If you love PC gaming and handhelds, absolutely worth it.

Playing in bed or while traveling is great!

It is best to have both. The ultimate gamer has setups for all situations, gaming for travel and gaming for home.

I built a desktop for gaming at home and I also have the Deck for gaming while traveling.

Being a DIK.

All you really need is:

1. A good tempered glass protector for your screen
2. A good travel case. Tomtoc Slim is my personal recommendation, the default case is good but too bulky.

I am a 512 launch owner, have my Deck for nearly 2 years now.

I say neither. Get the 512 OLED and pop a 2TB SSD in there. Ultimate Deck!

That is the reason the device exists - to play your Steam library everywhere.

Ideal combination is PS5/Xbox/PC AND Steam Deck.

Steam Deck for portable gaming and the rest for a home-based system.

The difference between them is around 5-7 fps, which in real world terms is nothing at all GPU-wise.

No plans to update.

My Steam Deck is not a standard model anymore, it has been customized quite a bit with 2TB SSD, Jsaux shells, docking station, Decky Loader etc. Also the gaming performance of OLED is virtually the same as that of LCD, so I would basically be paying for an improved screen and wifi as I am happy with everything else.

Runs like a dream out of the box, I play MGSV every day.

Only tweaks you need are optional, stuff for extra battery life, for example.

Look at the bright side: Now there is motivation to get a new screen replacement or even a shiny new OLED.

Nope, battery still at healthy levels (over 90% health).

Indeed, on a long flight I am whipping it out and playing some games. Not sure why it was not in carry-on to begin with.

Indeed, every negative situation has a positive side. Now OP has a reason/justification to get an OLED.

I would never put any valuable personal electronics in cargo luggage due to how roughly it is treated, never mind risk of thefts.

Things like laptops, phones, handhelds etc. are wise to have in your cabin luggage, where you can keep an eye on them and also use them too.

It is. If you do not want to upgrade the SSD yourself and you want an etched screen and special case.

Otherwise, get the 512 and pop in a 2TB drive like I did. Maximum storage, maximum power!

This is the FBI, it is a trap!

Your rationale is perfectly fine to me. You bought something that you should never have bought in the first place, realized it and got something that was more suited to you.

You were never into PC gaming, so a device geared towards that category was never going to fulfill you.

I on the other hand started out with consoles and then switched to PC gaming which I have been doing for years now, so the Deck was a highly suitable and practical device for me. It allowed me to play my already existing PC games library on the go.

As a launch owner, I can tell you that the Steam Deck is absolutely worth it and I say that as someone with an i9 and a 6950XT in his desktop.

Love to play games while traveling, in bed or on the couch? You will like it.

Love PC gaming? You will like it.

Love Steam? You will like it.

Love tinkering with Linux and OSes in general? You will like it.

This is just a few of the points to like about the Steam Deck, there are many more.

If you have a chance to get it, please do. You will not regret it!

Metal Gear Solid V is a must have. Addictive gameplay, high graphics, runs smooth as butter at full 60hz.