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LCD Steam Deck on sale for £279, worth the purchase in 2025?

Banjo64

Banjo64

cumsessed
£200 cheaper than the 512gb Oled model.

£110 cheaper than the refurb 512gb Oled model (whenever they get stock of that one again).

I think I'll pull the trigger, at £270 there's no regret if I don't use it all the time (vs a £470 device).

Just wondering if anyone else has picked one up cheap and if they've got anything to contribute. I've read how bad the screen is supposedly (however I don't think it can be that bad surely) and battery life/noise.
 
Still an incredibly capable system, I still use mine almost daily. For that price, it's a no-brainer.
 
If you can see yourself using it around the house, away from home, etc. then definitely! I still very much love mine. Worth every penny IMO!
 
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Banjo64 said:
£200 cheaper than the 512gb Oled model.

£110 cheaper than the refurb 512gb Oled model (whenever they get stock of that one again).

I think I'll pull the trigger, at £270 there's no regret if I don't use it all the time (vs a £470 device).

Just wondering if anyone else has picked one up cheap and if they've got anything to contribute. I've read how bad the screen is supposedly (however I don't think it can be that bad surely) and battery life/noise.
Click to expand...
Personally I would get the OLED refurb as I feel the updates are worth it, but from performance perspective they are the same.
 
Banjo64 said:
Just wondering if anyone else has picked one up cheap and if they've got anything to contribute. I've read how bad the screen is supposedly (however I don't think it can be that bad surely) and battery life/noise.
Click to expand...

The SSD can be replaced very easily. I bought the cheapest model and followed a YouTube video to bump mine up to 512GB for cheaper than buying their 512 model.

Also, note that in the settings menu (the ... button on the lower right side), you can turn down the refresh rate of the screen, which also caps the frame rate to match. I've found 40hz (to my eyes/brain) feels 90% as good as 60 for most of the indie and older games that I play on the Deck. Turning this down gives you longer battery life, while also generating less heat and noise. To me this is a huge feature of the Steam Deck.
 
StereoVsn said:
Personally I would get the OLED refurb as I feel the updates are worth it, but from performance perspective they are the same.
Click to expand...
Couldn't be arsed waiting for the refurb to drop (and they sell out within the hour normally so unless you're online at the time you're out of luck!).

Even then though, I want to buy myself a Kobo Clara Colour and the difference between the LCD and Oled is nearly the cost of the e-reader. 2 for 1 😂
 
rm082e said:
The SSD can be replaced very easily. I bought the cheapest model and followed a YouTube video to bump mine up to 512GB for cheaper than buying their 512 model.

Also, note that in the settings menu (the ... button on the lower right side), you can turn down the refresh rate of the screen, which also caps the frame rate to match. I've found 40hz (to my eyes/brain) feels 90% as good as 60 for most of the indie and older games that I play on the Deck. Turning this down gives you longer battery life, while also generating less heat and noise. To me this is a huge feature of the Steam Deck.
Click to expand...
That's super useful info thank you - I'll revisit this post when it arrives in 5 days time
 
it's totally worth it! You throw EmuDeck on it and you've got an amazing retro machine that can be played on the TV and handheld. Buy a Wii Remote and a cheap usb sensor bar and it's one of the best Wii players. I use my Steam Deck more than any console I own and most of it is indie and retro gaming!

 
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Is it from Valve/Steam? Do you guys have guaranteed warranty over there?

Screen isn't bad at all. The newer OLED has some upgrades like better battery, faster RAM, OLED screen, 90Hz screen, etc. I've been on the LCD for years and I love it. LCD...
Deck-Screen-Doom.jpg
 
Nelly_Nel_7.1.3 said:
I wish the 1tb Oled Steam Deck was on early Black Friday sale today.
Click to expand...
I don't think they're going to reduce the OLED this year. Could be wrong, but just don't think they will.


CrustyBritches said:
Is it from Valve/Steam? Do you guys have guaranteed warranty over there?

Screen isn't bad at all. The newer OLED has some upgrades like better battery, faster RAM, OLED screen, 90Hz screen, etc. I've been on the LCD for years and I love it. LCD...
Deck-Screen-Doom.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks mint! Yeah it's Valve who are running the sale (think it's on offer in the US as well) until December 1st. We have good consumer rights on purchases.


