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Gotta love that they know how people tinker with their devices: Rear cover screws now thread into metal Adjusted rear cover screw heads to Torx™, as well as o
by rlex 3y ago
Gotta love that they know how people tinker with their devices:
Rear cover screws now thread into metal
Adjusted rear cover screw heads to Torx™, as well as other materials and geometry tweaks on the heads to reduce stripping risk
Lowered number of screw types throughout system
Reduced step count required for common repairs
Improved bumper switch mechanism drop reliability
Moved bumper switch to joystick board for easier repair
Improved display repair/replacement to not require taking rear cover off
- throitallaway 3y agoWow, it's very rare for companies to move in this direction. This is the polar opposite direction of what Apple's been doing.
- nicce 3y agoIf you do it well, the polar opposite just boots your marketing and overall goodness.
- rbjorklin 3y agoSteam is not a publicly traded company. Their decisions don't necessarily have to improve profit margins.
- haunter 3y ago>Their decisions don't necessarily have to improve profit margins They can always rely on the gambling money. Takes 0 effort (all digital), unregulated, and it's enormously popular on Steam.
- spiderice 3y agoYou're trying to muddy the waters by calling it gambling. Gaming and digital loot boxes are different. Even if they share some similarities. Gambling is far, far more destructive than digital loot boxes in games. No need to conflate the two.
- rowanG077 3y agoHow is it not gambling? You put in something you need to buy with money to receive an item you can trade for money. Sounds awfully similar to me like you go to a casino, get some chips to wager and then later trade the remaining chips back for money. Regardless of whether the "official" law states it's gambling or not from a moral perspective they are pretty much identical.
- yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago> to receive an item you can later trade for money. A person could reasonably argue can be exchanged vs primarily intended as a stand in for cash is important. If the items are intended as actual items people value then that's more defensible than say chips that only exist to be cashed out. (And I'm not familiar enough to know whether that's the case here)
- rowanG077 3y agoI would maybe agree with you if the marketplace were not operated by Valve. But it is. This makes very clear that the one of the intended use cases of the skins is to be sold. Which is understandable, it's very likely Valves makes in the order of a billion dollars just from the marketplace.
- haunter 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_gambling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_gambling Valve could shutdown the whole thing with one button but they don't. Do you know why because it's profit for them too. Every case and every key sold.
- mrguyorama 3y agoEvery TRANSACTION involving a CS:GO (CS2 now) skin gives valve a cut. An entire offshore gambling INDUSTRY exists around treating these skins as value bearing tokens you can deposit, gamble away, and cash out. They then take the enormous profit that unregulated gambling always generates, and pushes it towards degenerate gambler streamers who regularly have thousands of literal children watch their stream, where they often gamble with a rigged account made for them by the gambling companies so they can show artificial success to, once again, 12 year olds. They pay these streamers millions of dollars, up to and including one of the streamers moving to a different country with more lax gambling laws so they could continue to gamble on the companies dime (because they are a degenerate gambler) in order to hook children on gambling. The skins work exactly like crypto in this case, except the on-ramp is a game that millions of children play (I don't care "it's not aimed at kids", you don't need to be 18 to buy a steam gift card at the store for the skins, and the game itself is free, which is a huge lure for children without an allowance) and it is entirely unregulated. This entire system is being used to purposely trap gambling addicts at a very young age to milk them for as long as possible in the gambling industry, for every dime they are worth, and until they have used up all possible credit they can find just to keep pressing that addiction button. Twitch is in on it too.
- kube-system 3y agoAlso, they have a much more narrow target market with different interests and priorities. "PC gamer" correlates with "hardware tinkerer" much more strongly than "telephone user" does.
- brookst 3y agoPublicly traded companies also don’t have to increase profit margins. They generally do, but so do privately traded companies.
- Hemospectrum 3y agoIncreasing profit margins is a reliable way to increase stock prices, which is (at this stage of capitalism) the most powerful force directing the allocation of capital. It's a self-reinforcing feedback loop with far-reaching power throughout the economy.
- brookst 3y agoAllocation of capital matters for startups. Most large companies aren’t issuing new stock, so profit margins only affect secondary markets for their stock.
