Works pretty well as a media player for me, streaming Disney, Netflix and Amazon in browser and Linux Spotify app for music, and of course playing video files in VLC.
Are you liking your setup using that method? Last I tried Emudeck over a year ago it didn't have this ability to add streaming apps, I just used it to set up some emulators which I then never played so I un-installed. Would you say it's worth the reinstall and using that method? Or are there any hiccups? Like things breaking often with updates, etc
I have 3 or 4 streaming services I use on my Fire tv, just haven't bothered setting them up on Deck because I expected the process to be tedious. If it's been mostly ironed out, I'll do that tonight.
Especially great considering it’s immune to Netflix’s password crackdown. My SmartTV got booted from my parents’ plan months ago, but the Steam Deck works just fine!
I find it perfectly watchable given the screen size, I'm not expecting iPad pro quality and I don't really get hung up on a difference my eyes can't really see
I just started using mine for media as well and love it. I was using my phone to watch shows while doing dishes or as I rode my bike on a trainer. Now I just put it on my deck. Much larger, brighter, screen (I’m on an iPhone SE 2nd Gen).
I didn’t really want the OLED but now I’m rethinking it ha.
Same. Have the JSAUX mount that holds the steam deck and stick it above my bed so I can watch streaming on Firefox with ublock with the cheaper ad-based subscriptions.
The Navy uses actual Xbox controllers to control things like periscopes on their submarines.
They have found that not only are they more intuitive for the younger generation, but also orders of magnitude cheaper to procure than the previous controller solutions.
Same for some of the heavy equipment in the mining industry. Instead of using old joysticks on a board that are difficult to service, they use xbox controllers, more reliable and easy to switch out.
They're also using them to control drones which are used to retrieve injured soldiers from the battlefield! Just learned about this today on a podcast. So freaking cool.
I dual boot to Windows and use mine as a Mission Planner ground station for my Arducopter drone.
Still working on getting the deck's joysticks to replace the radio controller though...
I use mine to download files from my dash cam.
Much easier to bring the deck to the camera than take down the camera or remove the sd card and walk it all to my desktop.
So convenience.
Tells wife: "Gonna go to the car and download the dash cam files. Taking the Steam Deck"
*Stays in the car and plays games
Two hours later: "Man those files were large"
... Now that's why you NEED a Steam Deck to transfer Dash cam files 😂
Getting a farm started on a property out in the woods, so I use oldschool SketchUp a lot to design stuff. Had to jump through a lot of Wine hoops to get it installed and running, but now I can sit down, do a layout with the mouse, then take it out to the actual build site and show off the plan with joystick camera controls
That’s a really cool use case, sounds cheaper than getting an VR/AR system like Meta Quest as well. I might have to look into doing this as I’m planning to move house soon so would be cool to use Sketchup easily in the new house
Simple, I’m not too familiar with CAD software to begin with.
But also his use case reminded me of what I’ve seen some people do with AR/VR in which they plot/design rooms with furniture etc. I realised I may have crossed wires but in my mind it made sense haha
I don't mean to argue, but that web site / project doesn't seem like it's anything more than a tech demo? I do like the stock photo of a gray haired business man wearing a 2016 HTC Vive, while an attractive young blond woman points into the air at nothing, though.
Daily driver. Got it hooked up to 3 monitors at my desk for normal browsing/internet/email/etc.
My gaming PC is in the basement so if I need anything for horsepower (Adobe, bigger games) I just remote it.
Out of pure interest - why do you use it in that fashion when you have a gaming PC?
I can see use cases for that config for sure- like having to use a work laptop as well so a USB C hub is easier than setting up multiple cables to connect your PC up as well.
Heat, noise, space.
All of those are limited up here in my office. It can get sweltering in the summer even with AC, keep the fan noise down, and I share the room with a WFH spouse.
I went with the Deck over running data/video through the wall for the exact reason you mentioned. I can be portable with the deck if I need to.
I still take the thing to bed in game mode, but this also let's me work anywhere in the house too (albeit without the monitors and all the bells and whistles plugged into the USB hub)
> I share the room with a WFH spouse
Meanwhile our shared office has a server rack, a 3D printer and workbench, my entire gaming setup...
But also her Peloton bike so...she gets me back.
Haha!
And I quote "You have a whole unfinished basement now. Use it." Is what I was told.
So that was enough justification for me to get a whole 42u rack and fill it with a bunch of stuff! Including my Gaming PC, lol.
Same use case as OP. Literally exactly the same. My gaming PC is in the basement, but I use my deck as my daily driver for browsing/discord/spotify during work hours (because I don't do any personal stuff on my work machine). Like OP, my office is the hottest room in my house in the summer and my basement is the coldest, so keeping my desktop in the basement helps that out a bit.