Quasicat said:
it's totally worth it! You throw EmuDeck on it and you've got an amazing retro machine that can be played on the TV and handheld. Buy a Wii Remote and a cheap usb sensor bar and it's one of the best Wii players. I use my Steam Deck more than any console I own and most of it is indie and retro gaming!

Click to expand...

Defo throwing Emudeck on this thing. Read that this thing can emulate things like Twilight Princess HD which is pretty mind blowing to be honest. Love to Retro Game Corps, only discovered him recently but he's a great resource.


Killer8 said:
OLED or nothing. I had an LCD model and it wasn't good. Tons of light bleeding at the edges.
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I think for the price I'll be ok - won't feel as bad chucking this thing around or having it near my young kids. I'm a low screen brightness user which usually increases my tolerance to bleed as it seems less noticeable.
 
Banjo64 said:
I think for the price I'll be ok - won't feel as bad chucking this thing around or having it near my young kids. I'm a low screen brightness user which usually increases my tolerance to bleed as it seems less noticeable.
Click to expand...
I have my LCD launch model still, and last year I bought my son an OLED. The OLED feels a lot more premium - the screen is bigger and brighter, higher refresh. He gets better battery life than mine, and his works with Wifi 6. It's got double the internal storage. But (in my opinion) none of these upgrades is worth the $230 price tag. Enjoy!
 
Banjo64 said:
I don't think they're going to reduce the OLED this year. Could be wrong, but just don't think they will.



Looks mint! Yeah it's Valve who are running the sale (think it's on offer in the US as well) until December 1st. We have good consumer rights on purchases.
Click to expand...
iIrc valve includes a 1-year warranty on those refurbished units, so hell yeah, go for it man! Refurbished units have been hard to get in the US I look every now and then and I never see them trying to get one for a buddy of mine who just had a kid.

I love EmuDeck with EmulationStation. Badass. Can do up to a ton of Switch, along with some PS3 and even Bloodborne. PS2 and GameCube are amazing on Deck and those are still above the capability of most of the Chinese retro handhelds except a few that run $200+ anyway.

Not to mention it's a Steam backlog killer.
 
CrustyBritches said:
iIrc valve includes a 1-year warranty on those refurbished units, so hell yeah, go for it man! Refurbished units have been hard to get in the US I look every now and then and I never see them trying to get one for a buddy of mine who just had a kid.
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, this is a sale price for Black Friday on new units, not refurbs. And it's available in the US.

store.steampowered.com

Steam Deck™

Steam Deck™ is the most powerful, full-featured gaming handheld in the world.
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

$319.20
 
Sorry to slightly derail the thread but I am losing my mind trying to decide between steam deck lcd/oled/legion go s z1.

I want to use it as an emulator/ps remote player/maybe get into cheap(er) steam pc games.

Price isn't a major point but I do like getting value for money spent
 
Banjo64 said:
£200 cheaper than the 512gb Oled model.

£110 cheaper than the refurb 512gb Oled model (whenever they get stock of that one again).

I think I'll pull the trigger, at £270 there's no regret if I don't use it all the time (vs a £470 device).

Just wondering if anyone else has picked one up cheap and if they've got anything to contribute. I've read how bad the screen is supposedly (however I don't think it can be that bad surely) and battery life/noise.
Click to expand...
Ok where my brother

Edit nevermind thought it was some special UK retailer didn't think steam themselves would.
 
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For anybody in the US that has uses PayPal remember that they have a 20% cash back deal going on right now so this would essentially be $272. I'm returning the Z2G Legion go S tomorrow so I think I'm gonna jump on this deal since I doubt I'm gonna find a refurbished 512GB OLED before the 20% cash back ends.

StereoVsn said:
Personally I would get the OLED refurb as I feel the updates are worth it, but from performance perspective they are the same.
Click to expand...
I've been wanting a Steam Deck again ever since Valve announced new hardware (I owned a OG deck and loved it but after awhile never used it and got rid of it and bought a OLED but didn't feel like it was worth the $600 at the time).

I'm big into OLED and the extra battery life is great but $320 vs $550 is hard to beat really.

CrustyBritches said:
iIrc valve includes a 1-year warranty on those refurbished units, so hell yeah, go for it man! Refurbished units have been hard to get in the US I look every now and then and I never see them trying to get one for a buddy of mine who just had a kid.

