MSI teasing a handheld gaming PC like the Steam Deck

Powered by Intel? I know Intel's graphic drivers have improved a lot since the release of Arc but their CPU power consumption and perf per watt at low TDPs is trash since the 12th Gen. And their integrated graphics aren't as good as AMD's. I don't think this is going to be an interesting product unless it comes with a semicustom chip with more Xe cores, but an off the shelf mobile chip is more likely.

Quoting: PenglingSorry MSI, not for me! This'll almost certainly just be another generic Windows box with a poor user experience, and the parallels to how money was thrown at killing Linux netbooks are obvious and growing.

One pleasant non-parallel is that the attempts are showing few signs of success and Valve is unlikely to fold the way the Linux-based-netbook makers did.

https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-claw-gaming-handheld-leaked-features-intel-core-ultra-7-155h-with-arc-graphics-and-32gb-memory

Crazy specs.

Quoting: Purple Library GuyOne pleasant non-parallel is that the attempts are showing few signs of success and Valve is unlikely to fold the way the Linux-based-netbook makers did.

That's very true, and I hope that continues. Also, I hope that we get some real competition as well...

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderAnd even if you hate it..... Competition should mean better Steam Decks in the future........

... As Spider notes, it'll be a very good thing for us to have.

Though personally I'm not sure if these netbook-wipeout-style efforts count as true competitors yet, since they seem to be coming from a place of trying to stifle the market rather than grow it.

I was in the netbooks community back in the day, and the way things went was downright ugly - not just from how manufacturers were strongarmed into killing the product-category, but also in how shills were sent out to undermine communities from the inside. I really hope that history doesn't repeat itself.


Last edited by Pengling on 5 January 2024 at 10:10 am UTC

QuoteNo doubt it will be another handheld running Windows though

If I got a dollar for every time I saw an ROG Ally ad in super-mainstream places online...

Frustrating to see how easily ASUS and Microsoft can throw huge money at promoting it.

I understand that Valve took another avenue because they have the advantage of holding such central place in PC gaming but still... Frustrating.

Quoting: Luke_NukemValve are open to helping OEM's support SteamOS, but I suspect that the OEMs want it to be more of a one-way street with Valve doing all the work.

The OEMs are also likely to want a big bag of money from Valve.

Quoting: hardpenguinIf I got a dollar for every time I saw an ROG Ally ad in super-mainstream places online...

The musical Christmas ad, using the song "It Had To Be You", was particularly dreadful, if you had the misfortune of seeing that.

Quoting: PenglingI was in the netbooks community back in the day, and the way things went was downright ugly - not just from how manufacturers were strongarmed into killing the product-category, but also in how shills were sent out to undermine communities from the inside. I really hope that history doesn't repeat itself.

They're certainly going to try.

But whereas Microsoft could kill netbooks to protect their desktop OS monopoly (ultimately clearing the field for iPads to break their desktop OS monopoly), Valve's device is already here, already great, and they aren't selling it to make money off hardware sales. If Microsoft kill all handheld PCs but the Deck, Valve wins; if OEMs keep churning out handhelds that show that Linux is better than Windows, Valve wins; if OEMs give up on Windows and make Linux handhelds, Valve wins; if Microsoft makes Windows as good as Linux and people still get all their games from Steam, Valve wins. The threat to Valve's Deck initiative only really comes if Microsoft brings out the big guns: their own handheld that runs the Xbox-tweaked version of Windows that can only run games from Microsoft's Store - which has just been juiced by the biggest acquisition the gaming industry has ever seen. That could go either way, especially as part of their offensive to get the Microsoft Store on Android and iOS via their Epic stalking horse. Even then, the Deck represents the open PC gaming ecosystem vs the locked-down Microsoft-only ecosystem that Valve have been endeavouring to protect since Windows 8.

Apparently, if the PC can't compete with the consoles in the living room, it can win in the hands.

I miss my old PS Vita, but I still can't justify a handheld at this time. Despite enjoying Breath of the Wild on the Switch, I still have yet to complete it after all this time.

Deck news to me is like tech pop culture -- fun to watch... hard to resist.