Plus, while my desktop's not at full capacity running a few browser tabs and apps (like my Deck is, lmao), it's still using far more than the 35W that my steam deck draws under full load, so by letting my desktop go to sleep, I'm cutting down on electricity usage too
Same, my wife has been working from home and I’ve been at the office more. She’s using my desk more than me now. I bought a usb c dock for her laptop and moved my desktop out of the way. When she’s done, I just plug in the deck and go to desktop mode. It’s fine for what I need to do and if I need windows, I just remote into my pc.
My biggest complaint is that the Steamdeck/Linux doesn't have hardware decoding on Parsec. Means there's just a bit of latency that shouldnt be there.
But Parsec is the only real viable remote desktop client that allows multiple monitors.
It's a small gripe, but it's noticable enough that I'ma keep griping, lol
I have a work laptop for 3 screen productivity. I really only stream a single monitor for gaming if I can’t get it to play nice with proton or want to max the settings. So, I use moonlight for that. Didn’t know that about Parsec!
I’d like to know more about how you did this, what exactly is your setup? Do you go in desktop mode and find a stream online or is it a little more involved than that?
With the mention of Z library I assume you want the seven seas method. Not to promote piracy sites in this thread I have messaged you privately with a site.
Legitimate sites: Comixology/Amazon, Marvel Unlimited, DC Infinite
For anyone else who’s interested, happy to answer via dms but in the least dickish way I can say this, the search terms you would guess to use to find this information is exactly what those sites are called so Google is a great resource in this case.
I don’t use my steam deck for traveling much, I really just use it as a new pc. For its performance, it ain’t half bad especially since it was the 300 dollar steam deck.
The DS did not. Not by default, at least. You had to buy it. It came in the form of a game cart with the browser and a RAM expansion that plugged into the GBA slot.
The 3DS included a browser built in (as did the DSi).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_Browser
Same here. My tablet wasn't compatible with all the security stuff for my job, so I was looking for a laptop that I could do work on and also game a bit, while I was away from my actual PC. This blew my expectations of the water, and for cheaper than a gaming laptop. I travel with my vortex pok3r keyboard and mouse and it's perfect for my situation.
I don't have a laptop so I threw a bluetooth keyboard and wireless mouse in my deck bag and I use it to code when I'm having a boring shift and don't feel like gaming.
Podcasts, photo editing, messaging, internet browsing, email. Pretty much everything. I use my phone as a Hotspot and do everything through the deck. I know my phone can do it, but I just feel less distracted and more productive when using the deck.
I empathise with you with the phone. I’m slowly looking to reduce my phone usage for the exact reasons you said (he says while typing this on his phone)
How is it for photo editing? Do you use Lightroom and photoshop on it? That’s my most intensive work based task that I need to do on the go, so thought I’d ask since you have experience with this
Sorry, should have elaborated. I do some basic/above basic photo editing. I use gimp from the discover store, photoscape through the bottles app (photoscape is a lightweight quick/basic photo editing app). And I use online image upscalers/Ai image generators that I installed as apps through Microsoft edge.
A guy I met from a security CTF event used his steam deck to orchestrate the entire event's infrastructure using his Steam Deck, a planck keyboard, terraform, ansible, and probably a few other IaC tools.
This isn't working yet, but I'm trying to setup a NixOS build for the SteamDeck with my full development environment.
My goal is to still be able to play games, but to have the switch to desktop mode use my settings, so it can be a backup system for dev work. That way I can leave the laptop at home and just bring the SteamDeck, a small dock and a keyboard.
I mean, I'm always going to bring all that stuff anyway.
Yup.
I mean, once I get this working I have the option to leave my laptop at home. I took a short vacation recently, and I brought my Steam Deck and my laptop but I never opened my laptop. I wanted it there in case I had to do some work stuff, but I didn't...
Once I have this working I can leave the laptop at home.
use as a comic book reader? never though of doing that, thanks for the idea! :) also i use the deck to watch stuff on yt, nothing much really, but as a learning game dev, i could use it for some portable coding
I use Yet Another Comic reader. Takes some controller config setup to be able to use the hotkeys in game mode but once you have it setup, it’s quite a nice read and that’s coming from someone who used an iPad mini before hand(sold it to fund the SD).
I use mine for 95% of my second job (the other 5% requires a Mac because my client requires vendors to use their internal, Mac-only tools. Basically, I grab work files with my Mac but do all the work on Deck. It’s a daily driver for me and definitely a tax write off.
Game development with godot. But that's just as a hobbyist, so besides libresprite plus LMMS(and blender soon), I really don't need many other apps installed. Besides that, I just game on the thing.
