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Comment on Steam Deck sales still going strong over three years later

Steam Machines we’re DOA, and anyone that actually bought one from one of the manufacturers likely got one that came with windows installed, because valve delayed the controller and software for so long the manufacturers pivoted to putting windows on them to be able to start selling the inventory. That meant very few that actually run SteamOS made it into the wild, most of them getting sold as just console-sized windows PCs.

And if you still have one, it’s just a PC. You can slap Bazzite or Windows on it and it’ll work just fine even today.

Both steam controller and link continue to get software support, and also function to this day. Valve stopped manufacturing and selling them, but support has not stopped.

No matter how you look at it, buying valve hardware has meant that even as it ages, they make sure it doesn’t turn into a brick, or even have its usefulness compromised.

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callouscomic@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Yup. My Steam Link was a semi-cheap purchase when they were on sale, and over time their continued support of it only pushed me to use Steam more and more. I still use it today, and it was a big part of why I adopted the Deck right away.

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sparky1337@ttrpg.network ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I had one of the Alienware Alphas with the 860m and desktop haswell 4130t. You could swap in a 4160 but your big enemy would be heat.

I swapped the steam OS for windows and threw in some cheap 240gb adata ssd. Ran it for years.

Only problem was the cmos battery would fail every now and again and I’d have to solder a new one in because Dell……

Anyways, I was in it ~$400 and it was a great htpc. Only real problem was haswell couldn’t decode 4k YouTube.

The steam controller I still have, and it’s quirky. But I like it for the mouse function.

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- vulgarcynic@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Was the soldered CMOS different than the removable one? I fought the battery (removable) in mine for a year or two and eventually just shelved it. Would love to get it running as a low energy emulation station if it’s salvageable
  
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  - sparky1337@ttrpg.network ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    It was removable, but used Dells weird connection. I just had to solder the connections of the new battery on instead of paying Dell $20 for a watch battery haha.
    
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donuts@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I said or, not and.

Steam Link is kinda obsolete now, but I would have loved another iteration of the controller.

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- MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Fair enough. But that only further confuses me on how you came to the conclusion you did.
  
  Surely it’s enough for a given product to be worth the price one pays at the time of purchase, and for that product to not lose that value with age. Judge a product for what it is, not what it will be.
  
  We almost certainly are getting a second controller, but that will in no way take away, nor improve, the value that people who bought and still use the first one got and get out of it.
  
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  - donuts@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    
    Surely it’s enough for a given product to either be worth the price one pays at the time of purchase, or not be. Judge a product for what it is, not what it will be.
    
    Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it’s more of a principle thing. I don’t need a Steam Deck so it’s easier to distance myself making a purchase and wait it out. Didn’t feel like only seeing a piece of hardware be continued for a few years (3 years for the Steam Machine and Steam Link, 4 for the Steam Controller) based on track record.
    
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    MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Again, what do you mean “continued”?
    
    The only impact the discontinuation of those devices had on the people who bought them, is that they can’t buy another. Aside from that, they still work. You’re talking as if the “end” of sale is a point in time where owning the products somehow stops being worth it, or like the device ceases to exist on that day. But I know you know otherwise.
    
    If the Deck stops being sold tomorrow, that has zero impact on the one I already have, save for the possible decline in spare parts available.
    
    There are lots of reasons to wait to buy something, but “they might stop selling them” seems more like a reason to get something you want to have sooner, rather than later. So that when sales stop, you have one you can keep.
    
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