I love EmuDeck with EmulationStation. Badass. Can do up to a ton of Switch, along with some PS3 and even Bloodborne. PS2 and GameCube are amazing on Deck and those are still above the capability of most of the Chinese retro handhelds except a few that run $200+ anyway.

Not to mention it's a Steam backlog killer.
Click to expand...
I think I've seen refurbished OLEDs available once ever. If a 512GB OLED refurbished was available I would jump on it as I think it's easily worth the $120 premium but I don't think it's worth the $230 extra especially this late in the life cycle.

Kirkio said:
Sorry to slightly derail the thread but I am losing my mind trying to decide between steam deck lcd/oled/legion go s z1.

I want to use it as an emulator/ps remote player/maybe get into cheap(er) steam pc games.

Price isn't a major point but I do like getting value for money spent
Click to expand...
I just bought a Legion GO S from Best Buy and I'm returning it. The thing is just too damn big and heavy IMO.

Donald mac Ronald said:
Ok where my brother
Click to expand...
Steam? It's the only place Steam Decks are sold unless you are in Japan/SK/HK.
 
jshackles said:
For what it's worth, this is a sale price for Black Friday on new units, not refurbs. And it's available in the US.

store.steampowered.com

Steam Deck™

Steam Deck™ is the most powerful, full-featured gaming handheld in the world.
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

$319.20
Click to expand...
I was considering getting the legion go at like $450 but now I am leaning towards the OG steamdeck... I know everyone says to get the OLED but like... I dont see myself playing on this thing hardcore. more like some situations. What yall think? cause that steamdeck price really got me thinking now
 
hououinkyouma00 said:
I think I've seen refurbished OLEDs available once ever. If a 512GB OLED refurbished was available I would jump on it as I think it's easily worth the $120 premium but I don't think it's worth the $230 extra especially this late in the life cycle.
Click to expand...
Oh, I would agree here. $120 is worth it as you get better build quality, better screen, longer battery, etc.

But $230 stretches that as you are almost at a point of Z1E devices and those can run SteamOS / Bazzite and have more performance.
 
Banjo64 said:
I've read how bad the screen is supposedly (however I don't think it can be that bad surely) and battery life/noise.
Click to expand...

It's really not that bad, and given the sales of the Switch 2...people were also ok getting a meh screen with that if the overall experience playing games is good.

Steam Deck and some of these other older PC handhelds are some of the only good deals left in gaming hardware, along with the PS5's discount this season.

I still have an LCD Steam Deck, and am perfectly content. It plays most of what I want, the trackpads are great for some PC games, and the thing is an emulation beast. Even RPCS3 announced that a recent update got MotorStorm and MotorStorm Pacific Rift running on it now.
 
Thats a good deal. People were just talkling about how it would be a good replacement for those portable consoles that take roms and things. It has rumble too.
 
Banjo, you're one of my favorite posters, so I'll give it to you straight.

NO.

The original Steam Deck is an incredible piece of tech, and that objectively is a good deal. However, the LCD screen used on that system might be one of the worst modern displays I've ever seen.

As a totally separate exercise, I recently went through and figured out every game console/handheld I own. And I couldn't add the Steam Deck to my list, you know why? The OG Steam Deck is literally the only console I've ever sold, because the screen was just that bad.

Now, I've heard that there are upgrade kits for the original Steam Deck that give it a nicer screen, usually OLED. But that's a pain in the dick in my opinion, and if you really want a handheld PC, then you should begrudgingly wait for the Steam Deck OLED to go on sale like me.

Of course, if a nice screen doesn't matter much to you, then go for it. But I fuckin hated that screen so much. It made me sad to play on it, especially when I had my Switch OLED right beside me.
 
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Dacvak said:
Banjo, you're one of my favorite posters, so I'll give it to you straight.

NO.

The original Steam Deck is an incredible piece of tech, and that objectively is a good deal. However, the LCD screen used on that system might be one of the worst modern displays I've ever seen.

As a totally separate exercise, I recently went through and figured out every game console/handheld I own. And I couldn't add the Steam Deck to my list, you know why? The OG Steam Deck is literally the only console I've ever sold, because the screen was just that bad.

Now, I've heard that there are upgrade kits for the original Steam Deck that give it a nicer screen, usually OLED. But that's a pain in the dick in my opinion, and if you really want a handheld PC, then you should begrudgingly wait for the Steam Deck OLED to go on sale like me.