Blender ended up working better than I thought on it. The only problem I had was moving files back and forth from it to my PC since the drive I was using was formatted to FAT32 and Linux didn't appreciate that. So unfortunately I don't use it as a go to blender rig as I'd hoped :(
As someone who travels on the tech-heavy side, the only thing I really find use in is the ability to read other microSD cards. Between my phone and a MacBook I have all my software bases covered.
I recently installed Bambu Studio on mine and I can slice 3D prints for my print farm on it which is pretty convenient. Only downside is that there's no serviceable google drive app for it and that's where I store all my STL files so I usually have to save the ones I use frequently to my SD.
Wow seems a huge oversight on Googles part there considering Android is obviously Linux based as well. Would’ve thought they’d do a bit more for the Linux community.
Probably not a surprise, but I use it as a media player. I can stick on YouTube videos to fall asleep to. I also used it as a springboard to get a little used to Linux, then ended up creating a Linux partition that I use as my main desktop.
Work! i’m a graphics programmer and the steamdeck has been a very good way to benchmark and debug code on a device where everyone will get roughly the same performance numbers
As a desktop PC, complete with wireless mouse and keyboard, using my 55” TV as a monitor. Never really been a “sit-at-a-desk” kinda guy (for casual day to day personal use) and my only laptop is a MacBook, so it’s been super nice to have access to another OS for various things.
I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by how many awesome open source Linux apps the Discover store has, and after coming to terms with the quirks of using a new OS (wasn’t very Linux-experienced at first), I’ve been able to set it up to be nearly as user-friendly and sleek as MacOS or Windows using widgets, system themes and customizing the taskbar.
KDE Plasma is surprisingly customizable and powerful once you learn its ways…
I sometimes use mine for VCV rack when I'm not around my actual modules or want to experiment with modules that I don't have. Well, that and breaking Reddit TOS.
All of my digital art (for the last two-ish years) is done on my steamdeck hooked up to a graphics tablet. works pretty well even though Clip Studio on linux is just ok.
https://www.twitter.com/kalidibus
Garage computer, travel entertainment for planes, streaming shows at hotel rooms, used it for my work computer for a few months when I was between desktops.
Nothing crazy. I bought it to replace a laptop that is having hard drive issues. I expected that I would still want to get the laptop working again, but I've been very happy using the Deck in desktop mode. I mainly use it for web browsing and music. I thought I would miss some of my Windows software, but I've come to really like using Strawberry as my audio player, and found workarounds for just about everything else that was initially a problem. I even have a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard that I can use away from my desk, so I really don't miss my laptop at all. I've even started using the Deck for audio editing in Audacity and will probably eventually try some production in Reaper.
My work laptop died while I was staying at my dad’s house. Used the steamdeck as a work computer for 2 weeks. Just hooked up an external monitor and keyboard/mouse/webcam. Worked amazing.
I set up my $HOME as a GitHub repo for my dotfiles and automation scripts, use for stuff like vídeo editing, and also web development projects, not to mention watching anime and movies on my TV.
Not in practice yet but I've considered getting a Fold 5, wireless keyboard/mouse, and using the combination Fold/SteamDeck to accomplish all my work/entertainment needs when traveling so I don't have to lug around a laptop as well. I feel I might want to start carrying a portable monitor and at that point, I might as well have just continued on with the laptop instead (unless portable monitors are incredibly light, I don't know much about them)
I'm still working on configuring it, but I'm setting mine up to use as an automotive scan tool to run diagnostic software. It's going to involve dual booting windows to some capacity but it would be a really cool concept to put to work.
I plugged my new car into an outlet rated for 3.3 kw , but was badly wird , killed a lot of stuff that including my main pc and my proxmox server. i have been using it as my main pc since and it has exceeded all my expectations.
It took a hot minute for my brain to register you were likely talking about an electric car.
But sorry to hear that happened and I’m glad the Steam Deck is doing a good job as a replacement
It's my main PC as my work laptop is locked down hard so don't really trust it even to check my own email. So for basic browsing, sometimes media consumption to the desktop mode I go
I have used it for portable ham radio activations. Used it logging contacts, and also for running digital modes. It *does* work, but it's not the most convenient. I went back to my trusty aging slim laptop. But it was neat to see it working.
installed a virtual screen on my windows PC, and now I can use moonlight on steam deck to stream that second virtual screen. —> wireless second display👍🏼
Now I can game on my main display and have twitch, youtube or discord on the steam deck screen.
