What actually want is something in-between a Lenovo Legion GO and a 2-in-1 tablet/laptop with a ton of I/O
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| I kinda feel self-conscious using a Deck as a laptop though... |
I’ve marked a year since I’ve had my Steam Deck a couple of months ago. In that time, I’ve used it as a:
- Tablet to browse Twitter at night
- Docked to the TV to watch YouTube and Netflix
- Docked to the TV to play music as I sleep and work
- Docked to the TV in the hotel room to watch Youtube and Netflix and play Guts & Blackpowder, on Roblox (BEFORE GRAPEJUICE GOT BLOCKED :< )
- Portable computer for little things at college
I’ve used it in these ways more than I have used it as an actual portable gaming console. I am improving in that respect now that I have Balatro, but I still kinda want something else out of it. Something that I can use as both a portable gaming console, a laptop, or docked on a TV, all in one. I’m probably looking for something that’s not exactly a Steam Deck though, but I already have a Deck and I’m going to try not to abandon it (or try to spend my precious money on a lot of new things.)
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| Pictured: me thinking about spending money on a new thing! |
While I was window-shopping on a Discord voice call and posting images in a text channel, a friend introduced me to this keyboard. It seems perfect for my use case; the carrying case eases my concerns about the caps getting pulled out or dust entering the keyboard, and the stand seems like it’d be a good idea. I sold my Killswitch case a while back (as it made the Deck heavy, which was terrible for using it like a tablet at night,) so I don’t have a kickstand anymore. This would fill that role, I think. I’m not sure if it’d be at the right angle to use, and it also doesn't exactly fix the fact that the screen is 7” and sitting thirty inches away from my eyes. More on that later.
I’m definitely going to get this keyboard; I think it’d be an upgrade and just a better choice over the Logitech K380 I have now. On top of the aforementioned case/stand, it’s rechargeable via USB-C instead of replaceable AAAs. I also assume it’s going to be built better. I’m typing this section of the post away from home on the K380, and even now with a fresh battery it’s glitching out on me. I just don’t know if I want to continue my theme of having yellowing-plastic inspired khaki keyboards, or get one in pink just for the fun of it. My current desktop keyboard is an FC900RBT in “Coral Blue.” I picked it specifically because it sorta looked like the old shitty keyboards I used when I was younger, but with some visual appeal to it. I think it would be cool to maybe do that same thing (and maybe match it with a Lofree Touch mouse (!!!!!), buuuuuut pink would also be cool I think.
OH YEAH, SIDE TANGENT ON MICE! I recently got a Logitech Pro X Superlight for maaaaaybe playing a few shooters while at hotels or LANs on the Deck. It’s a terrible idea because most of the shooters I play tend to have high graphics requirements, but hey, w/e. My relationship with mice and the Steam Deck is not that great, though.
I got a Logitech Pebble mouse just to have a mouse for general desktop stuff. It wasn’t really great at gaming, but I never intended for it to be for shooters, so it was fine. Up until it stopped working, that is. Before that, I tried using my Glorious Model D Pro 2 Wireless on it (it lives wired to my desktop,) but for some reason it just wouldn’t perform at the correct DPI. I had it plugged into the same monitor I used for my desktop, played CS2 at the same resolution, had the same sensitivity in both the system settings (for Windows and the Deck’s settings) and in-game, no mouse acceleration. It was just… off. I tried installing PIper and Libratbag (an open-source program and its prerequisite for customizing DPIs on mice,) but my specific mouse wasn’t supported. At that point, I just gave up and used the Pebble for administrative tasks until its demise.
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| QwQ |
Fast-forward to today. I buy a Logitech Pro X Superlight. I probably
shouldn’t’ve, and just got a cheap portable mouse. I finally get home
and unbox it. I look at the cable, and notice it is Micro USB. What? Who
sells a mouse at that price in 2024 with MicroUSB? I could probably ask
someone to re-solder it to a USB-C port, but it’d be more money, and it
frustrates me heavily that I paid a bunch of money and didn’t notice
the cable used when they were testing it at the store. The entire point
of me getting this mouse was that I’d be able to use any of my existing
USB-C cables to charge and plug directly into my Steam Deck on the go,
and now I’d have to carry a different cable. Which isn’t the end of the
world; it’s just annoying.