- Steltek 3y agoIt'll be a very dark day for us all when Valve turns evil. Steam Deck has been a modder's dream since it came out. Just having "desktop mode" be a standard option has been amazing.
- xbmcuser 3y agoIt's privately owned so does not have the shareholder pressure to keep increasing share holder value.
- wholesomepotato 3y agoThe do increase shareholder value, just in exactly short-term. The problem with publicly traded companies is not as much wanting to increase the value, but how short is the time horizon, when most owners don't have any understanding of the bussiness other than just handful of numbers every quarter.
- haunter 3y ago>Valve turns evil Some people and legislators are arguing that unregulated digital gambling is very very evil
- hovering_nox 3y agoIf you mean gambling in Counter Strike, at least it's not explicitly aimed at children.
- andy_ppp 3y agoChildren don’t play Counter Strike?
- askiiart 3y agoWhether or not children play CS:GO/CS:2 is irrelevant. It is a game where 50% of the time you play as terrorists shooting law enforcement, it's very obviously not aimed at kids. The only way for kids to gamble in CS at all is to either steal a credit card, which is obviously not Valve's fault, or for them to have a Steam gift card. If anything is to be done about the children, I think Valve should just 1) require a users to have a credit card on file in order to buy lootboxes, and 2) require re-entering the full credit card details if the user makes several purchases in a short period of time, in order to stop kids who, for example, memorized the CVV of a card already on file in Steam. Keep in mind that uploading a government ID would have issues, seeing as in the US a driver's license is not universal, not to mention IDs all across the globe. Maybe there's an alternative form of ID that would work that I just can't think of, but anyways, I'm against needing to upload a government ID to access anything unless it's specifically for governmental purposes.
- jjjjmoney 3y agoI don't think Apple is the pinnacle of repairability by any means, but they have been making slow improvements in this area (like replaceable back glass in the new model phones, the entire mainboard doesn't need to be replaced for common repairs as often now, etc).
- jokethrowaway 3y agoI don't know on which planet you live but every new generation is worse than the previous one. My last macbook needed to have a battery replaced during Apple Care (after only 2 years) and they just gave me a new body (no dents, same specs, same keyboard layout, transplanted the ssd - or transferred the data, not sure) and plugged it to the old screen. If they don't bother swapping a battery...
- wtallis 3y agoCiting something that's been the same way for all Apple laptops for at least a decade doesn't really support your assertion that it gets worse with every generation. Your repair was probably done by moving your laptop's motherboard into a new lower case (with a corresponding new battery glued in).
- bluescrn 3y agoIs there any real justification for glueing batteries in beyond obstructing replacement? It's not as if there's any space for them to slide around, they're a fairly tight fit in a compact device, and there's got to be plenty of other options to keep them in place if there is a little bit of looseness to deal with. (I guess they'll use safety as an excuse, to reduce the risk of the damage to cells. But it's not the real reason, is it?)
- giantrobot 3y agoThe case isn't so tight the batteries can't move. LiPoly batteries expand and contract when they heat and cool. The case needs enough space for that to happen without putting pressure on the battery. When the battery is at its most contracted state it can move if it's not fixed to the case by some means. Movement of the battery puts stress on the connectors and can lead to a short (or worse). Gluing the battery in the case is a safe way of fixing it in place inside the case. Screw tabs would give the opportunity during assembly of puncturing the battery casing with a tool or screw. They could also work themselves loose with the thermal expansion cycles. But people like the thought-terminating "Apple bad" narratives.
- darklycan51 3y agoIt'd be nice if it was a real console and not a glorified Nintendo games piracy device. It's very easy to be user friendly when your business model is relying on piracy, they even showed an emulator in a now deleted trailer
- asddubs 3y agoI'd rather have companies putting out emulator-friendly devices than re-charging for the same game every time a new hardware generation rolls around. The steam deck is just a computer at the end of the day, people are going to run emulators on it.
- johnnyanmac 3y agosure, but most other console makers actually sell at a loss and rely on selling and re-selling software to make profit. And users who buy consoles don't want to mess around with emulators anyway. Valve didn't sell hardware for half its lifetime, and the hardware it sold were on small margins. Steam Deck is a success selling a few million, the vita was a bomb selling 10m (very conservative estimate. you'll see 15m when googling). Economies of scale
- asddubs 3y agoDid you accidentally respond to the wrong comment?