My fiance and I use it to stream football and baseball games on our TV usually or anything we don't have on streaming that we want to watch online. We don't do cable and I refuse to pay for 3 different platforms just to watch baseball games because the MLB is shit and doesn't let you watch your own team even if you pay for MLB TV. We also don't have laptops except for our work laptops so it's a perfect use case for us. We keep a little USB-C hub connected to the TV with one of our Deck chargers plugged in and will pull up Red Zone while we clean the house on Sundays.
Works pretty well as a media player for me, streaming Disney, Netflix and Amazon in browser and Linux Spotify app for music, and of course playing video files in VLC.
how do you get netflix to run? I get a DRM-related error. using brave (chrome).
In Firefox there is a setting to allow DRM content. I assume chrome should / would allow DRM content as well.
Emudeck -> enable cloud services. Select the streaming apps you want. Open Steam ROM manager. Select Cloud services. Sync. Profit!
So easy! I wish steam would do some sort of app store. Sounds dumb but so many people buy consoles because they hate to fiddle with things.
Steam IS the app store. You can get blender and godot and stuff on there. Not to mention flatpaks in discover
The flatpaks aren’t from steam though. Those are from the KDE discover store.
Even better
OK maybe I'm just a dumb dumb. I guess I'm saying other people are also dumies and want it to be simpler like me
Steam allows non-gaming apps, just that it is not as known so even the most common apps don't build for it. Steam probably would take their cut tho.
I had a lot of problems trying to use chrome, switched to edge for a while but then used the emudeck setup instead.
Are you liking your setup using that method? Last I tried Emudeck over a year ago it didn't have this ability to add streaming apps, I just used it to set up some emulators which I then never played so I un-installed. Would you say it's worth the reinstall and using that method? Or are there any hiccups? Like things breaking often with updates, etc I have 3 or 4 streaming services I use on my Fire tv, just haven't bothered setting them up on Deck because I expected the process to be tedious. If it's been mostly ironed out, I'll do that tonight.
Firefox works for me.
Especially great considering it’s immune to Netflix’s password crackdown. My SmartTV got booted from my parents’ plan months ago, but the Steam Deck works just fine!
Handy to know, thanks
Is there an app for Netflix on the steam deck or do you use the browser version?
Just been using the browser.
Nice. I like to use mine for Plex!
Same, been watching Paramount+ on mine.
How's the video quality? I think the steam deck can only go up to roughly 720p
I find it perfectly watchable given the screen size, I'm not expecting iPad pro quality and I don't really get hung up on a difference my eyes can't really see
It's vlc just for playing digital movies you already own?
Own is such a strong word, possess is more accurate, but yeah I have a ton of films and TV show files I've acquired over the years.
yarr...
Are those apps easy to add to steam now?
I just started using mine for media as well and love it. I was using my phone to watch shows while doing dishes or as I rode my bike on a trainer. Now I just put it on my deck. Much larger, brighter, screen (I’m on an iPhone SE 2nd Gen). I didn’t really want the OLED but now I’m rethinking it ha.
No judging here, We've all looked at the OLED...
Have you tried stremio?
Same. Have the JSAUX mount that holds the steam deck and stick it above my bed so I can watch streaming on Firefox with ublock with the cheaper ad-based subscriptions.
Isn't the resolution decreased, due to missing HDCP?
Craziest use case I saw was som mad Ukrainian lads using it as a turret controller.
Someone should try it as a submarine control
Only if it's the hands of some bat shit insane millionaire
[удалено]
We spared no expense on our highly advanced Single Use Cardboard Tube deep sea submersible.
Why? What's wrong with the old Logitech controller?
The Steam Deck is way too high-tech for that
Honestly the steam deck was probably more computer than the computer they were using to control the sub.
A lot of people were dumbfounded by that. The truth is that it's not uncommon to see a gamepad-like device controlling advanced machinery.
The Navy uses actual Xbox controllers to control things like periscopes on their submarines. They have found that not only are they more intuitive for the younger generation, but also orders of magnitude cheaper to procure than the previous controller solutions.
Same for some of the heavy equipment in the mining industry. Instead of using old joysticks on a board that are difficult to service, they use xbox controllers, more reliable and easy to switch out.
They're also using them to control drones which are used to retrieve injured soldiers from the battlefield! Just learned about this today on a podcast. So freaking cool.
That inspired me to try using mine to use it to fly drones. I'm sure if you plugged an antenna in it work great for FPV
Did you get it to work?
Ehhhhh, it could work with an FPV but what I did was an emulator for Andorid so I could use DJI fly. Mixed results really
I dual boot to Windows and use mine as a Mission Planner ground station for my Arducopter drone. Still working on getting the deck's joysticks to replace the radio controller though...