Yet another Wincrap-based handheld, and guess what? It will be available in more markets than the Deck.

Valve needs to release SteamOS 3 and make the Deck available (oficially) in more countries.

Personally, I feel like nothing will compete with the SteamOS experience. Windows handhelds come with all the annoyances that Windows brings in general. If there's ChimeraOS or Nobara Linux support for other handhelds, they may be more worth it, but that stock experience with Windows 11 is painful.

I like innovation format and hardware, however at some point vendors will have to accept that shackling to Windows license IS holding them back. SteamOS is just way more superior environment.
Yes, Microsoft might throw billions after Valve new project, but I doubt they gonna redirect serious software resources to it, considering shareholders scream for moar OpenAI.

Only thing I am mostly interested is secondary market with SteamOS polished and installed on these devices. Then it might be worth to check it out.

Quoting: PeciskI like innovation format and hardware, however at some point vendors will have to accept that shackling to Windows license IS holding them back. SteamOS is just way more superior environment.
Yes, Microsoft might throw billions after Valve new project, but I doubt they gonna redirect serious software resources to it, considering shareholders scream for moar OpenAI.

Anyone else ever think that shareholders seem on average kind of dumb?

Quoting: enigmaxg2Yet another Wincrap-based handheld, and guess what? It will be available in more markets than the Deck.

Valve needs to release SteamOS 3 and make the Deck available (oficially) in more countries.

Usually it is not how it works. Vendors usually will claim wider availability to lock in people's attention (Ally is still nowhere to seen in the wild, despite the claims last spring). However no one's gonna bother because of options already available out there. Valve seems to prefer vendors who care to sell their hardware instead of just dumping it - most likely lessons learned from previous iterations of their kit.
Despite all hype, scaling up production of kits is very hard and sometimes economics is just not there. Yes, Windows handhelds seem to try to corner more expensive niche, but Steam Deck just keeps being "common man" PC handheld. Number of friends who gotten SD because it's price around me is just ridiculous. Also everyone has Steam account so setting it all up and using it is just as easy as Switch.
Funny thing is vendors could just adapt SteamOS and get on with it. They don't have to pay anything to Valve. But those Microsoft deals are way too sweet and they long given up to sell actual hardware to people - they are selling Windows users to Microsoft and eye balls to software. In their defense selling PC devices and having a profit these days is really not possible - due of competition margins are very thin.

Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: PeciskI like innovation format and hardware, however at some point vendors will have to accept that shackling to Windows license IS holding them back. SteamOS is just way more superior environment.
Yes, Microsoft might throw billions after Valve new project, but I doubt they gonna redirect serious software resources to it, considering shareholders scream for moar OpenAI.

Anyone else ever think that shareholders seem on average kind of dumb?

They are just playing by the rules laid out by system. System is very primitive, dumb, shortsighted and will destroy us if we won't do something about it soon.

Fact is - and it can't be understated - Steam Deck is possible because Valve is privately held. That's long and short of it.

Quoting: Jarmer

Quoting: gradyvuckovicFirst hint they provide is a dark image showing the RGB colourful lighting rings around what is no doubt the joysticks and already immediately I have absolutely zero interest in the device.

I'm sooooo completely over the overkill of RGB lighting in everything 'GAMERRRR!' related in the world of tech right now. Next PC I buy is going to be a black metal box and I'm going to shop around to find all the components I can get with the fewest number of lights possible, and any lights remaining after that, I'm going to black em out with permanent marker.

haha! I'm in the exact same boat my friend. Last pc I built in 2020 was with a bequiet matte black case. It's just a black metal rectangle with some vents in it, and that's it. I love this case. It was kind of sad though, a LOT of the other components I had to manually go turn off the garbage RGB I didn't even know they had. Both the ram I bought and the mobo had defaulted on blinky nonsense that was so irritating. I had to go into the bios and disable it.

But if they ditched all the RGB they couldn't add all that extra cost to it! Can you imagine components lacking all the RGB nonsense and the overall price you'd actually save if they provided alternatives to that? It's legit difficult to find motherboards these days without all the stuff that we clearly don't give a crap about...