wondering what model to get, if you can use a screwdriver and follow simple instructions you can purchase the 64gb model and then get a 256gb NVME ssd(Samsung pm991) for ~35 off amazon. Takes only a couple minutes to remove/install the drive. Takes longer to reinstall steamOS to your device.
I did this in March when the first steamdeck sale happened. Haven't had a single issue with my ssd - other than the updater saying my ssd needs a firmware update but fails on the install.
Don't use a cheap no-name brand(Onn, etc) USB stick for your steamOS recovery image. I tried several and they all would claim install success but the OS would get stuck in a boot loop in the reboot after "successful installation".
I ended up buying a cheap Sandisk and it worked like a charm. I also got an anti-glare screen protector which does wonders for outdoor gaming.
It does probably make more sense to just get the cheap one and upgrade, but the etched glass is way better than matte screen protectors. There is no comparison.
Had to use sudo to do it, but it worked. No message about permission issues appears when I try to save the changes to the Arguments tab anymore, but they still don't save when I reopen the permissions window either.
That is certainly a good point, and someone on the Steam Deck subreddit had a few things to say about that. I'd definitely say proceed with caution and not be too liberal in its use maybe. No one's been using this for very long at all, so nothing's off the table. Only time will tell.
Maybe use it in select games and not all the time. Besides, the way I understood it, 70Hz is only applied once in-game and if explicitly set, so it's not applicable when no game is running - though I'm not 100% on that.
Even so, the reduction in lifespan may be negligible for all we know, and right now it probably is just a matter if one thinks the potential tradeoff is worth it. I am using it now only in select games, but these are games that I play for extended periods, however being that I am quite sensitive to the flicker at 60Hz, the 17% increase does a lot to mitigate feelings of unease for me. So personally, right now, I'd say it's worth it. If the screen dies a bit prematurely, I'd probably bite the bullet and buy a new screen, and give a try at one of those full shell replacements.
Everything I can see for it on the Arch wiki indicates the filesystem would need to be unlocked and after an update your changes would be wiped out. Alternatively brew.sh would potentially let you install xmodmap to do it although, without testing either method, I can't say if the changes would even follow through from Desktop to Game mode.
However, in Game mode you can open these menus with Ctrl+1 for the Steam button and Ctrl+2 for ellipsis button.
I think the current demo is a new one released for the Steam Next Fest. So any videos before now were playing the old demo. It looks like it's poorly optimised for Deck at the moment. Hopefully the full release will be better.
So just for my understanding, what's the benefit of getting the game running on desktop first, rather than just setting things up on the Deck itself? If you're doing this for several games does it not mean you're creating multiple copies of the emulator within each appimage and taking up more space?
I don't personally find it all that heavy, honestly. I've been able to use it for a few hours on end, namely when I first got it, and I can't say I had any arm or hand fatigue.
I've found that the ergonomics of Deck really help to make it feel lighter than it actually is. I've happily held mine for ~45 minutes at a time with my elbows resting on my chair arms. As another commenter mentioned, it's worth keeping an eye on your posture (I'm definitely really bad with this - leaning over playing my Switch, Deck or reading a book)!
I think the main limiting factor here is battery life. But nowadays I'm never that far from a plug point or battery bank to be fair.
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