If you have a dock. Maybe I’ve been unlucky but I don’t recommend the official dock. Every time I want to use the deck in a docked mode I have to rewire everything in the correct order to get the dock to output a normal resolution. Wire it in the wrong order and you either get no output or you get low resolution output with weird artifacts.
Actually I’ve grown more fond of my ultrawide monitor and I don’t really couch game anymore, so I haven’t bothered to troubleshoot why it does that.
I agree that my specific issue is an uncommon one as it took a bit of digging on the web to find a working solution, and that alone isn’t an indication that the official dock is bad. The purpose of my comment was to shed light on the fact that it’s not as plug and play as the Switch dock is. You can’t just buy the official dock and expect everything to work.
Maybe a third party dock works better. I don’t really know, but it’s something to look into when you plan to buy a dock for the deck.
Oh I see. It definitely can be plug and play but you are right that there is a chance for it to have some quirks. I think it can vary from TV/monitor to what cable or version of Steam OS you’re currently on.
I only say this cause I have 2 and one is treated like a Switch. Very rarely it will fail to connect right away unless it gets restarted, which I think is related to the overarching bug that is present that people talk about.
For the most part though it is plug and play, some of the problems are the same that switch owners might run into (CEC handshake issues, something Nintendo has also released firmware updates for). But also yes, not 100% plug and play with the exceptions usually being specific hardware, sometimes because of firmware.
I like the steam deck and use it as a controller, but you could make the same argument about the switch. Regarding the switch, my answer would be that while it is a controller, it is - IMHO - a poorly designed and uncomfortable-to-use controller.
While you and I like the ergonomics of the deck, others may not. One can hardly blame those people for wanting something they feel more usable.
Why would you use a controller with the steam deck? It is a controller.
Some people like a lighter weight and different grips. Lots of cases have a kickstand where you can prop up the deck and use your favorite controller.
Can’t it also dock to a TV or monitor?
Yes
If you have a dock. Maybe I’ve been unlucky but I don’t recommend the official dock. Every time I want to use the deck in a docked mode I have to rewire everything in the correct order to get the dock to output a normal resolution. Wire it in the wrong order and you either get no output or you get low resolution output with weird artifacts.
I have the thin silver JSAUX one and don’t have an issue like that, but sometimes it refuses to charge until I reseat the AC adapter.
This is the dock I have. I’ve never had the issue you mentioned, but I also don’t take it on the go a lot.
I’ve used multiple docks and never had this issue on the official one. Do you have this issue on other docks, or just the official one?
I would guess it’s a software issue on the device rather than some kind of compatibility problem
Actually I’ve grown more fond of my ultrawide monitor and I don’t really couch game anymore, so I haven’t bothered to troubleshoot why it does that.
I agree that my specific issue is an uncommon one as it took a bit of digging on the web to find a working solution, and that alone isn’t an indication that the official dock is bad. The purpose of my comment was to shed light on the fact that it’s not as plug and play as the Switch dock is. You can’t just buy the official dock and expect everything to work.
Maybe a third party dock works better. I don’t really know, but it’s something to look into when you plan to buy a dock for the deck.
Oh I see. It definitely can be plug and play but you are right that there is a chance for it to have some quirks. I think it can vary from TV/monitor to what cable or version of Steam OS you’re currently on.
I only say this cause I have 2 and one is treated like a Switch. Very rarely it will fail to connect right away unless it gets restarted, which I think is related to the overarching bug that is present that people talk about.
For the most part though it is plug and play, some of the problems are the same that switch owners might run into (CEC handshake issues, something Nintendo has also released firmware updates for). But also yes, not 100% plug and play with the exceptions usually being specific hardware, sometimes because of firmware.
I like the steam deck and use it as a controller, but you could make the same argument about the switch. Regarding the switch, my answer would be that while it is a controller, it is - IMHO - a poorly designed and uncomfortable-to-use controller.
While you and I like the ergonomics of the deck, others may not. One can hardly blame those people for wanting something they feel more usable.
I use it in a dock most of the time.