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The original was posted on /r/steamdeck by /u/Inside-Implement3527 on 2024-09-06 03:31:56+00:00.

Hello! I’m afraid I’ve never used Reddit before so please bare with me, I just couldn’t find anyone who had asked the question for me, and unfortunately I have a peanut brain so this feels important enough to warrant a Reddit post lol I’ve also read the rules of this subreddit several times (I’m terrified of breaking them) and I want to specify I am NOT ASKING FOR ANY MONEY! I just want some advice, thank you

So my family and I aren’t very wealthy. I’m 16, about to turn 17 in a few days, and I’ve been playing steam games and such since I was 12, but as everyone ESPECIALLY gamers know, PC’s are expensive. Even the cheapest options that I’ve found in my researching for used gaming laptops are more than we pay in rent each month. I’ve always played on pretty crappy laptops that have been passed down from my parents, and this hasn’t been much of an issue for me. They don’t run games very well, and while I’m thankful for what I get, that still makes me want to get myself a little upgrade, without bankrupting 8 of my future generations preferably. With my 17th birthday coming around, I plan on trying to get a steam deck with birthday money instead of asking for any particular presents (I already do occasional commission work which is also going into the saving of course). I’m trying to go about this in the least greedy way possible, which is what makes Steam Deck look like the best option from my perspective.

I have plenty of games in my library already that I’m just unable to play because my laptop can’t run them well enough, and even if I did have an expensive, well built PC I have scoliosis and struggle with sitting at a desk for prolonged periods of time, and my fingers lock up if I use a computer mouse for too long. That makes switch gaming much more accessible to me as I can lay down or sit comfortably on my couch and play stuff, but obviously Nintendo is Nintendo so they’re pretty gatekeep-y about what goes in the shop. These things make the Steam Deck look like a holy gift from above. I don’t play very high end games or anything, which is another thing I’ve seen mentioned causing problems, and I’m aware they are pretty much just gaming laptops compartmentalized into a more accessible format. I mostly just play farming/life sims, though maybe being able to play things like BG3 in the future would be cool, but if that’s not on the table then that’s fine!

Basically the gist of all this word salad is I want to know if the Steam Deck will be a reliable alternative to an expensive and (to me) inaccessible desktop computer. I see a lot of stuff on these subreddits of customizing and rebuilding and modifying and stuff which causes crashes, but I have no interest in messing with the Deck in any fashion, I just want to be able to play my games for my birthday, and I don’t want to waste my hard working parents money on something I might regret, or just not use. Thank you, have a good day!

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Update! Thanks to everyone’s help I’ve got a pretty solid plan figured out. Thank you all, I’m really grateful to everyone who took a little time out of their day to help me out! :D