Of course, if a nice screen doesn't matter much to you, then go for it. But I fuckin hated that screen so much. It made me sad to play on it, especially when I had my Switch OLED right beside me.
Click to expand...
I don't know about all that. I owned both models and the OG isn't an amazing screen but it isn't something that would keep me from buying it. If you compare anything non OLED side by side with an OLED it's obviously going to look like shit. I 100% that the OLED is a ton better but it's also nearly double the cost.

Banjo64 Banjo64 Valve added a way to change the color temperature of the screen which can help make the LCD look much better.
 
Dacvak said:
Banjo, you're one of my favorite posters, so I'll give it to you straight.

NO.

The original Steam Deck is an incredible piece of tech, and that objectively is a good deal. However, the LCD screen used on that system might be one of the worst modern displays I've ever seen.

As a totally separate exercise, I recently went through and figured out every game console/handheld I own. And I couldn't add the Steam Deck to my list, you know why? The OG Steam Deck is literally the only console I've ever sold, because the screen was just that bad.

Now, I've heard that there are upgrade kits for the original Steam Deck that give it a nicer screen, usually OLED. But that's a pain in the dick in my opinion, and if you really want a handheld PC, then you should begrudgingly wait for the Steam Deck OLED to go on sale like me.

Of course, if a nice screen doesn't matter much to you, then go for it. But I fuckin hated that screen so much. It made me sad to play on it, especially when I had my Switch OLED right beside me.
Click to expand...
Comparison is the thief of joy. The sky is apparently the limit on these machines, some models of Steam Deck clones are already going up into the $1,400 price points and beyond. There is always going to be something better to buy, even if you buy the best thing on the market now it'll be outdated in six months. You'd be hard-pressed to find something else this powerful in the $300 price range.
 
jshackles said:
Comparison is the thief of joy. The sky is apparently the limit on these machines, some models of Steam Deck clones are already going up into the $1,400 price points and beyond. There is always going to be something better to buy, even if you buy the best thing on the market now it'll be outdated in six months. You'd be hard-pressed to find something else this powerful in the $300 price range.
Click to expand...
I think the one potential device would be OG Ally, but you would want to a)do a battery mod (super easy, $60-70) and you would want a bigger SSD since using a microSD card can be a crap shoot due to thermal design. But it has same performance as any other Z1E device (so not much less vs Z2E) and you can get used Ally pretty cheaply.
 
It's pretty cheap yeah, but dated. Switch 2 seems like a better value, even if the screen is also not great (somehow the Steam Deck LCD is worse). Might be different if I didn't have a high end PC, but that's just how it is. OLED launched 2 years ago as a minor update and until there is a meaningful spec bump, I don't really see the point.
 
I just ordered the OLED version. Much more expensive than the lcd version because of the sale, but the bigger screen and better quality is probably worth it.
 
I love my steam deck and has changed the way I play.
It's so nice to be able to play my games away from my PC.

Also bought an USB c hub so I can plug it into my TV.

It doesn't run games like fortnite bf6 etc which has anti cheat which Linux doesn't support, but I stream these games from my PC to the deck and honestly, I don't notice any input delay.

Best hardware purchase I've done in a long time.
 
SJRB said:
I just ordered the OLED version. Much more expensive than the lcd version because of the sale, but the bigger screen and better quality is probably worth it.
Click to expand...

Congratulations. I bought the OLED version about 5 months ago and it's basically the only console I play now. I absolutely adore it.
 
The screen on the LCD is pretty bleh but its serviceable. As the machine itself its a great little mini console-like PC. Awesome to pick up and play and its just a game changer being able to boot up Steam games basically anywhere.

You can also stream from your PC, should you have one; for the more demanding games.
 
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Brought one in January so I could play modded FF7-9, no regrets. Play it all the time. Buy most my games from loaded, aka CD keys for peanuts.
 
I got an LCD on the last sale and it's great. The only disappointment I've had is with size of the screen, many pc games have very small text and 7" screen makes it hard to read sometimes.

Valve has improved the color saturation of the LCD model since launch and the 40hz mode is a big help for performance and battery life.

Overall I'm happy with my ($320) purchase.

Edit: To help with battery life/noise just use a 12w TDP limit most of the time. The 15w max gives only a few fps more but makes the fans noisy and the battery life suck.
 
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If you haven't got a handheld Gaming PC yet then yes, the Steam Deck is an incredible value with all you can do with it, even when not on sale.
 
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