Yeah, that falls in line with what I said above, even if I do not use those Steam functionalities and features, like family sharing. Another point for Valve.

Update:

Over 3333 Steam games are now categorized as "verified" or "playable":

49% of the 1166 "90+ games" are now playable+, 34.2% of the 3734 "85+ games" are playable+

853 of my own Steam games are now tagged as "playable+":

Hot Rod Handheld:

Couldn't have said it better:

And that was even before the FF7R, Crisis Core and Persona announcements.

There is also news that they are doubling the shipments:

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/454171/valve-to-double-steam-deck-shipments/

What that actually means remains to be seen, though.

RMA'd my original Steam Deck, which had mounting/case issue causing the let trigger to annoyingly rub against the casing and got my replacement just recently. Seems like I got the better fan though the casing is definitely poorer quality with some machining marks visible on both sides of the controller and of course, the left rumble on the track pad is slightly iffy with it being considerable weaker than the right. And the slight light bleed at the top left, which my original didn't hae. But, I'm thinking of dealing with it because apart from that its perfectly functional.

But yeah not impressed with the QC of the SD. At least coming in my experience from two different units. Their after sales service was decent though at under 2 weeks turnover.. and thats with it being shipped abroad to the Netherlands and back.

Also be mindful for people ordering the higher tiers in the future. They are swapping SSD's to gen 3x2 from 3x4. So add SSD's to the lottery with them offering downgraded SSD's to meet demand. While they say it won't make much of a difference, not a fan of bait and switch of specs of hardware. Not cool, Valve.

Changes below, from Tomshardware -
"256 GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4 or PCIe Gen 3 x2*)
512 GB high-speed NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4 or PCIe Gen 3 x2*)

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ssd-bandwidth-cut-in-half-on-some-steam-decks

Is Valve serious with that bullshit? The entire purpose of getting the 512GB model (and to a lesser degree 256) is because you want capacity and fast storage. There is legit, no other difference with the hardware other than the SSD. The audacity of anyone at Valve thinking that shipping PCI-E SSD with 2 lanes is alright just because it doesn't make a difference in gaming. I don't think I'll be re-buying the Steam Deck until the next iteration comes out.

At this point, you are better off buying a 64GB model and replacing it with a proper SSD than paying Valve extra for that gambling nonsense.

I don't know, I got the 512GB model mainly because of the anti-glare etched glass thing. I play a lot on the go and that sort of stuff really helps. Can't see shit when playing with my Switch outside on a sunny day. With the Steam Deck it's alright as long as I don't play an awfully dark game like horror games or stuff like that. But I wouldn't wanna play something like that on a sunny day anyway.

Couldn't care less for storage. I'm using a 1TB micro SD anyway and that is more than enough for my needs. Seems also fast enough for my gaming needs, so I'm good.

I agree though, if it's just about storage, get the 64 GB Deck and an SD or a new SSD, whatever floats you boat.

On another note, the fan got tremendously better with some update a few weeks ago. I can barely hear it anymore, even when playing intense stuff like Horizon Zero Dawn or Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The Steam Deck just keeps getting better, I'm still absolutely in love with that thing. :)

Right right, forgot about the etched glass. I just think it's nonsense that some people will get a better SSD while others will get a worse SSD while paying the same price. It's still a great handheld but I am not a fan of this gambling of some people getting a good fan while others getting a bad fan and now some people getting the good ssd while others getting the bad one. Like it's very unnecessary to have compromises like this, especially in the premium tier.

I am glad you are enjoying yours though and that software updates really made a lot of meaningful improvements.

Ikr.. though there is still an ongoing chip shortage, it doesn't excuse them for doing that. Bit strange as this isn't the sort of BS that you would expect from a company like Valve; that values itself in delivering consistent and quality goods and services. Really not okay to cut corners, particularly when the specs have already been laid out and people have put their money down on back orders.

They really need to hanker down the next release, because there are so many small inconsistencies and issues here and there that hamper a really good device. There should be much more emphasis on QC before shipping to avoid time wasting and no bullshittery with bait and switches. But yeah the basic model is the one to get, assuming you're okay with just using MicroSD cards and/or comfortable with opening and swapping out the internal SSD.

Apart from that though its an awesome little machine (okay not that little) thats looking to be my go-to for portable gaming. Though I haven't had the chance to open up and swap out drives yet, games run flawlessly with the MicroSD. But for future games, I have a feeling that SSD will be more of a necessity than not.