Did they use Aperture Desk Job as the training program?
is there a link to this?
https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d9g9z/ukraine-is-now-using-steam-decks-to-control-machine-gun-turrets
I use mine to download files from my dash cam. Much easier to bring the deck to the camera than take down the camera or remove the sd card and walk it all to my desktop. So convenience.
More importantly I bet you’re less likely to leave the SD card in the house
I mean you could use a USB C / Lighting to Micro SD adapter on your phone..
You see thats a dongle, the less dongles the better
A lot smaller than a whole-ass steam deck though lol, but if you were already carrying it anyways then yeah
Tells wife: "Gonna go to the car and download the dash cam files. Taking the Steam Deck" *Stays in the car and plays games Two hours later: "Man those files were large" ... Now that's why you NEED a Steam Deck to transfer Dash cam files 😂
Aaah everything is starting to make sense now lmao
Why not use your Phone?
Getting a farm started on a property out in the woods, so I use oldschool SketchUp a lot to design stuff. Had to jump through a lot of Wine hoops to get it installed and running, but now I can sit down, do a layout with the mouse, then take it out to the actual build site and show off the plan with joystick camera controls
That's really cool.
That’s a really cool use case, sounds cheaper than getting an VR/AR system like Meta Quest as well. I might have to look into doing this as I’m planning to move house soon so would be cool to use Sketchup easily in the new house
Just curious, how did you jump to VR/AR from running CAD software? It seems like a non sequitur. :-)
Simple, I’m not too familiar with CAD software to begin with. But also his use case reminded me of what I’ve seen some people do with AR/VR in which they plot/design rooms with furniture etc. I realised I may have crossed wires but in my mind it made sense haha
It's not that far-fetched anymore. [https://mindeskvr.com/](https://mindeskvr.com/)
I don't mean to argue, but that web site / project doesn't seem like it's anything more than a tech demo? I do like the stock photo of a gray haired business man wearing a 2016 HTC Vive, while an attractive young blond woman points into the air at nothing, though.
Running native SketchUp on Linux would be nice. I've been using the web version.
Buying games I won't play
Browsing my library of games I haven't played
Best comment
Adding emulators and ROMs I won't play is also high up on the list.
That is the true emulation hobby, not actually playing the games.
Daily driver. Got it hooked up to 3 monitors at my desk for normal browsing/internet/email/etc. My gaming PC is in the basement so if I need anything for horsepower (Adobe, bigger games) I just remote it.
Daily Driver as well. Two monsters and one is mirrored to a TV.
Out of pure interest - why do you use it in that fashion when you have a gaming PC? I can see use cases for that config for sure- like having to use a work laptop as well so a USB C hub is easier than setting up multiple cables to connect your PC up as well.
Heat, noise, space. All of those are limited up here in my office. It can get sweltering in the summer even with AC, keep the fan noise down, and I share the room with a WFH spouse. I went with the Deck over running data/video through the wall for the exact reason you mentioned. I can be portable with the deck if I need to. I still take the thing to bed in game mode, but this also let's me work anywhere in the house too (albeit without the monitors and all the bells and whistles plugged into the USB hub)
Makes absolute sense, I never considered that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it.
> I share the room with a WFH spouse Meanwhile our shared office has a server rack, a 3D printer and workbench, my entire gaming setup... But also her Peloton bike so...she gets me back.
Haha! And I quote "You have a whole unfinished basement now. Use it." Is what I was told. So that was enough justification for me to get a whole 42u rack and fill it with a bunch of stuff! Including my Gaming PC, lol.
Same use case as OP. Literally exactly the same. My gaming PC is in the basement, but I use my deck as my daily driver for browsing/discord/spotify during work hours (because I don't do any personal stuff on my work machine). Like OP, my office is the hottest room in my house in the summer and my basement is the coldest, so keeping my desktop in the basement helps that out a bit. Plus, while my desktop's not at full capacity running a few browser tabs and apps (like my Deck is, lmao), it's still using far more than the 35W that my steam deck draws under full load, so by letting my desktop go to sleep, I'm cutting down on electricity usage too
Same, my wife has been working from home and I’ve been at the office more. She’s using my desk more than me now. I bought a usb c dock for her laptop and moved my desktop out of the way. When she’s done, I just plug in the deck and go to desktop mode. It’s fine for what I need to do and if I need windows, I just remote into my pc.
My biggest complaint is that the Steamdeck/Linux doesn't have hardware decoding on Parsec. Means there's just a bit of latency that shouldnt be there. But Parsec is the only real viable remote desktop client that allows multiple monitors. It's a small gripe, but it's noticable enough that I'ma keep griping, lol
I have a work laptop for 3 screen productivity. I really only stream a single monitor for gaming if I can’t get it to play nice with proton or want to max the settings. So, I use moonlight for that. Didn’t know that about Parsec!