- johnnyanmac 3y agoI don't believe so. I was just explaining that a console needs to justify every generational bump. And if remasters are valuable enough, they'll do it.
- asddubs 3y agoOh, I see what you mean now. I had trouble figuring out the relevance to my comment before.
- yarg 3y agoValve's a software distribution company, not a hardware company. The steam deck exists primarily to expand their targetable market. It's of no benefit to them if people's devices fail - they just stop buying games (unlike Apple, where the devices are intended to slow down or stop working altogether).
- jonhohle 3y ago> unlike Apple… I liked the direction you were going, but I don’t think you made the right comparison. iPhones, for example, are used 30-60% longer (4-10 years) than a Samsung phone (3-6 years). Apple provides software updates for all of their devices for 6+ years. I’ve had very few devices containing lithium ion batteries that didn’t require a new battery. I have devices from the early 2000s from Sony, HP, Dell, Nikon, and countless others whose batteries have failed.
- johnnyanmac 3y agoSamsung has some very aggressive upgrade programs, so that might explain it. Used to even have an entire yearly upgrade program you could pay for.
- Pr0ject217 3y agoValve may not be a hardware company on the scale of Apple, but they do design/prototype/create/repair hardware products. Also, they do a lot more than just distribute software [0]. [0] https://uspto.report/company/Valve-Corp/patents https://uspto.report/company/Valve-Corp/patents
- opyate 3y agoCheck out Fairphone. Maybe not as feature packed as the latest Pixel or iPhone, but definitely a step in the right direction. Even Marques Brownlee [0] said he's going to rate gadgets' green/sustainability creds from now on, after reviewing the Fairphone. 0. https://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee https://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee
- pjmlp 3y agoApple is going back to how home computers used to be, before Compaq got lucky with the IBM PC cloning. They were consumer electronics devices, most of the expansion possibilities were via external devices connected on an expansion port of some sort, and that was about it. Naturally this model offers better margins than selling PC components on thin razor margins, which is why even the PC world is going into that direction, leaving custom PCs for hardcore gammers and servers, where OEMs can also enjoy higher margins.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Steltek 3y agoHmm, given the chassis changes, what are the odds the OLED screen can be dropped into existing Decks? It would probably hold back adoption but I'm unlikely to upgrade so soon anyway.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- dcdc123 3y agoValve says it cannot be installed in LCD models. A third party may offer a solution though.
- oxygen_crisis 3y agoThere's already "DeckHD" after-market upgrade kits, a 1920x1200 OLED screen for $100. Looks like a pain to install, though. Saw a time-lapse of the process on LTT and it looked like it involved removing just about every single screw and fastener in the entire device.
- azdle 3y agoThe DeckHD is still an IPS LCD, it just has better color coverage: https://deckhd.com/#specs https://deckhd.com/#specs
- tedunangst 3y agoIt's amazing to watch how Torx screws have gone from crime against humanity to actually a good thing over the last decade.
- GloriousKoji 3y agoI thought most of the hate was for tri-wing and pentalobe.
- mtsr 3y agoAre they still covered by the patents that made them unattractive initially? Patent expiry could very well be the reason for their increased popularity.
- mattygabe 3y agoTorx patent expired in 2011, so that's increasingly likely why it's taken off. Edited to add: the "Torx Plus" design's patent expired in 2011, which was put in place in 1990 as the original Torx patent was expiring then. Some more nuance, but there ya go.
- mananaysiempre 3y agoWikipedia tells me the original Torx patent[1] was filed in the 1960s, so anything related should have long since expired. (There’s apparently also a “Torx Plus” patented[2] in the early 1990s around the time the original patent was expiring, but I don’t believe anybody deliberately chooses that one. Expired in 2011.) [1] US 3,584,667, https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/3584667 https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloa... [2] US 5,207,132, https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/5207132 https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloa...
- cantSpellSober 3y agoMy understanding is that the patents for Torx (and Torx Plus) have expired. They're an ISO standard, "hexalobular internal" (which is much more fun to say).
