Which Handheld Would you get?

[lexluthermiester]

Legitimately???

Define what you mean? If you mean legit as in you own a proper copy of the game that you can lawfully emulate, generally as long as you own the game in some form(NES/GBA/Etc.), you are lawfully allowed to emulate it.

 

[mechtech]

Define what you mean? If you mean legit as in you own a proper copy of the game that you can lawfully emulate, generally as long as you own the game in some form(NES/GBA/Etc.), you are lawfully allowed to emulate it.

If you own an original cartridge.

When I say legit, I mean legit, by the letter of the law.

Ya gave all that away long ago.

So legit would be finding and buying an old cartridge then emulator with a rom................depending on the country/laws I would assume.

 

[lexluthermiester]

When I say legit, I mean legit, by the letter of the law.

The law specifically allows for fair use. Emulation is perfectly legal. So is the possession and use of ROMs, so long as you own the original game or have that legal right to access/use the game.

So legit would be finding and buying an old cartridge then emulator with a rom................depending on the country/laws I would assume.

And that's fair. Most civilized nations abide by or have codified fair use principles. In other words buy a copy of the game, any version will do, and enjoy.

 

[mechtech]

The law specifically allows for fair use. Emulation is perfectly legal. So is the possession and use of ROMs, so long as you own the original game or have that legal right to access/use the game.


And that's fair. Most civilized nations abide by or have codified fair use principles. In other words buy a copy of the game, any version will do, and enjoy.

Yes. The thing that stinks if you don't. I mean, you can still do it (not-legit), but try to find and original cartridge. Be nice if they had a legit site where you could purchase the rom for a dollar or something and money went to dev/pub etc.

Be nice if there was a fully supported emulator(s) as in something like with full-time staff, etc. I'd pay for that.

Rebuilt the old long gone nes, snes, n64 library.

 

[Kapone33]

So huge update on this thread. I did indeed get the Ally with the Z1 Extreme. I ended up returning though and I am going to detail why.

1. The screen is too small. I tried 40K Martyr and you could barely see the characters.
2. Not full PC support. I tried Grim Dawn and no button or movement would move my character. I could install a mouse but that defeats the purpose.
3. It has less battery life than my Gaming laptop.
4. The Storage is paltry if you are a PC Gamer. 512GB is nothing today. I know you can get 1 TB but that is another $300
5. One USB C port. I have one of those Expander adapters. I can charge the Ally through the USB C port on that and attach storage via USB A (I formatted an old 1 TB 2.5 laptop HDD. However I cannot use my USB C NVME adapter. When you combine that with the 512GB of onboard storage not having access to NVME via USB C is not cool.
6. AMD software is not AMD software. If have an AMD card and like to tinker around there are a ton of settings in AMD software that are a joy to use. However Asus have their own OEM version of AMD software and you do not get aceess to that but have to use Armoury Crate to adjust GPU settings. I even went so far as to get the 7840U drivers from AMD but it could not find a supported APU.

Maybe a Steam Deck might be a different experience as that is not Windows. Even installing Windows on the Ally is no different than on PC at all. Including all the Windows things you say no to like Office 365. I could have seen it grow on me but that AMD software thing was a huge mitigating factor in my decision.

It is not all bad though. I had bought a 4TB NVME to update the Ally. Instead (Posted in another thread that I put it in my PC). The drives are abysmal at writes and I would not recommend them unless you already know that. So I moved City Skylines 2 onto it and it actually helps to maintain the frame rates better than the Drive I had it on before. To accommodate the new Drive I had to remove one of my old NVME RAID drives. I thought my WD AN 1500 was dead so just for my own curiosity I put my old NVME RAID in there. When I turned on the PC and went into Disk Mgmt there was 4 TB of unallocated storage waiting to be formatted. It seems insane to me now that I have over 28 TB of Flash NAND storage in my PC. Unless TPU wants to keep the vote up or the handheld conversation going here this thread can be closed.

 

[chrcoluk]

I'd be happy to have a Switch myself. The only thing that puts me off is that I have no games for it, while I have over 500 on Steam.

Yep I would put a switch behind a steam deck purchase 100%, due to the game library, also it seems nintendo rarely discount their games on top of that.

I abused Very's offer of the first order you make on their credit account they apply a 20% discount (10% on the console itself, 20% on the games), so I loaded up the order with Nintendo games I wanted to play, making sure they were MSRP prior to discount as they might have played games on that.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Maybe a Steam Deck might be a different experience as that is not Windows.

Zotac is working on a model currently that looks really good. And it's Zotac so the quality is going to be up there. I like the look of it and the specs are good for the projected price.

