Modern handhelds

[tp4tissue]

These new ones are getting really expensive. Doesn't make much sense, why would you pay $600 to play games @ garbage image quality. New ones are pushing $1500, and still pretty much lowest setting at 720p.

Is playing games on a bus really such an important experience, to be worth that price?

For reference you can build a nvidia gtx1080 pc for ~$600-700, for $1500, 4070ti/7900xtx.

[Leslieann]

It's because they get wrecked in the low end market.
Switch and the Steam Deck are just too hard to beat, gotta set yourself apart from those or there's no sense in trying. For me, I see no point in anything better since as you mentioned it's kind of pointless really. Even if you could do 4k ultra at high refresh, on such a small screen it's pointless. SteamDeck+desktop/laptop is far better proposition which is why pretty much all of these higher end ones will fail.

[noisyturtle]

I do not put things like the Steamdeck, ROG, or Shield into the same category as other strictly handhelds. Those are PCs that happened to have a portable feature. You are just buying a laptop with less features.

You want an actual handheld console, get an Analogue Pocket or maybe a Switch(which itself is not a full-on handheld)

[Leslieann]

I do not put things like the Steamdeck, ROG, or Shield into the same category as other strictly handhelds. Those are PCs that happened to have a portable feature. You are just buying a laptop with less features.

The lines between all of these are blurring at an ever increasing rate.

[tp4tissue]

Saw an oled laptop brand new for $750. You can get used gaming laptops for around that much as well. These $$ handhelds, really questionable as to what the buyers are thinking.

[TomahawkLabs]

Saw an oled laptop brand new for $750. You can get used gaming laptops for around that much as well. These $$ handhelds, really questionable as to what the buyers are thinking.

I think it's marketing and packaging. People have learned that a "gamer" laptop that can actually game runs hot/loud to actively cool the CPU/GPU. It also has to sit on your lap during portable use, etc. It's a cumbersome and overall bad experience. Package a device that still does 720@60 in a more favorable physical form factor and give it the "gamer" treatment and then now you have a device that doesn't suck to use.

I am bias against gaming laptops because a desktop will almost always be the better choice since most people aren't doing any serious gaming on a device that compromised power/weight/battery life/etc. I don't see much value in a gaming laptop because you cannot upgrade it and what you see is what you get. You cannot transplant the parts into a new cassis/case when the new hotness comes out. Laptops to me are great corporate work devices and for traveling workers. Maybe lump students in as well because they tend to want access to their schoolwork. But even as a student there was never really a time where I desired to game on my laptop because when I was using my laptop it was for schoolwork and when I got back to my dorm at the end of the night I had my xbox to game on.

[tp4tissue]

A steam deck, is a really slow laptop + handles. It also takes up about as much bag space, if not more.

[TomahawkLabs]

A steam deck, is a really slow laptop + handles. It also takes up about as much bag space, if not more.

I would agree in part, but the SteamDeck isn't supposed to be a laptop. It's a Nintendo Switch that plays games from your Steam library. The best SteamDeck + dock is under $750. And if we compare new to new (no used laptops), those laptops also suck. A quick search at Best Buy shows an $800 brand new, not on sale, HP - Victus 15.6" Gaming Laptop.

The laptop weighs 5lbs, is 14x10x1,
The SteamDeck weighs 1.5lbs and is 12.5x5.5x2.5 (in a case).

So similar displacement, but the SteamDeck is much lighter.

For me it comes down to form factor. If I think about when this device would be used for gaming, nothing else, I would imagine traveling in a car (as a passanger), train, or plane during a commute or vacation/travel. I would much rather have a hand held device than a laptop on my lap, but that's just me.

[slalomsk8er]

Is playing games on a bus really such an important experience, to be worth that price?
[/quote
If you're an old fart like me, the bus and the lunch break are the only chance you get to play games - the steam deck is currently the best trade off of price, power, size, battery and ergonomics.