After venting my frustrations on Twitter and to my bestie on Discord voice call, I download the partner software, I change the DPI on the mouse to be the same as it is on the Glorious mouse. Great! I plug it into the Deck. It’s weirdly slow, odd. I plug it back into my desktop; maybe I have to turn on the on-board memory? Nope, still didn’t work. I figure out I have to both do that and overwrite the profiles. Okay, great, it’s working right now? On the desktop, I still have the same issue where the lowest setting is too slow, and I’m constantly lifting my mouse to move across the screen. It’s still the same setting my Windows desktop is set at. I then load into Counter-Strike 2. The sensitivity seems… fine? Aside from the fact that I was testing it on a really awkward way, and my graphics settings were so low that targets were heavily pixelated, it all seemed similar to how it felt on my desktop. I load into HELLDIVERS 2 later, and it also seems fine. The only things that were off were menus, as it was still using the sensitivity set for the desktop.
I don’t even know anymore. The asynchronous experience between my PC and my Steam Deck is extremely annoying. I honestly probably am going to sell this mouse and buy a decent portable mouse NOT from Logitech just to use for administrative/work/not-shooter games. Mouse sensitivity is also still weird on Game Mode, so that’s another strike against it. It would be nice to use the Deck for both the shooter games I play and as a laptop-ish thing for school/work/whatever, but I don’t think it just has the power to power the games I play satisfactorily, and the mouse inconsistencies are just annoying.
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| Double gambling! |
Like, the Steam Deck is still an incredible device. I like playing a variety of games, and it lets me do that both in the car/on a train/on a plane, but what I’m asking of it now I think is more fit for something like the Legion Go, ROG Ally X or an actual laptop. Like, what I want is an actual laptop, but the size of the deck display and it not being mounted on a hinge makes it uncomfortable to use. And while I can work around it, it’s just more convenient to have something like a Microsoft Surface or an iPad or some other tablet kinda deal to do work stuff on the go. I also want something that can be used as a LAN party machine, and while PC handhelds are gaining popularity as LAN party PCs because they’re obviously portable, I’ve just found that the Deck either couldn’t run or couldn’t handle the ones that I’ve played at LANs recently (CoD, Singleplayer Tarkov, CS2 at decent settings.)
Basically, I want a powerful 2-in-1 laptop. Something
with a touchscreen that’s mostly used as an auxiliary input method, and
is primarily connected to a keyboard and mouse, or docked to a
monitor/TV for travel. Forewarning, we’re in the realm of open and
unapologetic window-shopping now.
I thought (and still do) that
the Legion GO would be a good contender for this. I like that I could
just remove the controllers and carry it around as a tablet, but I’m not
sure how I’d like navigating Windows on a touchscreen again. The Deck’s
dual trackpads are just too great for just idly surfing Twitter or
typing or watching videos on a screen larger than my phone’s in bed, and
I’m not sure if I’d like to go back to a Surface-style on-screen
keyboard after experiencing what the Deck does. I also feel like I could
just go for a bigger screen, but if I actually had it I don’t think
it’d actually matter to me.
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| Is it window shopping if you're inside the store? |
I
went searching for “gaming 2-in-1s” and it turns out that they do
exist. There’s a grand total of 1, and it’s the Asus ROG Flow Z13. It
fits a lot of my criteria; It’s a tablet PC, it’s got pretty good
performance, and it has a touchscreen. The performance seems great for
just playing games like HELLDIVERS 2 or No More Room in Hell 2. I also
read that it’s got stylus support, so I could legitimately use it to
draw on the go (or at least at places not at my home.) But, like, c’mon.
It’s near two thousand US dollars. I’m not sure if I’d be able to
upgrade the storage to something bigger, I’m not a fan of what my
recourse might be if something breaks, I’m really not sure I should be
dropping that amount of money on a gaming laptop. I’ve heard the horror
stories about them being pushed to their limits and breaking, and while
I’m not sure if it’s overblown or not, I don’t think I’d want to risk
it.
