Generally yes, I try and properly shut down the game. Not because I’m worried about it or anything. I do it so that the cloud save syncs just in case I decide to pick the game back up on my PC instead of the deck, which I often do. But putting the deck to sleep while a game is running doesn’t phase me in and of itself.
I run it on Medium settings @ 800p when playing handheld and easily average 40fps most of the time. I also play it docked on my monitor or TV very frequently and bump the resolution up to 900p and it keeps a pretty steady 30fps in Medium settings as well. VERY playable and VERY enjoyable experience!!
ETA - The experience in Dogtown is a bit rough at times compared to the rest of the game regardless of your machine of choice. So just keep that in mind and temper your expectations accordingly lol.
I was in this boat until last week. Had always been a console gamer. Got the PS5 when it first came out expecting it to be my main gaming rig. Then I got a Steam Deck around a year ago and the PS5 has basically been collecting dust ever since. Every now and then though I wanted something a bit more powerful to play my games. Despite how much I LOVE the deck, the decrease in performance coming from a PS5 to the Deck as my main rig couldn’t be ignored. So I just got my first gaming laptop last week to bridge that gap and I’m loving it! I know some die hard will say a laptop isn’t a “real PC” since I didn’t build it and it’s not really upgradable but I’m very happy with it. The deck still has its place as there’s absolutely no beating its convenience. Also, playing a game on the deck and then just picking it back up on my laptop (or vice versa) is extremely delightful lol. So, the Deck has ultimately been my gateway into PC gaming haha.
For anyone curious, the laptop is an Acer Nitro 5, core i5 12500, RTX 4050, 16gb ram. I know it’s considered an “entry level” rig, but I think it’s amazing!