I have a laptop which can decently run fps games so should I save up for a whole pc setup/steam machine or js buy a steam deck?
I will always advocate buying a new pc over steam deck.
But current market conditions arenât good for a pc purchase either
What is the use case of your second machine ?
So you want portability?
So you want a upgrade path in future ?
Linux or windows ?
Steam deck is a gaming device on steamOs and pc a all rounder ,can consider Rog ally x if need windows required.
First you will have to define that and then accordingly you can go for steam deck or pc.
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Steam deck is super cool for indie games and lofi stuff. Quite the disservice for AAA.
SD is also not really that portable. Itâs pretty chunky and youâre quite constantly tethered to a wall socket.
Itâs fantastic for being away from your PC inside your home, and great for smaller titles. But not as your only machine.
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Think depends on what you want to do with it. Relative portability is surely an advantage as well as if you like handhelds for games but if itâs not only for gaming, I think pc wins hands down. even for pure gaming, I donât think steam deck is pure winner except the handheld experience.
Steam deck is not a replacement for a gaming rig if you are gonna play a lot. It is pretty weak for those intensive titles and the experience would be worse than a gaming PC in general. If you have a laptop with something better than a 1650 GPU and in good condition then thereâs not a lot of value in getting SD.
But the place where a SD would shine is as a complementary device to your PC. When you are out and about or just laying in bed, SD can be a game changer in a way laptops canât. If you play indie games then the battery can often last more than 6 hrs easily. Hard disagree on a comment about being tethered to a wall, thatâs only if you play something heavy which is more suited on a PC.
Bonus picture with my SD, playing Citizen sleeper on a mountain peek watching the sun rise. 
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Super funny that you had to game while watching the sunrise btwâ
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Hey now, I got there an hour before and it was cloudy that day. So fuck it, Citizen sleeper it is. 
Might do it again this weekend. It was a good ride.
I have a steam deck/ a decent pc and a playstation.
The device that has seen the most gametime has been the steamdeck, followed by the ps and lastly the pc.
A SD is not something you buy for the maximum performance but to suit your lifestyle/gaming habits. I work on my pc a lot so the idea of gaming on it is irksome sometimes. The PS is attached to my TV but my wife loves watching her netflix series on the big screen.
As a result, my gametime had dropped considerably up until last year when I got the steamdeck. I finished a bunch of indie games, hogwarts legacy and the witcher 3 on it last year. So for me, yes⌠it has been absolutely worth it.
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No judgement man. Watching sunrise, with or without steam deck, sounds like a swell thing to do 
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I think doing the things you love is more important.
Gaming + biking + hiking , hell yeah.
I have a ps4 jb hooked to my tv, pc with 3070, and my gamesir galileo gamepad.
I use my pc and laptop for work.
Ps4+ Tv is mostly buzy when I am free or I get heavily interrupted by my wife when I game on it. Hardly played 5 hrs in last 1 year.
So I end up using my phone + gamesir gamepad for a decent gameplay.
I myself plan to sell my ps4 and buying a SD / asus rog for some mild gaming, in house itself mostly.
To start off with, what is it that you would like to do with your laptop that youâre unable to do now? Are you unable to play graphically intensive games that youâd like to? Is it not portable enough, and youâd like something you could carry and hold in your hands? A PC, or steam machine or a Steam Deck would all serve different purposes, so you need to first figure out what exactly it is that you want.
Iâve had a Steam Deck for a while, but Iâve only used it when I didnât have access to my PC. I shared my experience here, and some people also shared their views - When do you use your Steam Deck/Handheld Console?
SD is a nice handheld device, but it also takes up a good chunk of space, and you need to manage your expectations in terms of what you would play. Itâs not really meant for graphically intensive/AAA games, but it can still run some at low settings/with upscaling. Itâs pretty perfect for lesser demanding or indie titles, and Iâve also emulated a PS2 game or two, and it worked quite well. But to reiterate my experience in the linked thread above, I really donât use it when I have access to my PC, which is most of the time, and it has been kept away in a cupboard, alongside a retro gaming emulation device.
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Any handheld is a complementary device. Really havenât been able to game on a laptop in months but in my case an Ally, with indie titles and emulation, has allowed me to stay into gaming somewhat.
I moved from a desktop to a laptop to not be bound to a single place and now not even needing a table with a handheld is an added convenience. Depends on what life allows you to do.
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Steam deck is not even best of handheld anymore. There are better options now. So if going that way, look at other options.
If you have decent gaming laptop for now, wait as long as possible as most handheld in the market will get refresh near holiday season or before that this year.
Now coming to PC vs PC handheld, itâs going to be market & budget dictated decision. In todayâs market situation, for a gander, it might make sense to buy these handheld instead of building a new PC if budget is limited.
Whenever you are going to buy look at the available options at the time from MSI Claw, Legion Go, Asus ROG Ally /X & decide accordingly. All of them might be refreshed & new ones with Intel Panther Lake & upcoming Nova Lake are already confirmed to end up in multiple handheld devices this year.
not over a pc ,but steam deck is definitely worth it
i have a rog ally z1e. let me tell you unless you really want portability within 2 week the device will be in a corner collecting dust. better some people in server are importing mini itx components better save money and build the pc with emulation you can play anything and almost everything with a decent controller.
A new build now will cost a bomb. To be fair, an Ally Z1E is also a 7840U Mini PC and even if you are not using it solely for gaming, it does the job of a Mini PC really well with a dock.