ZOTAC GAMING ZONE Handheld Console | ZOTAC

Elite Controls with 2-Stage Adjustable Triggers, Stunning 7" 800 nit AMOLED Display, Premium performance based on AMD RYZEN 7 8840U. Take your games with you everywhere, and get in your zone when you game on the ZONE.

www.zotac.com

ZONE Handheld Gaming Console | ZOTAC

<p style='font-size: 13.008px;'>The ZONE Handheld Gaming Console is the ultimate gaming handheld with a beautiful AMOLED display for those who demand the best. Equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor built on the AMD Zen 4 architecture and featuring the AMD Radeon 780M graphics, the ZONE...

www.zotac.com

 

[Solaris17]

Zotac is working on a model currently that looks really good. And it's Zotac so the quality is going to be up there. I like the look of it and the specs are good for the projected price.

ZOTAC GAMING ZONE Handheld Console | ZOTAC

Elite Controls with 2-Stage Adjustable Triggers, Stunning 7" 800 nit AMOLED Display, Premium performance based on AMD RYZEN 7 8840U. Take your games with you everywhere, and get in your zone when you game on the ZONE.

www.zotac.com

ZONE Handheld Gaming Console | ZOTAC

<p style='font-size: 13.008px;'>The ZONE Handheld Gaming Console is the ultimate gaming handheld with a beautiful AMOLED display for those who demand the best. Equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor built on the AMD Zen 4 architecture and featuring the AMD Radeon 780M graphics, the ZONE...

www.zotac.com

I agree it looks nice. ngl im not a hand held person, my switch will get used once in a blue moon, but if I were to get one I seriously thought about the MSI claw even though its performance is basically the worst of the bunch, just because it looks good and I would have to stare at it.

 

[AusWolf]

Zotac is working on a model currently that looks really good. And it's Zotac so the quality is going to be up there. I like the look of it and the specs are good for the projected price.

ZOTAC GAMING ZONE Handheld Console | ZOTAC

Elite Controls with 2-Stage Adjustable Triggers, Stunning 7" 800 nit AMOLED Display, Premium performance based on AMD RYZEN 7 8840U. Take your games with you everywhere, and get in your zone when you game on the ZONE.

www.zotac.com

ZONE Handheld Gaming Console | ZOTAC

<p style='font-size: 13.008px;'>The ZONE Handheld Gaming Console is the ultimate gaming handheld with a beautiful AMOLED display for those who demand the best. Equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor built on the AMD Zen 4 architecture and featuring the AMD Radeon 780M graphics, the ZONE...

www.zotac.com

Windows and AMOLED... Yuck.

 

[lexluthermiester]

my switch will get used once in a blue moon

I play mine as a console. It rarely comes out of it's dock. Which is one of the main reasons I didn't upgrade to the OLED version. Rare see the screen and I never had any complaints about it. I prefer IPS screens anyway.

I were to get one I seriously thought about the MSI claw even though its performance is basically the worst of the bunch, just because it looks good and I would have to stare at it.

Agreed. Performance isn't always the deal-breaker, and let's be honest, it's really not bad. Fiddle with some settings, choose a lower resolution and the experience will be good. The MSI Claw has a very reasonable value proposition because of it's lower price, especially in the current world economic situation.

Windows and AMOLED... Yuck.

Really? Not a fan of OLED, or is it the active matrix side of it?

 

[AusWolf]

Really? Not a fan of OLED, or is it the active matrix side of it?

I love the way it looks, but burn-in is a no-go for me. I'm not the kind of person to swap phones and whatnot every couple of years. I'm only just considering replacing my trusty old PSP with something more modern. If (when) I do, I'll want an equally long life out of my new handheld.

As for Windows, I just can't see myself using it on a tiny touchscreen. I might be wrong, and it could be nice, but I'm a bit averse as long as I haven't tried it. I'd much rather have a system that's specifically made for a handheld.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I love the way it looks, but burn-in is a no-go for me.

I feel you on that one. It's THE reason I still prefer IPS. However, it's worth noting that Zotac is likely(very) to use the current iteration of the SuperAMOLED screens which have, so far, shown to be very burn-in resistant, on a similar level to the QDLED based panels. That said, I am a bit of a Zotac fanboy and the Zone is looking very tempting...

 

[AusWolf]

I feel you on that one. It's THE reason I still prefer IPS.

Same here. I'm heavily leaning towards the LCD Steam Deck, but it's been out of stock for over a week now.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Same here. I'm heavily leaning towards the LCD Steam Deck, but it's been out of stock for over a week now.

It's also older and the hardware is somewhat dated at this point. The MSI Claw would be a better value. Zotac model is what I'm going to wait-n-see on.

 

[AusWolf]

It's also older and the hardware is somewhat dated at this point. The MSI Claw would be a better value.