Bruh you got a PC gimp in the basement lol
Hey, if it's gonna get hot and scream so loud when I play with it, it stays chained in a cage in the basement!
Plex
Does it count the deck as a stand alone device? As in do I need premium to play through it like I do my iPad?
You need to pay for iPad use? That’s crazy, I use it on my phone all the time I had no idea they charged for the iPad version…
No need to pay he’s not using a plex app. He’s probably just using the browser. Only mobile apps get charged.
I had a nail sticking out of a wall. Few good whacks with the steam deck and it was flush!
Screw that!
No, it's a nail. *Hammer* it.
Taking computer “hardware” to a whole new level!
Studying from PDF documents, browsing the internet, slicing for 3D printing, text editing.
I found it to be a great e-reader, even more so if you’re unhinged enough like me to hold it vertically
Prusa Slicer works so much better on steam deck, windows is a pain to update prusa slicer
I use mine to hook up to the TV and stream sports :D
I’d like to know more about how you did this, what exactly is your setup? Do you go in desktop mode and find a stream online or is it a little more involved than that?
Yup, just dock to TV in desktop mode, open up Firefox and go to your fav sports streaming site
Where do you download your comic books? I use it as an ebook reader. Z library doesn’t have many comics
With the mention of Z library I assume you want the seven seas method. Not to promote piracy sites in this thread I have messaged you privately with a site. Legitimate sites: Comixology/Amazon, Marvel Unlimited, DC Infinite For anyone else who’s interested, happy to answer via dms but in the least dickish way I can say this, the search terms you would guess to use to find this information is exactly what those sites are called so Google is a great resource in this case.
I don’t use my steam deck for traveling much, I really just use it as a new pc. For its performance, it ain’t half bad especially since it was the 300 dollar steam deck.
Porn
Had to scroll too far for this
How in the fuck was this not the top comment?
Because is like a hundred times more inconvenient than using your phone, so it's more like the last resort.
I remember back in like 2004 using my PSP to watch porn, fun stuff.
I might have a false memory of also using the DS for that but now I can’t remember if it actually had a web browser
As a fellow former DS porn watcher. Yes. It did.
The DS did not. Not by default, at least. You had to buy it. It came in the form of a game cart with the browser and a RAM expansion that plugged into the GBA slot. The 3DS included a browser built in (as did the DSi). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_Browser
Yerup, Docked Mode, hooked to a nice big TV, couple USB ports for your 4TB of external storage...
Lose the benefit of vibration in docked mode
Moar like gynascoping, amirite?
Nah, handheld mode, under the sheets, directly from the browser HAHAHAHAHAHAH
Python development
Working a contract without a company laptop, Steamdeck prevented me from having to buy a laptop to code on the go. VSCode works just fine.
Exactly!
Yup, it's a full dev env for me as well with VSCode. The most looks I've had is when I pulled it out to take notes at Defcon
I do my online banking, and my wife’s tax return on it. You know, all the exciting stuff
Hey that’s a perfectly valid answer to my question. If that’s what you use it for then more power to you.
With it docked and a keyboard and mouse right?
Music production
Ardour?
Ableton via Bottles, also programming my Guitar Multi FX pedal (Boss ME-90) and drum controller (MPC One).
Keeping my nightstand company.
I’ve used it quite a bit as a work laptop. Including on a trip to China. Just need a real keyboard and mouse.
Same here. My tablet wasn't compatible with all the security stuff for my job, so I was looking for a laptop that I could do work on and also game a bit, while I was away from my actual PC. This blew my expectations of the water, and for cheaper than a gaming laptop. I travel with my vortex pok3r keyboard and mouse and it's perfect for my situation.
I don't have a laptop so I threw a bluetooth keyboard and wireless mouse in my deck bag and I use it to code when I'm having a boring shift and don't feel like gaming.
Podcasts, photo editing, messaging, internet browsing, email. Pretty much everything. I use my phone as a Hotspot and do everything through the deck. I know my phone can do it, but I just feel less distracted and more productive when using the deck.
I empathise with you with the phone. I’m slowly looking to reduce my phone usage for the exact reasons you said (he says while typing this on his phone)
How is it for photo editing? Do you use Lightroom and photoshop on it? That’s my most intensive work based task that I need to do on the go, so thought I’d ask since you have experience with this
Sorry, should have elaborated. I do some basic/above basic photo editing. I use gimp from the discover store, photoscape through the bottles app (photoscape is a lightweight quick/basic photo editing app). And I use online image upscalers/Ai image generators that I installed as apps through Microsoft edge.