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- doublerabbit 3y agoAnd no jailbreaking required. I just wish I could hold one to see if my hands fit. My awkward hands where DS, Switch, PS and Xbox controllers all give me cramps after around ten minutes of play time. N64 not so. It's why I've always been a PC gamer.
- nicman23 3y agothe switchdeck is massive compared to all of them
- LegitShady 3y ago>switchdeck pretty sure the switchdeck is just a dbrand skin?
- nicman23 3y agoyeah meant steamdeck
- schmorptron 3y agoif your hands cramp when using a switch, the deck might be good for your hands. I've had the same issue with the low stick placement on it and the deck has been an ergonomic joy.
- vmladenov 3y agoI've found the Deck quite uncomfortable to hold, with the rear buttons being the lowest point. Lots of pain in the curve of the palm, plus the stock plastic is slippery which makes you try to squeeze harder. Propped up on a stand with an external controller is my preferred way personally.
- jenny91 3y agoSteam is in the world of selling you games; Steam Decks being cheap/reparable/etc leads to more game sales.
- gumballindie 3y agoI prefer steam’s openess as an incentive to sell games versus companies that manipulate you, spy on you, prevent repairs, steal your data or use all sorts of dark patterns. Steam is simply a company that builds products the right way. They deserve my £. Oh and that sexy support of Linux. It won a loyal customer for life (or until they get acquired and get enshitified to death).
- RegularOpossum 3y agoBy my count I've bought 17 games since getting my SteamDeck, they got me.
- vincnetas 3y agoIs there something wrong with that?
- alephnan 3y agoSounds like a win-win-win situation for gamers (buyer), developers (seller), and valve (marketplace).
- 8note 3y ago> Improved bumper switch mechanism drop reliability > Moved bumper switch to joystick board for easier repair These are such a big deal, and such a design flaw in the first deck. The most breakable part(eg. From any drop) requires valve to do the repairs because the same board houses the most complicated parts
- theodric 3y agoI'd argue that putting the USB-C charge port directly on the motherboard instead of a replaceable carrier was an equally poor choice. One booboo or too many accessory plug-unplug cycles requires a motherboard replacement, RMA, or a hotplate and hot air at a minimum. There are contacts that are under the USB-C port module, so it's not even possible to change it with an iron. Better a separate daughterboard connected by FPC. Mine has a magnetic wearout extender on it now.
- sleepybrett 3y agoYeah my old intel macbook (touchbar) is pretty much unusable because the usb-c ports no longer 'click' so keeping a power cord plugged in is incredibly frustrating. I asked a guy at the local non-apple mac store and he said in my model they are soldered directly onto the motherboard and are a bitch to replace. Apple just wants to replace the whole motherboard. I think now they put them on daughterboards but i'm not sure. Thankfully the m2 I replaced it with has magsafe (or you can use usb-c to charge if you find yourself without a magsafe cord) so far less cycles on the usb ports.
- redder23 3y agoWell not sure about the Steam Deck, its all nice and fine but if the original device is not very durable its still sucks of you need to repair it often. I do not know if they are going this route with the Index, that thing is notoriously bad build, and it breaks for people after a very short lifespan all the time. Basically almost every serious reviewer complained how their Index broke after X months. I do not think its easy to repair at all and does Valve sell spare parts? It should life longer in the first place.
- themoonisachees 3y agoI have owned an index for 4 years with heavy daily use during the pandemic, and the only issue I've had is when I smashed a controller in a wall playing beat saber (and even so only the thing that retains the elastic strap broke). I've also spent a while in VRChat where these issues would be discussed and I've never seen anyone mention that the index in not durable.
- robotnikman 3y agoSmall observation, I think they got the idea for a limited edition see transparent case after seeing how many people were interesting in modding theirs with an aftermarket one, and also probably a reason they made it even easier to take apart. The steam deck has seen more hardware mods than any other consumer hardware device I can think of in the past decade.
- vmladenov 3y agoDo you know if the plastic casing is any easier to open? I damaged the edges of mine with the spludger when prying it open to install an SSD, the plastic is quite soft.