Windows, Intel Arc, and lots of RGB bollocks... Also 500 quid vs 350 for the Deck LCD. Meh.

I don't mind the dated hardware, to be fair. I'm not planning on any AAA gaming anyway. I only need it to pass a few hours of downtime on holidays (edit: not to mention, I hate controllers except for a few games).

 

[Kapone33]

It's also older and the hardware is somewhat dated at this point. The MSI Claw would be a better value. Zotac model is what I'm going to wait-n-see on.

Funnily enough where I live the Claw is $100 more than the Ally.

 

[Space Lynx]

Same here. I'm heavily leaning towards the LCD Steam Deck, but it's been out of stock for over a week now.

it won't be coming back in stock either, Valve said the LCD model won't be replenished since they have moved to OLED model, I expect a new deck variant spring 2025, not a Deck 2, but maybe a few improvements and colorways, and then a price cut on Deck OLED original, all LCD models will probably be out of stock by then and not being replenished (still supported long term on ifixit for repair though)

 

[Kapone33]

it won't be coming back in stock either, Valve said the LCD model won't be replenished since they have moved to OLED model, I expect a new deck variant spring 2025, not a Deck 2, but maybe a few improvements and colorways, and then a price cut on Deck OLED original, all LCD models will probably be out of stock by then and not being replenished (still supported long term on ifixit for repair though)

With AMD Z2 APUs. Imagine if AMD actually applies their socket support logic to Handhelds? This could get really interesting.

 

[AusWolf]

it won't be coming back in stock either, Valve said the LCD model won't be replenished since they have moved to OLED model, I expect a new deck variant spring 2025, not a Deck 2, but maybe a few improvements and colorways, and then a price cut on Deck OLED original, all LCD models will probably be out of stock by then and not being replenished (still supported long term on ifixit for repair though)

That's for the 64 and 512 GB versions. The 256 GB one is still being sold, just not in stock at the moment.

 

[Space Lynx]

Interesting, that is an odd choice on Valve's end, especially since I think most people prefer the glass version and not matte. (based on youtube reviews I watched anyway) so if you were to keep one model you think it would be the 64gb one since that is the only glass.

 

[AusWolf]

Interesting, that is an odd choice on Valve's end, especially since I think most people prefer the glass version and not matte. (based on youtube reviews I watched anyway) so if you were to keep one model you think it would be the 64gb one since that is the only glass.

Nah, the 256 GB is also a shiny one. Only the 512 GB LCD and 1 TB OLED have the matte etched glass surface. So basically, the LCD doesn't come in matte anymore.

I'd still like to know my ETA, though.

 

[Vayra86]

I love the way it looks, but burn-in is a no-go for me. I'm not the kind of person to swap phones and whatnot every couple of years. I'm only just considering replacing my trusty old PSP with something more modern. If (when) I do, I'll want an equally long life out of my new handheld.

As for Windows, I just can't see myself using it on a tiny touchscreen. I might be wrong, and it could be nice, but I'm a bit averse as long as I haven't tried it. I'd much rather have a system that's specifically made for a handheld.

You're not going to have notable burn in on a handheld. How often do you have many hours on end of the same GUI elements present on screen? Its mobile gaming so you have almost everything in full screen aspect, switching between tasks or just even 'tabbing out of the game' to the OS is a complete screen refresh. Its not the same as showing a desktop.

Another big plus of OLED on small screens is the improved contrast. Things are just easier to read and discern with higher static contrast. There is no IPS that will match that. Seriously, the switch from the OG Steam Deck to the OLED version was like using a new device, better in every way. Also I would consider the fact that the IPS screen is not even 1000:1 static, or at least looks like its some order of 800:1 instead. Blacks are literally gray.

 

[AusWolf]

You're not going to have notable burn in on a handheld. How often do you have many hours on end of the same GUI elements present on screen?

While watching Nascar with a standings bar and a TV logo? Very often! I don't only want to game on it. I want it as a kind of laptop / entertainment device replacement for holidays.

 

[Vayra86]

While watching Nascar with a standings bar and a TV logo? Very often! I don't only want to game on it. I want it as a kind of laptop / entertainment device replacement for holidays.

aha ok.

 

[Space Lynx]

Nah, the 256 GB is also a shiny one. Only the 512 GB LCD and 1 TB OLED have the matte etched glass surface. So basically, the LCD doesn't come in matte anymore.

I'd still like to know my ETA, though.

are you on a clean install of windows or fresh install of steam before you ordered it? sometimes steam holds orders for 14 days

good to know about the 256gb, honestly if it was on sale for 299 quid i might consider it myself as I am in the UK atm and my relatives are liking mine. i wouldn't mind having a second on me for co-op with friends/family as i travel. 349 is too much though imo, but mainly because the currency conversion kills the value of my dollar.