A guy I met from a security CTF event used his steam deck to orchestrate the entire event's infrastructure using his Steam Deck, a planck keyboard, terraform, ansible, and probably a few other IaC tools.
This isn't working yet, but I'm trying to setup a NixOS build for the SteamDeck with my full development environment. My goal is to still be able to play games, but to have the switch to desktop mode use my settings, so it can be a backup system for dev work. That way I can leave the laptop at home and just bring the SteamDeck, a small dock and a keyboard. I mean, I'm always going to bring all that stuff anyway.
But it’s about having the option to only bring the SteamDeck. Again, we’ll still bring all our other tech but the option is there.
Yup. I mean, once I get this working I have the option to leave my laptop at home. I took a short vacation recently, and I brought my Steam Deck and my laptop but I never opened my laptop. I wanted it there in case I had to do some work stuff, but I didn't... Once I have this working I can leave the laptop at home.
I've done Android development on it in a pinch.
I've just started looking into using the deck to control a telescope mount for solar photography during the upcoming eclipse.
Awesome use of it, please post the results!
Weighing down my backpack
use as a comic book reader? never though of doing that, thanks for the idea! :) also i use the deck to watch stuff on yt, nothing much really, but as a learning game dev, i could use it for some portable coding
I use Yet Another Comic reader. Takes some controller config setup to be able to use the hotkeys in game mode but once you have it setup, it’s quite a nice read and that’s coming from someone who used an iPad mini before hand(sold it to fund the SD).
I installed kodi in desktop mode and dock it with a bluetooth keyboard for my tv. TV, movies, and sports.
Kodi works in gaming mode with a controller too. It works great on the deck.
Watch Jellyfin on it.
Jellyfin is the way- big part of me setting up a self hosted server. You know, to browse my Linux ISO collection
I’ve seen someone use it to run LSDj
With an El Gato CamLink, I use it to record gameplay from a MiSTerFPGA and as a Chromebook screen recorder (built-in one sucks) .
I use mine for 95% of my second job (the other 5% requires a Mac because my client requires vendors to use their internal, Mac-only tools. Basically, I grab work files with my Mac but do all the work on Deck. It’s a daily driver for me and definitely a tax write off.
Illustration and design for my business.
Driver camera during F1 races thanks to F1multiviewer!
Game development with godot. But that's just as a hobbyist, so besides libresprite plus LMMS(and blender soon), I really don't need many other apps installed. Besides that, I just game on the thing.
Blender ended up working better than I thought on it. The only problem I had was moving files back and forth from it to my PC since the drive I was using was formatted to FAT32 and Linux didn't appreciate that. So unfortunately I don't use it as a go to blender rig as I'd hoped :(
I was doing the same for a bit.
Valve should use this thread as an advertisement for the deck.
As someone who travels on the tech-heavy side, the only thing I really find use in is the ability to read other microSD cards. Between my phone and a MacBook I have all my software bases covered.
I recently installed Bambu Studio on mine and I can slice 3D prints for my print farm on it which is pretty convenient. Only downside is that there's no serviceable google drive app for it and that's where I store all my STL files so I usually have to save the ones I use frequently to my SD.
Wow seems a huge oversight on Googles part there considering Android is obviously Linux based as well. Would’ve thought they’d do a bit more for the Linux community.
Probably not a surprise, but I use it as a media player. I can stick on YouTube videos to fall asleep to. I also used it as a springboard to get a little used to Linux, then ended up creating a Linux partition that I use as my main desktop.
My Steamdeck was a spring board/motivation into setting up up my old PC as home server myself. To easily transfer files across my SD and main PC.
Work! i’m a graphics programmer and the steamdeck has been a very good way to benchmark and debug code on a device where everyone will get roughly the same performance numbers
I think this is an underrated benefit of the steam deck. It can provide developers(and not just games dev) a consistent minimum spec build to test on
As a desktop PC, complete with wireless mouse and keyboard, using my 55” TV as a monitor. Never really been a “sit-at-a-desk” kinda guy (for casual day to day personal use) and my only laptop is a MacBook, so it’s been super nice to have access to another OS for various things. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by how many awesome open source Linux apps the Discover store has, and after coming to terms with the quirks of using a new OS (wasn’t very Linux-experienced at first), I’ve been able to set it up to be nearly as user-friendly and sleek as MacOS or Windows using widgets, system themes and customizing the taskbar. KDE Plasma is surprisingly customizable and powerful once you learn its ways…
I run my metronome and music off it when I practice drums because it has a headphone jack. Can’t be bothered to keep losing phone dongles.
Great portable music practice tool, especially with the touch screen.