I also remember seeing cool-looking builds of Framework laptops built as a tablet. Framework is a company that sells modular laptops, and sells individual parts on their websites. I’ve seen people use the parts to create cool cyberdecks, PCs inside a keyboard, all-in-one PCs. If I ever were to break a part, I could probably not sweat having to look for a replacement part, because Framework sells the parts individually, and their design makes it easy to take apart and put together. The design of the tablet I saw is out there. There’s a full parts list, 3D files for printing and instructions for assembly and everything. I know that the Framework 13 (the model the build bases off of) is capable of playing the games I’d be aiming to play anyway. The build uses an externally connected touchscreen monitor instead of an internally connected touchscreen display, though. I know Framework mainboards’ connectors have the capability of working with touchscreen displays, but the process as I understand it is not as plug-and-play as just plugging in a USB-C into a port. Something with voltages and stuff. I’m not sure I’d want to give up the one out of four USB-C slots, and I’m not sure how durable or how well-finished it’d be if I were to do it myself (or if I would be skilled enough to pull it off.)
Honestly,
I don’t know. I should just maybe get a normal laptop like a MacBook
(pfft) or maybe an Android tablet. I know Android’s pretty good in terms
of the freedom you get when it comes to mobile operating systems. I
think I saw something about a new build of Android getting moveable
windows a-la PCs, but I know it has Krita —the art program I use on
Windows— and I know it has Firefox with working Firefox plugins. It may
be good enough for me.
Computer peripherals are just annoying.
I’ve gone through so many cheap microphones, headsets, keyboards, and
mice. I’m annoyed DisplayPort acts like the display has been
disconnected when the display has been turned off. I’m annoyed I have to
find specific monitors that’re designed to still send signals through
the DP cable to prevent this behavior. I’m annoyed that the microphone
that I have catches everything in my room, and has its own audio output
that restarts every time I plug it in. I’m annoyed that I have too much
stuff plugged into my desktop, but not enough USB ports. It’s been a
very annoying journey finding each peripheral I use today, and I’m still
looking for replacements. I jjust want to find something that’ll
perfectly fit my needs and that I won’t need to replace. The Steam
Deck’s been the closest, which is why I’m sticking with it. Aaaand also
because I bought it on and for my birthday with my own money :>
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| I wrote everything on this setup! The hardest parts were translating my thoughts onto the document. |
now
that I mention it, i’ve had a similar experience with airsoft (buying
random shit until I find the thing I like or that doesn't break) are all hobbies like this?
god, that sucks.
oh yeah btw, that little bit with me testing the
logitech superlight? i tried to install libratbag and piper on my steam
deck again, because that mouse is supported by libratbag. it’s why i
picked it in the first place –matches or exceeds the dpi of my existing
mouse and I can possibly edit the dpi on my deck instead if it acts
weird. i had to import someshit i don’t remember anymore bc steamos idt
has access to everything normal arch linux does, but after that i
install libratbag just fine. i install piper via flatpak on the discover
store thing, that goes fine. i open piper… it’s saying that my
libratbag version is outdated???? i google, turns out that the AUR or
whatever has a dated version of libratbag??? idfk, but the post I read
tells me to force downgrade piper to something that’ll accept the
version of libratbag and stop it from updating. ok, i do that. now it
shows the menu to change the dpi settings. but it doesn’t do anything or
change shit. eugh.
like i totally know that steamos is a big part of
the steam deck being able to do what it does (not having windows bloat
helps massively) but goddamn it is a massive PITA sometimes doing what i
want to do. small shit like printing or whatever, which I KNOW isn’t
what the deck is for, but cmonnn it’s a small and convenient size
maybe
a better idea for a LAN machine/homebrew 2-in-1 laptop would to just be
slapping the mainboard of a framework 16 onto the back of a portable
monitor. if the monitor can provide power, it might be a good idea. it
seems really jank though.
or maybe a framework tablet that just uses
the stock display. NO touchscreen, my ass is using keyboard and mouse
with it all the time. it’d be incredibly stupid, but no more concerns
about losing an input slot or fucking with voltages.
oh and at the time of publishing i did actually place an order for that keyboard. it looks really cool and awesome and i want it
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