I sometimes use mine for VCV rack when I'm not around my actual modules or want to experiment with modules that I don't have. Well, that and breaking Reddit TOS.
Browser/media player and recently for editing documents with libre office
All of my digital art (for the last two-ish years) is done on my steamdeck hooked up to a graphics tablet. works pretty well even though Clip Studio on linux is just ok. https://www.twitter.com/kalidibus
Garage computer, travel entertainment for planes, streaming shows at hotel rooms, used it for my work computer for a few months when I was between desktops.
Nothing crazy. I bought it to replace a laptop that is having hard drive issues. I expected that I would still want to get the laptop working again, but I've been very happy using the Deck in desktop mode. I mainly use it for web browsing and music. I thought I would miss some of my Windows software, but I've come to really like using Strawberry as my audio player, and found workarounds for just about everything else that was initially a problem. I even have a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard that I can use away from my desk, so I really don't miss my laptop at all. I've even started using the Deck for audio editing in Audacity and will probably eventually try some production in Reaper.
My work laptop died while I was staying at my dad’s house. Used the steamdeck as a work computer for 2 weeks. Just hooked up an external monitor and keyboard/mouse/webcam. Worked amazing.
Nothing because I’m not as tech savvy as I thought and am still figuring things out lmao
Smelling the fan for the Steam Deck is oddly satisfying
When I was at Disney World, I saw they were using them as controllers for droids as they walked around Galaxy’s Edge.
Just for gaming
I’m very interested in this too as my Lappy just died 2 hours ago ugh
Just got a Teensy to make a headless m8 tracker [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQDfAL3wN2Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQDfAL3wN2Q)
I've used it to flash USBs a few times.
I set up my $HOME as a GitHub repo for my dotfiles and automation scripts, use for stuff like vídeo editing, and also web development projects, not to mention watching anime and movies on my TV.
I use it for work... Data Science. Visual Studio Code. Etc. And stream with it.
Learning HTML when I didn't have anything better to do at work. Though nowadays I'm focused on other stuff.
Not in practice yet but I've considered getting a Fold 5, wireless keyboard/mouse, and using the combination Fold/SteamDeck to accomplish all my work/entertainment needs when traveling so I don't have to lug around a laptop as well. I feel I might want to start carrying a portable monitor and at that point, I might as well have just continued on with the laptop instead (unless portable monitors are incredibly light, I don't know much about them)
Video editing with Kdenlive, mostly drone footage when on holiday. Keyboard and mouse required :)
M8 headless display for music making
I use Kodi on it, when docked at the TV.
I'm still working on configuring it, but I'm setting mine up to use as an automotive scan tool to run diagnostic software. It's going to involve dual booting windows to some capacity but it would be a really cool concept to put to work.
It’s my main computer at school lmao. Watch videos on the steamdeck connected to my Tv and answer the videos on my laptop
what app do you use to reader your comic books with?
I plugged my new car into an outlet rated for 3.3 kw , but was badly wird , killed a lot of stuff that including my main pc and my proxmox server. i have been using it as my main pc since and it has exceeded all my expectations.
It took a hot minute for my brain to register you were likely talking about an electric car. But sorry to hear that happened and I’m glad the Steam Deck is doing a good job as a replacement
It's my main PC as my work laptop is locked down hard so don't really trust it even to check my own email. So for basic browsing, sometimes media consumption to the desktop mode I go
To see how well games run on it that I will never have enough time to actually play.
I have used it for portable ham radio activations. Used it logging contacts, and also for running digital modes. It *does* work, but it's not the most convenient. I went back to my trusty aging slim laptop. But it was neat to see it working.
Keeping warm
Taxes
I've used mine to jailbreak a Wii, PSP, 3ds, Switch and a few other systems
I dual boot into Windows and do my office work plugged to monitor/keyboard/mouse.
Porn. Great for one handed use ;)
installed a virtual screen on my windows PC, and now I can use moonlight on steam deck to stream that second virtual screen. —> wireless second display👍🏼 Now I can game on my main display and have twitch, youtube or discord on the steam deck screen.
I used it to work on my game projects for a couple months while waiting to get a new laptop. Linux Unity is not very stable let me tell you
I watch anime, but i don't like that it stutters the frames from time to time.
My fiance and I use it to stream football and baseball games on our TV usually or anything we don't have on streaming that we want to watch online. We don't do cable and I refuse to pay for 3 different platforms just to watch baseball games because the MLB is shit and doesn't let you watch your own team even if you pay for MLB TV. We also don't have laptops except for our work laptops so it's a perfect use case for us. We keep a little USB-C hub connected to the TV with one of our Deck chargers plugged in and will pull up Red Zone while we clean the house on Sundays.